Gotobus.com: Greenville to New York $35-$50

I’m no stranger to long bus rides, having once taken the bus home to South Carolina from San Jose, Costa Rica. After a non-stop 36-hour Greyhound ride from Brownsville, TX to Greenville, SC, I know my bum has the stamina to make it from Greenville to New York. When my friend Wayne told me he was taking the bus to New York to take a directing workshop over the weekend, I was in.

It’s the Chinatown bus…from Atlanta to New York and back. It stops behind the McDonalds on Woodruff Road in front of Hollywood 20 at 10pm, except it runs about 20 minutes late, so get your McFlurry and keep an eye out.

Because the bus starts in Atlanta, you’re not guaranteed seats together. We thought that a couple of guys wouldn’t mind switching seats so that we could sit together, but apparently grown men can be childlike about wanting their window seats. So I squeezed in next to William Perry, and Wayne sat in front of me. We made the most of it, breaking out the wine and having a party bus the first few hours. A couple of Tylenol PMs later, and I was sound asleep against my fishbone neck pillow and the Refrigerator’s leg.

The bus stopped for gas at 1am and 4am, when I stretched drowsily and made my way to the station restroom. The next time I awoke, it was morning, and I was ready to take on the day with some left-over diet Mt. Dew and my “Stuff You Should Know” podcasts.

Things I like about this bus:
1) It costs $50 or less.
2) It takes 12 hours, most of which you are sleeping so you’re not really wasting time.
3) It’s easy and convenient.

Things to bring:
1) Neck pillow
2) Ear plugs
3) Snacks
4) Wine
5) Tylenol PM
6) Sweatshirt
7) iPod
8) Romantic Suspense Novel

The bus dropped us in Chinatown, where we walked a couple of blocks to the metro. At 14th Street, I wished Wayne good luck and caught the L to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to settle in amongst the hipsters for the weekend.