We Took a 100+ Hour Greyhound From Boston to Seattle

Greyhound is the only form of transportation I've taken that passengers will actively band together to protect each other from the company, because you'll start as a loose group heading in the same direction, but end up like sailors in a lifeboat trying to pull everyone onto the right bus and fighting off sharks. Greyhound is the great American equalizer, because you're all gonna be treated like braindead cattle regardless of race, creed, or origin.

This would test any relationship. The fact that y'all came out of it with positivity says great things about y'all's future

The sheer poetic perfection of them selling the station the night before you would have arrived is hilarious.

Miles "I want to be able to travel across the country for free" and the monkey's paw curled

Decades ago a friend got out of the military and took the bus from California to Texas. He told me the bus stopped at every little town. It took so long he met a woman, started a relationship and ended it all before making it home.

a dog of a trip, but a hounding success

What's messed up is this is a private transit monopoly that treats its customers like convicts. A public transit system doesn't do that.

It’s amazing that in the long history of passenger bus service that the experience is still so awful. In my youth (17-25 yrs old) I used to ride Greyhound and Amtrak a lot. I’ve seen things ON the bus that I’ve never seen anywhere else. I’ve seen the driver toss people off in the middle of nowhere. I’ve seen people having very vociferous adult relations. I’ve been on a bus that was raided by the DEA and people arrested. On my very last bus trip in 1991 this kid (14 yr old girl) sat next to me. Her mom in Philly was sending her to live with her dad in Miami and put on the bus with no food or money. I was getting of in Orlando which was a 28 hr ride and she was goin to Miami,a 34 hr ride. I ended up buying the kid all her meals along the way and left her a $5 bill so she could get another meal along the way to Miami. The one thing that’s always prevalent on greyhound and Amtrak is that travel funk that permeates your clothes and hair. You always have to hit the shower as soon as you reach your destination.

As a former Greyhound driver, (like, waaaay before you guys were born) it was kind of nice to see in your video how some things have changed and some things remain the same. I worked there when Greyhound Lines was part of the Greyhound Corporation, which was also the parent company of Armour-Dial, famous for hot dogs and soap. Greyhound was struggling to survive unsubsidized in a newly deregulated interstate bus system competing with heavily subsidized Amtrak and also, recently deregulated low cost airlines offering cheap flights. Greyhound Corp sold off the bus company and rebranded to Dial Corporation. Most of the old classic bus stations were sold off as valuable real estate. When I drove for Greyhound, our longest scheduled route was between Seattle and Miami via San Diego and then I-8 rejoining I-10 to Phoenix and points east. And of course, the reciprocal westbound schedule. Extra sections (additional buses) were added based on demand. The “first section” bus always made the entire run even as drivers changed every eight to ten hours. Extra sections were added as needed or not needed. Some extra sections were made “express” between two points that skipped all of the small town stops. It was a system that was modeled after early railroading, as was the drivers’ union contract with the Almalgamated Transit Union. (Fun fact: Jackie Gleason, aka Ralph Kramden, was made an honorary member of the ATU for his portrayal of a New York City bus driver) I liked driving for Greyhound but as an extra board driver, I was strictly part time. That’s no way to make a living. I too had my share of threatened violence on the bus so it became an easy decision to change careers. I have been an airline mechanic for the past 33 years. Absolutely best career move! Note to Greyhound drivers: If they’re killing you with this shit, if you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, if you don’t have “learn to fly money,” find a community college with an aviation maintenance technician program. Two years and passing an FAA A&P license written and practical test, you too can get off the road and start working for a major airline! United Airlines is currently offering a $10,000 cash signing bonus to new technicians! Give it some thought. That goes for the rest of you kids watching these videos wondering what you’re going to be doing with your life.

This is what I subscribed for, seeing nerds witnessing the horrors of the American interstate transit system. Cheers to you, Miles

I feel your pain. In 1966 I took a Greyhound from San Francisco to NYC. I was 16 and Greyhound promised my uncle & father I would be safe and watched over (yes back then minors which I was had to be babysat). Well in Sacramento the bus broke down and I changed buses. That' where Greyhound lost me. In Reno I had to take a bathroom break but the bathrooms were on the other side of the casino. Had to have security follow me through the casino. Changed buses again in Omaha and on to Chicago. At that point I called my dad and he was panicking. He had been calling Greyhound for hours and they had no idea who I was or where I was. Finally got to NY and I think I slept 3 days to catch on sleep. Oh yea-had to take the bus because the airlines were on strike.

As a greyhound driver, this was a real interesting video to watch. Intercity transit can be very effective within the states, but we are so car bounded that it's hard to make that switch, and that's a topic that can be discussed entirely on it's own lol. Trying to be politically correct here, I will say that greyhound should invest more into customer service. Seeing it from your guys' perspective, you've been on the road for days, and the last thing you should have to deal with is a representative of Greyhound talking down to you while you pay our checks. There should also be better communication.....and I'll just leave it at that. Buses that look presentable. Often times, I would get a bus that is road safe but as body damage, seats that have seen better days, no wifi, no charging ports, weak ac, etc. On the other hand though, I have had buses, with beautiful wood finishes, nice comfy seats, fresh scents, little to no body damage, and it looks like a bus I'd be happy to step on and off of as a passenger. I'm not saying go out and buy brand spanking new buses, but at least keep the old fleet looking presentable. From personal experience, I often get told I was a wonderful driver from how I treat passengers to my driving of the bus, and from the words of passengers- get told how previous drivers were yelling at them, running curbs over, hard braking, hard cornering, etc etc. Note that I'm not some customer service guru, I just talk to people the way I would want to be talked to and do what I can to help when asked questions. As far as my driving of a bus goes, I have had wonderful instructors that emphasized that I'm driving a bus with people as cargo, so you want to drive to where you're not throwing your folks side to side and forward and back and all that.

Can’t wait to watch another 20+ minute Amtrak ad

When FirstGroup sold Greyhound to Flixbus for $78 million it did not include the real-estate. ie: bus terminals and garages. That was sold to Twenty Lake Holdings of Stamford CT for $140 million. Such is the reason that Greyhound is kicked to the curb in so many cities.

What I loved was your realizing on day 4, you had become the strange homeless looking people you sometimes see. ......LMAO..... Very well done kids!!!.... I subscribed.

Marry the girl! She's gorgeous, brave, intelligent and has spirit. Your editing skills are second to none. I'm an old timer, I enjoyed the whole trip but, I found the pace a little too quick most of the time. Respect for being having the balls to do this in the first place.

13:35 pax threatens to kill driver over a 15 minute delay. This is a certified greyhound classic.

Over four straight days on a Greyhound bus?! I give you both respect for your fortitude.

It took me 25 hours to get from Orlando to Indianapolis back in 2016. It was an experience that I would not wish on any one. Thanks for documenting your experience that was 4x as rough!

Hello. It seems you were passengers on the bus I was driving, the last part of your trip between Stanfield, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. I certainly recognized my voice over the PA system, and if it was July 27, 2022 as I think it was, it was also my last day working for Greyhound. The night before myself and a coworker (coming in from another bus) were supposed to check into a hotel in Spokane, Washington where we had a standing reservation before myself returning to Seattle (via Stanfield, Oregon) the next day, the day you were on my bus. However when we got to the hotel, Greyhound had canceled the contract meaning we didn't have a hotel room. I spent 2 1/2 hours trying to secure a room for each of us. About two hours into this I called Greyhound corporate in Dallas, Texas and told them if we weren't given a hotel room, I was going to return to my bus and drive it back to Seattle and park it there and go home. I was told that if I did that, they would call the Washington State Patrol, report my bus stolen and press charges against me. Assholes. Anyway a few minutes later they finally gave both of us each a hotel room. The following day, the day you were on my bus that is, I drove my schedule back to Seattle. After that I returned the bus to the Renton yard 13 miles away, parked the bus, got in my car and drove home never returning to Greyhound again. I have since heard from a former coworker that Greyhound has since cancelled more schedules in the Pacific Northwest because they can't find enough drivers to drive those schedules. So yeah, it was a bittersweet day for me, your bus driver as well. It's sad to see the once great Greyhound bus company dissolve little by little and be bought up by it's new competitor FlixBus. I'm sorry to say that if Greyhound hadn't finally got me a hotel room in Spokane the night before like they were supposed to have, I probably would have driven my bus directly back to Seattle that night even after being threatened by Greyhound corporate. Still I knew that there were passengers like yourself that had reservations the following day who were innocent pawns in Greyhound shenanigans, and I had a change of heart and decided to drive my schedule back the following day so those people with ticketed reservations wouldn't be stranded on short notice. And yes, the Seattle Greyhound bus station was closed when I got in, only opening at certain hours to save Greyhound money. I suspected that would happen before I got there, but I didn't want to announce it to the passengers until I pulled into the station to find it closed in the off chance that it might be open. It's a bad place to drop passengers off, homeless and high crime in the area and no place to find shelter if the weather is bad. If a passenger has to wait for a connecting bus there, it's very unsafe. Anyway for what it's worth, it was a pleasure to get you safely to your destination on the twilight of your journey and mine. Thanks for the video, it was a pleasant surprise. God bless†