Bus travel is coming back. After the industry has declined for numerous years, the past few have seen a slight resurgence in bus travel which might be offering budget travelers a decent domestic travel option. But when it comes to booking buses, who honestly knows where to start when booking tickets? Neither Kayak, Vayama, nor Expedia tell me about buses.  And call me naive, but I have honestly only heard of Megabus and Greyhound. Compare that to our knowledge of airline carriers, and you get what I’m saying.

So, obviously, I’m going to give you the solution to the problem and tell you how to find low bus fares (and even compare prices!)

BusJunction.com

BusJunction is a bus fare aggregator that’s a self explanatory bus fare search brought to my attention by its founder in a buried email half a year ago which I just rediscovered. Like Kayak, it’s an aggregator, which is an important clarification because this means it is independent of the bus operators, thus offering you unbiased fares and information.

So, naturally, I’m partial to BusJunction (not even having used the service) and would recommend it. If my word doesn’t mean anything, Frommer himself hearts BusJunction in the HuffingtonPost, one of several high profile coverages the site received. The final kicker of BusJunction is its integration of Yelp, another site i’m a fan of.

GoToBus.com

GoToBus.com is the other, bigger and older bus fare search tool. The site features just Chinatown bus routes zig zagging across the US. While also super helpful, it engages in ticket partnerships with the bus companies for profit, thus potentially resulting in worse bus route and fare searches.

As a capitalist at heart, I love to see BusJunction’s emergence on the scene to give GoToBus a run for its money and help out the lowly bus travelers out there. Let’s hope that this increased bus travel trend continues so budget travelers aren’t left out to dry when attempting to travel on the cheap, and so I can feature fewer rants in posts on US budget travel.

Being able to avoid worrying about the small (and medium) things is crucial to having success backpacking and traveling cheaply. Western and American culture teaches us to be skeptics, micro manage, and overplan everything. I had a severe case of worry worts before I came to Asia and for the first few days here, so take my word for it and just Do. Not. Worry. The process of traveling is not hard. So for the first post in my Backpacking is Easy series, some rules of thumb to follow to avoid anxiety and to maximize your time backpacking abroad:

Avoid the Noise
There are a million travelogues and guidebooks on the internet quoting great restaurants, guesthouses, specific train cabins, and giving literal directions to the train station’s men’s toilet. Well, great, but this is all noise that you don’t need to know quite yet.. = NOISE. Just like that clever test from the economics professor that gives you 10 unnecessary variables when calculating RGDP Growth, ignore the noise for now.

There’s no use in worrying about how to do exactly everything quite yet, and trying to keep everything straight beforehand will just lead to anxiety. There’s plenty of time to figure this out later when the time arrives.

Be Efficient and Resourceful
When planning a trip, plan it. When it comes time to do something, figure it out. There’s a lot of time in the day, and there’s internet almost everywhere. So when the time comes (night before), figure it out quickly and move on to enjoying what you came to see.

Furthermore, don’t forget to ask. There are tons and tons of budget travelers around that you’ll meet who would love to tell you their story and share tips. Guesthouse staff will always assist you doing anything. Better yet, ask locals. Most (in Asia for sure) will love to help out however possible.

Be flexible
Don’t prebook all your accommodations if you don’t have to, and definitely do not get pressured into prebooking bus, train, or ferry transit for side trips. There’s always transit options, and always places to stay.

Slow down, be rational, and remember Worst Case Scenario
There will surely be bumps at times, but it’s critical to slow down, take a breath, and think of the worst case scenario rationally. You’re not going to die. Worst case scenario is most often being tired and out some dollars which is frustrating, but being flexible as mentioned above minimizes the worst case scenario in almost every instance.

Forget those sunken costs
You’re probably going to overpay for something, get scammed, or miss a connecting train ride. As a frugal bastard, this is annoying. But these are sunk costs = they cannot be changed. Like accounting, they must be ignored and forgotten. Always easier said than done, but grab a beer, laugh at yourself, and move on.

Be sure to follow and check out the next posts in my budget travel is easy series

1. Stop Worrying. Backpacking is easy. Seriously
2. All you Really Need for Easy Budget Travel
3. Complete, Easy Guide to start planning a Backpacking Trip
4. The Budget Traveler and Backpacking Commandments

Real budget travel and backpacking has always been an interest of mine that I’ve loved reading and researching about, but my actual experience was always a bit lagging. Now I can proudly say that I’m completely qualified to talk about this stuff, and I’ve come to this realization:

Budget travel and backpacking is easy. Seriously.

I repeat, the process of traveling is not hard and is not something to stress over. There are more important personal and career things to worry about than to worry about vacationing. After getting off my ass and taking a few leaps of faith I’ve come to this verdict as I’m sure many other travelers have as well after their first great travel experiences. I’ve developed a series of posts to show how easy backpacking travel is. The series really should give you all you need to get started on your own, leaving you with no excuses to get off your ass as well.

1. Stop Worrying. Backpacking is easy. Seriously
2. All you Really Need for Easy Budget Travel
3. Complete, Easy Guide to start planning a Backpacking Trip
4. The Budget Traveler and Backpacking Commandments

All is well in Bangkok, Thailand where I’ll be stationed until December studying and traveling. Excuse me for the lack of posts, but I’ve been busy living, learning, and making the most of Southeast Asia – which is amazing by the way.

But here’s the question I’ve been exploring:
Assume you’ve never traveled anywhere (really not far from reality for many Americans really), and all of a sudden you’ve had the opportunity to travel free to any 10 destinations. What do you choose? International, or abroad?

Well readers here based on the blog’s topic would choose international, but remember – you haven’t been anywhere in the USA. Your homeland and country.

Curious observation
This is just a curious observation I’ve been making note of and am thinking about. It’s a good thing to travel domestically through your own country, but I’d bet 80% of the time atleast most would opt to go internationally rather than stay at home. Personally, I’ve had countless travel convos with many Thai students.

“have you been to the US before?”
“yeah just a couple times. LA, Las Vegas, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, New York, Boston, and Florida of course…..”

In most cases, their own travel experiences in the US are more vast than my own.

When the question is reciprocated to my Thai friends and I regarding travels in Southeast Asia and Thailand, the same pattern re-emerges. They’ve been to Koh Samui once, Singapore, and Hong Kong once. Personally I’ve just concluded that most people do not want to travel domestically.

Why would we prefer international travel?

Mass Media
We are bombarded with news, images, cultural references, stereotypes of everywhere in the US. We study US more than other places. I already know it, and I don’t want to waste my time and resources seeing myself.

Sensitivity
My sensitivity to changes in life, in general, have diminished. Flashy ads, provocative images, and ‘crazy’ stories become dull faster. I have a desire for new experiences, and the more novel stimuli I’m exposed to, the better. Most novel stimuli are easier to find in foreign countries with unfamiliar cultures, ways of life, and language.

High Cost
Feel zero need to waste precious resources on expensive US domestic travel. Reconsider with cheap railways or buses, but not practical and may never be. Hostels? Guesthouses? Bed and Breakfasts and cheap motels exist, but not quite the same atmosphere as a good guesthouse or hostel.

I’d love to hear others’ comments on the topic and to see if I’m way off base with my observations, since my anecdotal evidence really is the worst way to back any argument. Input is appreciated.