This past weekend I went to the largest blogging conference for women bloggers, BlogHer. It took place in New York City and I was looking for a economical way to get there.
Enter BoltBus.
My bus arrived 15 minutes early and pulled up to the curb. I had already secured my car in the adjacent parking lot but other passengers were getting dropped off by friends and family. Be sure to check your local blot bus locations to see about parking acomodations. We stowed our luggage under the bus and boarded. One of the things I love about blot bus is you (or the driver) stows your luggage under the bus. Unlike the airlines, I was able to guarantee that my baggage was going to make it to NYC with me.
I had my ticket on my iPhone but others had printed the paper ticket conformation. I had a back up printed ticket in my pocket if for some reason my phone was going to malfunction.
I call it a controlled ‘cattle call’ in the boarding process. The earlier you book the earlier you board. I was in the ‘B’ group. The boarding happens in groups of A,B & C.
Once on the bus I stowed my carry on bag overhead and settled into a seat. There was more legroom than an airline but if I were a 6 foot 5 man I may not have been too comfortable. But I am sure there are few public transportation options that are comfortable for tall men. I liked that there was a little flip down foot rest under the seat in front of me.
I plugged in my iPhone to charge on the way up to New York. There is one of these outlets in the set of seat backs.
We were greeted by the friendly driver and he went over the features of the bus, the free wifi and the bathrooms. He also asked that people use earbuds when ever possible and to keep conversation volumes low. It makes a more pleasant ride for all passengers in my opinion.
See? Free Wi-fi on the BoltBus! Awesome. Just select the network and click through the agreement and you are set to go with free wi-fi.
Here I am rocking out to non child influenced music. It was nice to sit back and relax knowing that the driver was going to get me to NYC with out me having to drive. There was no worrying about being pulled over by the police for speeding, no wear and tear on my car, the cost of gas, paying for parking my car ($45 for overnight at my hotel) and there was no need to stop for a potty break because there was a restroom on board!
We arrived safely and ON TIME to our stop in NYC. We unloaded and grabbed out luggage as the driver pulled it from under the bus.
THE RIDE BACK TO BALTIMORE:
I rode on a different bus on the way back to Baltimore. I think this was an older bus. All the seats were cracked as pictured above and would have been not to pleasant to sit on if I had been wearing shorts. Luckily I had on a long skirt so it wasn’t a problem.
Also the outlet in the seat back was not working. A little frustrating but I was understanding that not all things work at all times. We did a pit stop at the Delaware line and I asked the driver if the outlets were broken and he told me he would check the breaker. Once we were back on the road the outlets were working again. It always pays to ask and ask nicely when things aren’t working.
If you would like to read about my preview post on BoltBus check it out HERE.
I would highly recommend BoltBus to anyone is going to the cities that they service. It is well worth every penny to this penny pincher.
Do you follow me on twitter? If not here is my twitter stream of my tweets of my ride to and from NYC:
The ride back from NYC to Baltimore.
HAPPY BOLTING!
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