5 Life Lessons Learned Riding 2,700 Miles on a Greyhound

For the first time in what seemed like weeks, I’d have a row to myself. I’d shout with glee if not for the sleep deprivation from the last two nights of upright “rest.” Granted, it wasn’t exactly the memory foam sleeper I was promised. Nonetheless, you can’t be sure what to expect when my Dad promises you something.

Two weeks prior, my sister and I had flown to Vegas to take care of him post heart-attack, which resulted in an impromptu family road trip to her home in Florida. To this day, I'm not sure that a 2,000 mile road-trip was the best idea for a man recovering from his third heart-attack, but then a man on his third heart-attack isn't always worried about good-ideas.

While the road-trip was tons of fun, I was on a strict timeline. My midterms were coming up in just a few days, and I had to get home to study with the little time I had left. My dad, being the frugal man he is, convinced me that a Greyhound trip from Florida to Oregon would be the best option to get me back home.

"Oh Josh, you're gonna love it" he exclaimed as he dropped me off to a dark terminal in the backwoods of Florida. "You'll see the entire country, and they even have nice sleeper beds for you to lounge on and soak in the views." (I think he might have been confusing Greyhound for Emirates first class.)

I had never taken a Greyhound prior to this trip, so I was optimistic to say the least. I had traveled by myself many times in the past via car, plane, train, and even ferry. As a newly coined adult of 18 years old, surely I was old enough to handle this.

After paying the modest sum of $155 for a cross-country ticket, I confidently approached the first bus in my journey. Pulling out my wad of printed tickets, I ripped the first off, and handed it to my driver. Unbeknownst to me, this began the first of 5 important life lessons I still reflect on to this day and utilize in every aspect of my personal, professional, and spiritual development.

Greyhound Lesson #1: Don't be afraid to ask for help.

An exhausted bus-driver took my ticket, scanned it briefly, then proceeded to deny me entry on the bus. I was stunned to say the least. Thinking he must have made a mistake, I exclaimed:

"I paid for this ticket, and I know it's valid. Just go ask the guy at the desk!"

With a furrowed brow and rage like a bear fresh out of hibernation, the driver barked back.

"You can't board with this ticket, you shouldn't have ripped it off your bundle. Go get it reprinted and catch the next bus."

The next bus wasn't scheduled to arrive for hours. It would mean changing my entire itinerary, and potentially missing my mid-terms. I wasn't going to have that.

Putting on my most innocent expression, as if I had never done anything wrong between the ages of 13-18, I asked the onlooking passengers what to do. A gentleman in his 30's began to get angry at the driver, explaining that I was "just a kid" and it wasn't my fault. (I appreciated him sticking up for me, even though in my mind I was most definitely an adult.) He exited the bus to go grab a supervisor, and the bus driver proceeded to shut the doors behind him, speeding off into the distance.

I'll never know if he made it to his destination on time, but I still think of his kindness whenever I tell this story. I'll always appreciate that he put himself on the line for someone he didn't even know, because he felt it was the right thing to do. Certainly, he didn't have to help me at all. Yet for whatever reason, he saw someone in need and went above and beyond the call of duty.

Since then, life has taught me that people want to help. The vast majority of individuals we encounter are trying their best to do good, relative to their own understanding.

Unfortunately, our pride leads us to believe that we are alone in this world because so often it really feels that way. However, if you're willing to put yourself out there, you might surprised by the extent friends (and strangers) will go to in order to help out.

Likewise, it's equally important to take those chances on others in need. While I can't cite any scientific study to justify the ROI on good karma, I'm positive that it helps to have lots of it.

Don't let personal fear be the obstacle that holds someone else back from doing a good thing.

Greyhound Lesson #2: Don't judge a book by its cover

As the Greyhound came to a screeching halt, an audible sigh of relief was let out from the bus hydraulics as its doors whooshed open to the Mobile, AL terminal.

My fellow passengers in hell eagerly awaited their chance at overpriced concession food while pushing and shoving each other out of line as if in a mosh-pit at a Metallica concert.

By the time I made it out of the chaos, I had just 10 minutes until my departure. And trust me, you don’t show up late to your Greyhound departure. (Another life-lesson learned on this trip, but for another time.)

Scrambling to avoid being abandoned in Alabama, I quickly made my way back to the bus and proceeded to find my prior seat next to a window. To my shock and horror, it had been taken.

"How will I soak in the sites now?" I said to myself, remembering my dad's promise from earlier.

I approached the women lounging in my glorious window seat, and let out an audible cough. To my surprise, she didn't even turn to acknowledge me. Now, at this point I had a strong understanding of the Greyhound pecking order; but it was obvious to me that she didn't. I had just spent the night in the very seat she was passed out in. Seeing the other passengers from the night prior all smug and relaxed in their usual seats sent my injustice-complex through the roof. That was MY bed that she was in, and I wasn't going to have it.

Suddenly, I had found my purpose in life: I was determined to get her to change seats by the time we reached the next terminal.

I sat-down beside her, and began to immediately employ as many passive-aggressive annoyance tactics as I could. First, I rummaged through my backpack and retrieved a piece of gum, which I promptly unwrapped and slammed into my mouth. I began to chew as loudly as could, glancing over at her with each chew as if to emphasize my seething anger through each smack.

And yet, no response. I actually checked to see if she was breathing at this point, because who could ignore such a foul sound?

Assured that she was alive, I then took out my headphones and began to play Black Eyed Peas "I Got a Feeling" on repeat, full volume. This did manage to warrant a response from her, but not the one I was hoping for. Letting out a snore, she lifted her head from resting on the window and was now using my right shoulder as her new pillow.

"THE AUDACITY!" I thought to myself, as I kept trying (in vain) to gently nudge her off of me.

Finally, after an hour of agony trying to lift her head, I had one last trick up my sleeve. I picked up my phone and called my best friend. When he answered, we began to talk about the nuances of That 70's Show, while I argued as loudly as I could in an attempt to get ANY response from the seat-thief beside me.

It worked.

With the ferocity of a barbecue dad at Buffalo Wild Wings, she let out the foulest, loudest, and longest burp I had ever had the displeasure of receiving. Of course, my shoulder still being utilized as her impromptu pillow-rest meant I was right in her firing line. The distinct smell of Monster and cigarettes burned my nostrils. It was this moment that I knew I had lost.

Luckily, the lesson here isn't that you shouldn't try to mess with a snoring woman on the Greyhound, it actually came afterwards.

Throwing a pity-party for myself, I sent a text to my sister and explained my plight. I told her all about how my seat was unjustly stolen, and how none of my passive-aggressive strategies were working to get her to move. I even told her about the burp, which rivaled (maybe even exceeded) anything our Dad had ever shown us.

Rather than taking my side however, my sister began to drill in the importance of being courteous and kind to others. She let me know that it was my fault to begin with, for being late and leaving my seat. And finally, she told me that I deserved that burp in my face for being such an annoying pest to her, and the other passengers around us. Needless to say, my pride was hurt in more ways than one.

With my nostrils singed, my shoulder ablaze in aches, and my emotional strength depleted - I laid my head back and began to take a nap.

A few hours later, I awoke to the sound of my new friend (now awake and off my shoulder) talking with her daughter on the phone. She exclaimed that she was so excited to see her little-girl, even though they'd only have a few days together before she had to return back to Alabama for work.

As the conversation went on, my stomach began to sink. In one short conversation, I learned that she had taken this trip on her only days off for the month, so she could be with her daughter on her Birthday. To afford the trip, she had been working overtime for months prior, taking on double-shifts as a waitress.

She was clearly exhausted, tired, and doing everything she could to get by.

What I had interpreted from her as an inconsiderate act of rebellion was actually the result of a working-mother, too exhausted to realize I was trying to get her to wake up and move out of my spot. The spot was never really mine to begin with.

As we pulled up to the Greyhound stop in a small-town outside of Houston, I saw her reunite with her daughter, tears streaming in both of their eyes. I thought of the excitement they must have been feeling, in anticipation for the fun weekend ahead of them. What if I had been successful pushing her to sit somewhere else - would I still have learned the lesson I needed?

Throughout life, people come and go into our little circle of existence. So often, we pass judgments with nothing more than a few shreds of context to lead our conclusion about those we see in front of us. With just a little more patience, we can almost always come to understand the perspective of another. That little increase in patience just might result in an important lesson, a big break, or a future opportunity.

Bottom line, we never know the full context of those we interact with daily. Give people the benefit of the doubt; you might be surprised at the outcome.

Greyhound Lesson 3: Be Prepared

As an Eagle Scout, we lived by the Scout Motto "Be Prepared."

This motto was first thing we focused on with incoming scouts. Whether it was a scout-meeting or a 5-day wilderness survival excursion, we were encouraged constantly to prepare for the future and ensure we had the right tools to get us through the job ahead.

Of course, getting a group of teenage boys to think about anything beyond their next protein source can be a bit of a challenge.

I can recall numerous camp outs where one scout would forget a sleeping bag, another a tent, and a third a flashlight. Luckily, in situations like these it was easy to pair the three together to combine resources. After all, who needs a personal sleeping bag when two scouts can just share? And nothing beats fighting for the flashlight during those midnight bathroom runs. Needless to say, you'd think that after years of scouting nightmares I would have been ready to handle the arduous journey of a Greyhound Bus ride.

Prior to the trip, I recall packing my bags and going through my mental check-list of things to bring. As I was stuffing my clothes in, my sister approached me to ask if I needed anything for my trip.

"Nope-" I retorted, smirking at her suggestion that I might need help. "I've made it through trips way harder than this with way less luxuries, I think I've got this."

"Do you have a cell-phone charger?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Yep, right here." I responded, pulling out a micro-usb cable from my backpack.

"There's no block, how are you going to use it?"

"I've got my laptop, I'll just charge it through the USB ports. Don't worry about me Jesse, I'm good!"

The conversation continued to bounce back and fourth like a heated match of Tennis at the US Open.

"Okay, well do you have your laptop charger? What if it dies?"

At this point, I was starting to think maybe she should have been the Eagle Scout.

"Jesse, I've got my laptop charger and even if I didn't it doesn't matter. My Mac has a battery life of like 8 hours, there's more than enough juice for me to charge my phone if I need it. For the last time, I am good. Go relax and check on Dad or something."

A few days later, this conversation would come back to haunt me.

After leaving that small bus-stop outside Houston, I realized that I would have a few hours to kill before making a transfer at the next terminal. Knowing this, I opted to watch a few movies I had downloaded on my laptop in order to pass the time on the way.

As the hours went on and the sights rolled-by around me (so much for soaking them in), the driver informed us we would shortly pull into the Houston terminal. Finishing up the Footloose remake, I glanced towards the top of my screen and saw the dreaded low-battery icon. So much for 8 hours of battery-life.

"No worries" I thought. "I'll just charge my laptop when I get into Houston."

After making our way to the Houston terminal, I quickly exited the bus with my belongings and found a nice corner to relax at inside. I then proceeded to pull out my white Apple charging brick, and plugged it in to my tired Mac. Laying my head back and closing my eyes, I began to wait for time to do it's thing.

When I awoke a few hours later, I realized I had made a grave mistake. Alas, just as Scouts often forget the most basic and crucial of items before a major trip, I too had fallen into same the pitfall of overconfidence in my plan.

Pulling up the screen on my laptop, I went to check the battery status to ensure I was ready for the next round of transfers. However, I was greeted by nothing more than the sad icon of a depleted battery-icon. I quickly began to troubleshoot my charger, and realized my mistake. At the worst possible time, the cord had frayed at the base of my charging brick, making it unable to deliver power to my laptop.

Horrified, I put my laptop away (charger included) in hopes that I might figure out a solution on the bus-ride ahead. I checked my phone's battery, now at a measly 10%, and opted to turn-it off so I could reserve it for emergencies.

As I entered my next Bus, I was amazed to see that these buses even had wifi capabilities and charging ports next to every seat! If only my charger had worked, this would have been a major perk. However, no matter how many ways I tried to precariously arrange the charging cable, it failed to make contact and charge my laptop.

Now, with at least 2 days left of travel ahead of me, I had no entertainment, no phone (except for select emergencies), and absolutely nothing of value to occupy my time but the everlasting misery of flat, Texas farmland passing by the windows outside.

What's worse, I had no way to contact my family to update them on my status. Needing to keep my phone reserved for emergencies, I simply sent a quick text to my Sister and my Mom letting them know about the situation. The last text I received before turning off my phone came from my sister:

"See, I TOLD YOU you needed that charging block."

She was absolutely right. If I had spent more time checking my ego, I could have simply grabbed a block from her and still had the luxury of a phone to play on. I had a number of books in my phone's library that I could have read, and free wifi meant I would have had all the internet I needed to complain about the monotony of flatland and sprinklers that occupied my sights. Alas, I had none of these things.

Needless to say, the rest of my journey felt like the longest 2 days of my life. If not for my overconfidence, I wouldn't have been stuck in my self-induced technology detoxification period.

What's the morale?

When getting-ready for a new project, career, trip, etc. never assume you're totally ready. Moreover, bring in friends or family to offer perspective on your situation, and listen to what they have to say.

Even when you think you've totally prepared, it never hurts to go the extra-mile.

Greyhound Lesson 4: Friends are often found in unlikely places

As the trip went on, I had plenty of time to reflect on my life and how I had landed in this unfortunate situation. I'd like to report that Texas got more beautiful the farther we went, but that would be a lie. Oklahoma proved to be a similar experience, and seeing Kansas gave me a whole new appreciation for Dorothy's confusion in the Wizard of Oz.

While our bus chugged through the barren landscape of Tornado Alley, I gazed off into the distant mountains admiring the little patches of snow dotted throughout. The landscape soon transformed and the mountains became more numerous, until eventually the road was swallowed up completely by the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains.

Just as luck would have it, we passed through the mountainous wonderland of Utah and Colorado at night, leaving me yet again with nothing to look at. Finally, my last transfer happened early in the morning at a small terminal inside Salt Lake City, UT.

Now the crowd on the bus looked drastically different than it had before. In contrast to the loud and vibrant screams and shouts of the South, people here seemed to prefer to occupy their time conversing about cats, religion, and the nuances of casserole cooking. I can't say I preferred one over the other.

However, I wasn't alone in my suffering. Across the aisle a young man in his early 20s seemed to take notice of my obvious boredom, and decided to make conversation.

"Hey, I'm Joseph- what's up?" He said to me from across the aisle.

"I don't want your drugs bro, no thanks." I thought to myself, fumbling to remember how to talk after hours of silence. Regardless, I introduced myself and began to converse with Joseph about his own journey. In fact, the first thing I noticed about him was his backpack, which sported a full-color embroidery of Dark Magician Girl, a rare card from the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card-game. Being a millennial who grew up in the prime of Japanese trading card-games, I had to get more information.

Turns out, he was on his way to a tournament in Seattle, and had been travelling for just under a day himself. Joseph was a veteran to the world of Greyhound travel, since he played cards professionally and frequented tournaments all over the nation. He used his tournament winnings to buy new-cards for his decks and afford the travel expenses associated with his hobby.

Growing up, I was obsessed with these trading card-games. I had thousands of cards from Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Magic, and many others. This wasn't unusual for someone my age, but it was unusual to find someone my age who still had all their cards and still played.

Likewise, I told Joseph about my own journey and the discomfort I had faced from forgetting to bring a charging block. To my astonishment, he had a charging block for my laptop inside his backpack AND a block to charge my phone too. He let me charge up my laptop and phone on the bus, while we spent hours talking about the differences between a Blue-Eyes White Dragon vs. a Red-Eyes Black Dragon and much more.

As our Bus chugged along through the mountain-passes of Idaho and into Oregon, we had managed to stay up the entire night talking and playing Yu-Gi-Oh. This story would be cooler if I had managed to beat him, but unfortunately I lost every match I played. After realizing how tired we were, we closed our eyes and took a quick nap in our respective seats, grateful for the fun we had been able to create.

Regardless of my losses, Joseph was a light where I least expected and managed to save me from death-by-boredom. I would eventually part ways with him, but Joseph and I talked for years afterwards. I still see his updates on Facebook to this day, and he is still going strong in the competitive trading card scene.

In all reality, he never had to go out of his way to introduce himself. However, because he did both of us had an opportunity to connect, make each-other's life a little easier, and create some good memories in the process. Moreover, I even managed to get my laptop and phone charged up, just in-time for me to arrange my pickup when I got to Portland.

Sometimes friendship is waiting right in front of our faces (or across the aisle) - you just have to be open to accepting the person on the other side.

Greyhound Lesson 5: You never know who you're riding with

Upon pulling in to the Portland, OR terminal, I was more than ready to end my journey. I had seen the sites, soaked in the culture across America, and felt like I had become more mature than ever before in my life.

With a new understanding of being an "adult", I called up my ride to pick me up and eagerly awaited the chance to get home and take a hot shower.

However, in true Greyhound fashion, the travel-gods had something different planned for me.

Our bus huffed its way into the terminal, but was quickly cut-off by an entire squad of Portland Police Officers accompanied by a SWAT van. Everyone on the bus began to murmur among ourselves, thinking we were about to embark on a high-speed bus chase and make local-news.

On the loudspeaker outside, we heard a gruff-man in his 50's instruct us to stay calm. He recited the name of someone suspected to be on our bus, and let him know he was under-arrest.

He could come peacefully, or by force.

To our relief, a man with long brown-hair stood up and slowly made his way through the aisle and out the door, hands on his head. As soon as he exited the bus, no less than 6 officers tackled him to the ground, cuffing him and carting him away to a squad-car.

The rest of us were quickly escorted off the bus, and lead to the terminal to go on with our lives. However, what always stood out to me was the time I had been on the bus with this man, who I later found out was arrested on 2 counts of 1st degree murder.

This man had first boarded the bus (by my account) all the way back in Colorado. For the entirety of the trip, I watched him converse with passengers, laugh about cats with the cat-lady in Utah, and overall carry himself in a completely normal way. In-fact, had it not been for the squadron of Police cars that took him away, I never would have known he was a criminal at all.

Luckily, even though I wasn't up on my list of criminals out with a warrant, someone in a previous terminal had recognized the man from a news broadcast a few days prior. They called and reported the sighting, which lead to his arrest a few hours later via Portland police.

While I was never personally in any risk (that I knew of), I think often about what could have happened had the cards been different (not the Yu-Gi-Oh cards.)

What if I had recognized him, and tried to call him out directly as a naive 18 year old? What if he hadn't been willing to exit peacefully, and instead tried to take a hostage with him? Questions like these kept me up for days afterwards, leaving me to feel bewildered and grateful for my safety.

As we navigate life, we are often put into situations where we may be in close proximity to danger, without ever realizing it to begin with.

Naturally, most people take a number of steps to protect themselves from situations just like these. Maybe they carry pepper spray, or have an emergency app on their phone to alert loved ones. Others might opt to carry a concealed weapon with them, or train in MMA at a local Gym. However, despite the many precautions we take to stay safe, sometimes we still fall short due to circumstances completely out of our control.

For this reason, it's important to always be ready to react in a moments notice. Likewise, try to stay vigilant in your day-to-day encounters, being aware of those you come in to contact with and what their intentions might be. It only takes an instant for you to spot a license plate in an Amber Alert, or to recognize a wanted criminal from a news broadcast. That small instant could be the difference between more lives being lost, or justice for those that have already gone.

Whether it's on a Greyhound or in your own team, stay alert and be ready for the dangers that normal life can present. Perhaps more important, appreciate the time you have with those you love, because you never know how much of it you'll have left.

Reflecting on my Voyage

If you haven't realized by now, I learned a lot about life from this trip. These lessons came in a way that I never could have expected (or wanted) but that benefited me for years after the fact. Unfortunately, life has a nasty habit of teaching us the knowledge we need in ways we don't exactly want.

Many of us are now facing similar challenges ahead. With the current pandemic causing chaos amidst our workforce, now more than ever people are facing uncertain journeys ahead. My advice to these individuals is simple:

1) Ask for help when you need it.

2) Don't judge anyone, especially when you first meet them.

3) Be prepared.

4) Look out for friends, especially when you least expect them.

5) Stay alert, and appreciate the time you have while you still have it.

Certainly, before taking my trans-continental trip across the US I never understood just how much your travel method can impact the trip you end up having. That being said, if I were asked again to take the trip I'd have to oblige.

Being open to new experiences, even painful ones, can be the catalyst you need for positive growth and change to occur within your life. I have used this exact story countless time to relay life-lessons, draw-parallels, and connect with others in a tough situation. As as young man of 18 years old, I was taught more about our society (good and bad) in 3 days than I had learned in years of growing up in my small, rural town.

Finally, completing those 2,700 miles from Florida to Oregon later gave me the courage to embark on other difficult journeys in life. Journeys that resulted in me lost, totally out of my comfort zone, and with tons of opportunity ahead. Had I chosen to spend the extra cash and fly home that weekend instead, I would have missed out on a beautiful chance to learn the value of discomfort.

Get comfortable with discomfort.

About the Author:

Joshua Buchanan

Joshua Buchanan is a marketing professional with 10 years experience in web-design, email-marketing, process management, and enterprise technical solutions. Joshua specializes in SEO and long-form content creation, emphasizing onsite page conversion and funnel mapping. In other words, he'll help your website traffic grow organically, via excellent web-content, off-site relationship building, and relatable, interactive design.

Beyond his marketing skillset, he is an excellent technical solution developer, a capable office admin, a proficient task juggler, as well as an articulate communicator in both English and Spanish. Not only that, he'll fix your car and paint your house too! (He's had a few bosses take him up on it.)

As a regular human, Joshua loves to hike and explore the outdoors with his wife, baby boy, and of course his little dog, Lucy. He also enjoys making music, as well as volunteering within Portland and taking day-trips to the scenic destinations of the Pacific Northwest.

Follow his LinkedIn for high-level marketing strategy, industry insights, and thoughtful commentary on the ebb and flow of life.

Did you like this article? If so, what stood out to you personally? Have you had a crazy-travel experience you want to share? Leave a like for visibility and let me know your story by commenting below.