I use a 5 hour bus journey regularly from where I live in rural north west Donegal, to the Irish capital, Dublin
I love listening to the chat too, though we don’t get many extreme eccentrics!
I loved my 3 trips to NYC (2016 and twice in 2018) riding the subway most days in Manhattan (mostly the C train up to west Harlem - lots of people-watching then too
“You don’t think about it as anything special. You certainly don’t think of it as an experience to change your perspective, or to write about.
You do it because that’s what life is. A series of events you get through. However best you can.” Trudat! My longest trip on the dog was from Indianapolis to San Diego. I actually enjoyed almost every minute of it. Rolling across the New Mexico desert in the dark, skies lit up with stars. Hauling through the so many towns where so many strangers I’ll never meet lived out their lives. I was running from something and glad to be away from it. Liberating for a while until I had to face it again. But I’ll always remember that trip as a good one.
One day. I want to do a few African cities, but make sure to get it right. I lived as a child in Nigeria, and haven’t been back to that part of Africa since.
It's exhausting. That was my life. It's really fucken exhausting. You just try not to think about it because burning calories on anything other than getting by makes or breaks you.
I think it's a sign of Europe's generally more healthy societies that buses here are used by a greater swath of the public than we see in America, which feels so much more segregated.
Chris, how you were inspired to do these walks/rides I don’t know but they are important insights, and painful mostly. I wish the entire country would Read them. Would that make a difference? Don’t know
Interesting piece, your trip sounds a far cry from the idyllic ride described on the first page of Humboldt’s Gift (or the entirely unchaotic one I took from rural Minnesota to Port Authority in the summer of 1997)
Great piece, thanks, you have a real talent for artlessly rendering the grimly familiar. Ever read "Norwood" by Charles Portis ("True Grit" author)? has some great Greyhound cross-country prose, from a different era.
Nov 18, 2022·edited Nov 19, 2022Liked by Chris Arnade
In the year of the bicentennial, 1976, Greyhound sold a 7-day bus pass for $76. I used all seven. DC to NYC, NYC to Boston, Boston to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle, Seattle to San Francisco and LA. (And then a cheap ticket on Air Siam, a long-defunct discount airline, to Tokyo, where I got a job and stayed for 2 1/2 years.)
Of course I was young and more amenable to adventure and the discomfort that accompanies it, but I couldn't hide my wealth and education either. It was Down and Out in Paris and London. Poverty tourism.
There was less dysfunction then. A few crazy people, but mostly the trip involved quietly watching the plains go by and occasionally wandering out into fields near a bus stop to smoke a joint.
When a young single woman boarded, we all jockeyed for a nearby seat. I got the seat next to her and was making some progress, or at least I thought so. But then a nearby crazy guy began to talk to himself and the driver got on the microphone and threatened to throw us all off. January in Minnesota at midnight? That will quiet you right down.
I see a lot of Substacks, but I always read yours, Chris. We are alike: I just spent 3 weeks walking from Seville to Salamanca. Your 'How to Travel' posts mirror my own philosophy. You are an anthropologist at heart, and I value what you put out into the world. Observation, not judgment. Thank you.
Loved this!
I use a 5 hour bus journey regularly from where I live in rural north west Donegal, to the Irish capital, Dublin
I love listening to the chat too, though we don’t get many extreme eccentrics!
I loved my 3 trips to NYC (2016 and twice in 2018) riding the subway most days in Manhattan (mostly the C train up to west Harlem - lots of people-watching then too
I enjoyed your Frank and simple photos
Thanks, Liz
I love reading your posts. Real life not gloss.
A poignant and beautiful piece as all of yours are Chris—thank you for this.
“You don’t think about it as anything special. You certainly don’t think of it as an experience to change your perspective, or to write about.
You do it because that’s what life is. A series of events you get through. However best you can.” Trudat! My longest trip on the dog was from Indianapolis to San Diego. I actually enjoyed almost every minute of it. Rolling across the New Mexico desert in the dark, skies lit up with stars. Hauling through the so many towns where so many strangers I’ll never meet lived out their lives. I was running from something and glad to be away from it. Liberating for a while until I had to face it again. But I’ll always remember that trip as a good one.
The world of Greyhound is unique and often 'othered'. It's always an experience for me.
Chris, if you have the stomach for it, I would love to see you tackle a piece of Africa's megalopolis, the 600 mile stretch from Abidjan to Lagos.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/megalopolis-how-coastal-west-africa-will-shape-the-coming-century
One day. I want to do a few African cities, but make sure to get it right. I lived as a child in Nigeria, and haven’t been back to that part of Africa since.
Chris, this is beautiful. Sometimes it feels like you're in my head.
It's exhausting. That was my life. It's really fucken exhausting. You just try not to think about it because burning calories on anything other than getting by makes or breaks you.
I think it's a sign of Europe's generally more healthy societies that buses here are used by a greater swath of the public than we see in America, which feels so much more segregated.
Thanks, Chris.
I hope things turn out okay for Oscar and his parents in Denver.
Beautiful writing as usual. Thanks, Chris!
Chris, how you were inspired to do these walks/rides I don’t know but they are important insights, and painful mostly. I wish the entire country would Read them. Would that make a difference? Don’t know
I enjoyed this! Nothing more deep or meaningful to say, but a heartfelt thank you :)
Interesting piece, your trip sounds a far cry from the idyllic ride described on the first page of Humboldt’s Gift (or the entirely unchaotic one I took from rural Minnesota to Port Authority in the summer of 1997)
Great piece, thanks, you have a real talent for artlessly rendering the grimly familiar. Ever read "Norwood" by Charles Portis ("True Grit" author)? has some great Greyhound cross-country prose, from a different era.
No I haven't. I need to check it out, as your like the 90th person in my life to tell me I should read it!
You'll know within a couple of pages whether his comic voice is for you or not.
In the year of the bicentennial, 1976, Greyhound sold a 7-day bus pass for $76. I used all seven. DC to NYC, NYC to Boston, Boston to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle, Seattle to San Francisco and LA. (And then a cheap ticket on Air Siam, a long-defunct discount airline, to Tokyo, where I got a job and stayed for 2 1/2 years.)
Of course I was young and more amenable to adventure and the discomfort that accompanies it, but I couldn't hide my wealth and education either. It was Down and Out in Paris and London. Poverty tourism.
There was less dysfunction then. A few crazy people, but mostly the trip involved quietly watching the plains go by and occasionally wandering out into fields near a bus stop to smoke a joint.
When a young single woman boarded, we all jockeyed for a nearby seat. I got the seat next to her and was making some progress, or at least I thought so. But then a nearby crazy guy began to talk to himself and the driver got on the microphone and threatened to throw us all off. January in Minnesota at midnight? That will quiet you right down.
I see a lot of Substacks, but I always read yours, Chris. We are alike: I just spent 3 weeks walking from Seville to Salamanca. Your 'How to Travel' posts mirror my own philosophy. You are an anthropologist at heart, and I value what you put out into the world. Observation, not judgment. Thank you.