The farther you go from home, the more likely to are to draw stares. Don’t sweat it.

In the movie “The Falcon and the Snowman” (1985), an amateur spy played by Sean Penn is waiting to meet his KGB contact in Mexico City when he’s ambushed by Mexican police. As he’s being stuffed into a waiting car, he puts on the “outraged gringo tourist” act, complete with the classic “I’m an American citizen!”

The cop’s reply: “This is not America!”

Keep that in mind if you ever find yourself in a foreign country — and find people staring at you.

I’ve been places, Japan in particular, where people stared until it seemed I could feel a hundred eyes following my every step and gesture. Add to that the tendency of folks in some cultures to smile or giggle in an uncertain or awkward moment, and the first thought to cross our minds is, “They’re making fun of me because I’m black!”

Maybe. Maybe not.

In the Western world in general, America in particular and black American culture specifically, we don’t stare. To us, it’s bad manners at best, and at worst, an invitation to trouble. The words “Who YOU lookin’ at?!” have been the prelude to some truly unfortunate events.

Throw in the hair-trigger sensitivity that some of “us” have about racism, add in a little jet lag on the side, and you may become an “incident” waiting to happen.

The key thing to remember: You’re not at home. In many parts of the world, staring is accepted behavior. People will stare at anything that’s interesting or unfamiliar — and in their eyes, you may well qualify on both counts.

In reality, the whole staring thing cuts both ways, especially when the foreigner is staring back through a camera lens. The tourist rudely sticks a camera in someone’s face and shoots away. The traveler asks their consent first.

This is especially true when dealing with rural people. If all you know of other nationalities is what you’ve “heard” from friends or seen on television, seeing a foreigner on the street can be a pretty big deal.

You don’t have to be black to get this kind of treatment. As the UK’s Ian Bishop found out while spending three years in Japan, all you have to be is different:

“I…grew irritated that my obvious “foreign-ness” made me stand out in crowds, and that the Japanese always used to stare at foreigners.”

You could “go ghetto” on anyone you catch staring at you, but only thing you’re likely to accomplish with that is to get more people — possibly including a few policemen — to stare at you longer.

Remember: In their environment, staring is normal. You, on the other hand, are not.

So don’t sweat it. It’s only a fleeting moment, featuring lots of people whom you don’t know and will never see again — so who cares?

And before you jump down the collective throat of an entire country or culture for people’s staring habits, you need to take a long, honest look first in the mirror.

Seasoned travelers tend to dress in a way calculated to draw less attention to themselves. To them, “bling” is the sound made by a bicycle bell. Wherever they are, theirs is not the loudest voice in the place.

None of that guarantees they won’t be stared at, but they probably won’t be stared at nearly as long as someone whose conduct practically screams “All eyes on me!”

To put it another way: If your personal style is calculated to draw you attention at home, don’t be surprised when it works even better — and quite possibly to your detriment — abroad.

That’s French for Black Paris…and there’s an early summer tour for 2010 being organized for that.

There’s never a bad time to see Paris. Here’s some info I received recently on a 10-day tour being organized for early summer of 2010:

Black Paris & A Taste of France
10 Day Cultural Tour of France – Paris, Burgundy, and Dordogne

Discover Paris, Experience Burgundy
and Explore Josephine Baker’s Chateau
June 18– 28, 2010

Join us in celebrating the best of Black Paris, traditional France, plus get a glimpse into the life of the legendary Josephine Baker. We start in Paris with a guided walking and bus tour that retraces the illustrious lives and achievements of Black Americans who chose to live in Paris between 1784-1960. Our tours will be provided by “Walking the Spirit Tours of Black Paris” and they focus on popular areas – The Latin Quarter/St. Germain-des-Pres, Champs-Elysees and Lower Montmartre.

Tour 1 (Voices and Visions in Exile) walks through neighborhoods of writers Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Chester Himes, artists Henry O.Tanner and Lois Mailou Jones and Beboppers Miles Davis and Bud Powell.

On Tour 2 (The Entertainers) we relive the excitement of Black Montmartre of the 1920s and 1930s where jazz flourished alongside African art, decadence, and black entrepreneurs. You will leave Paris with enough French history to give you a well-rounded picture of the times and circumstances. In an air-conditioned private motorcoach we then travel south to the Burgundy region to discover the world-famous vineyards and their panaromas, visit a winery, tour the wine cellars, enjoy tastings and explore the old village. And for the piece de resistance we continue further south to discover Josephine Baker’s Dordogne. Here, we are guided through an exclusive tour of her former home, Chateau des Milandes, which is now an awe-inspiring tribute to her life.

Your package includes:

• Nonstop roundtrip air on Air France from Wash. DC Dulles (IAD) to Paris (other cities can be arranged)
• 5 nights Hotel Le Senat – 3 star – Latin Quarter Hotel http://www.hotelsenat.com/
• American breakfast daily
• 2 nights Best Western Beaune (Burgundy wine region)
• 2 nights Best Western Le Renoir (Dordogne)
• Comprehensive 5-hour walking/bus tour through Black Paris
• Paris City Tour, Eiffel Tower and River Seine – 5 hours
• Burgundy wine tour including a tasting
• Tour of Josephine Baker’s Chateau des Milandes
• All transfers, taxes, fees and service charges

Rate per person: $2895.00 based on double occupancy.
Deposit due $300 per person: UPON BOOKING.
Optional Insurance: $175.00 (approx.).
$1,500 must be on account by January 15, 2010.
Balance due: April 15, 2010.
NOTE: Airport taxes are subject to change without notice until the time of ticketing. Additional collection may be required, if applicable.
Make checks payable to Colesville Travel. MasterCard, Visa accepted (add 3%).
Returned checks subject to $25 fee.
Deposits are nonrefundable and nontransferable.
Suggested payment plans $350 15th of each month. Not included: tips for driver and tour guides. Items of a personal nature.

All Travel Arrangements Made By Colesville Travel

Cynthia Amin Hall
P.O. Box 4844
Silver Spring, MD 20914
Office: 301-989-1654
Fax: 301-989-8473
Email: cindy@colesvilletravel.com.
Website: www.colesvilletravel.com

What I find interesting in this package is the option to make gradual payments on it in advance. Not all agencies do this. Especially coming on the heels of the holiday season, it could help put travel within reach of more folks.

As always, do your homework. Due diligence.

That said, it’s hard to imagine a bad ten days in France.

Congress looks to put an end to this political dinosaur. Will the White House go along?

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama lifted U.S. restrictions barring Cuban-Americans from legally traveling to Cuba to see their families, but the move stopped short of lifting Cuba travel restrictions altogether.

One of two bills now pending in Congress — S.428 in the Senate and HR.874 in the House of Representatives — could take care of that. Each aims to lift the travel ban, part of the 50-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Both bills have bipartisan sponsors and bipartisan support. The Senate bill has at least 35 co-sponsors, the House version at least 178. So this one doesn’t shape up as one of those Democratic-Republican pissing contests.

From all appearances, if either measure ever made it to the floor of Congress for a vote, it probably would pass.

The only question is: Would Obama sign it?

We’ve already discussed why he should. The embargo against Havana stopped making sense a long time ago.

As a kid living through the Cold War, I didn’t have a problem with the embargo back when it looked as if Fidel Castro wanted to turn Cuba into an unsinkable aircraft carrier on behalf of the Soviet Union. But let’s face it, the Cold War’s been over for a long time now. Time to turn the page.

Aside from ending a failed policy that never made much sense to begin with, the payoffs for the United States, both political and economic, could be sizable.

Dropping the embargo would greatly improve U.S. standing in Latin America, whose leaders recognized the pointlessness of the embargo long before ours did.

The economic payoff would come in the American jobs tied to travel between the United States and Cuba.

I know Obama’s been tied up with weightier matters like health care reform and climate change, not to mention trying to simultaneously ratchet down one war and spin up another. But whenever he finally comes up for air, this is something he really needs to do.

Here’s a taste of what you can expect to see on the blog in 2010

Sunset behind Maui

BLOG ENTRIES
These aren’t necessarily listed in the order they will appear, but these are some of the topics you’ll be able to find here:

Voluntourism
Hedonism barely disguised as travel isn’t your thing? Want a fresh perspective on a familiar destination? Feel the need to “give back?” There are plenty of worthwhile causes out there that will let you spend your vacation time swinging a hammer, tutoring young kids or pursuing other worthwhile causes, either here at home or in some of the world’s most exotic locales.

Wine travel
If you’re looking for a theme for your next round of travels, this one’s as good as any — especially since there are major wine-producing regions on every continent of the world — yes, including Africa. This one’s going to be a series; the topic is far too big to be shoehorned into a single blog entry.

Travel scams
I’m still doing research on this one. Keep your vacation plans — and your vacation budget — safe.

Endangered places
Just as there are flora and fauna in danger of extinction, there are places in the world you need to see before they’re gone forever.

Tripping over culture
What is an innocuous act, word or gesture in one part of the world could just about start riots in another. A litle bit of homework can save you a lot of embarrassment…or worse.

Mexico
And no, I have not taken leave of my senses. There are plenty of reasons to consider going there, or going back.

New Orleans
You can look at this city as a place. But if you do, you’ll miss a lot of what makes it worth seeing. New Orleans is sometimes a verb, often an adjective, at times even a perjorative. The one thing it will never be is boring.

NEW FEATURES
Polls
Planning to do more polls in 2010 — some serious, some whimsical, and the rest downright silly.

Podcasts
Will be introducing audio blog entries in the form of podcasts. The plan is to find interesting folks who can talk about blog topics, past, present and future, and give them a platform. This is made especially important by the fact that I’ve got a face for radio and a voice for billboards!

Audio slideshows
Still photography is great, but Generation YouTube demands more. So you’re going to see audio slideshows, featuring either narration or a music track or a combination thereof. All of this, though, is really just a warm-up for the main multimedia event, which is of course…

Videos
What GYT wants, GYT gets. Some videos will supplement regular blog entries. Others will stand alone as blog entries in their own right. None will be overly long, but all, hopefully, will be fun to watch.

UPCOMING TRIPS
Or “Where In The World Is Greg Otherthansandiego? Right now, the answer is…I have no idea!

Actually, I have lots of ideas. What I don’t have yet are reservations.

Me being me, you have to figure there’s going to be at least one train trip in their somewhere. Maybe a run up the Pacific Coast aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, or a revisit to my childhood roots — and an homage to the Pullman porters in my family — with a run to New Orleans aboard the Sunset Limited.

What are the other possibilities? Maybe a reprise of a couple of sentimental favorites like London or Paris. Maybe a return to destinations visited long ago like Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Hong Kong or Bangkok, or to new favorites like Venice.

Or maybe this will be the year to finally set foot on the motherland…Africa. Maybe Ghana. Perhaps Senegal. Possibly Kenya. Maybe Angola, the land from which so many black Louisianans like me descend. Perhaps even South Africa — after all the FIFA World Cup hoopla has past.

That’s the nice thing about dreaming; anything is possible.

And this is where you come in. What would you like to see featured on the blog in 2010? What topics? Which issues? What destinations? And WHY?

If I get enough answers from readers, I’ll compile “Your Top Ten for ‘10″ and publish it here on the blog. You can post your idea in the form of a comment to this blog entry. The deadline for submissions is midnight Sunday, 10 Jan 2010. If there are enough submissions to put together a list, it will run the next day.

Until then, Happy Holidays…and go easy on the spiked eggnog this time, okay? I want you all back here next year, safe and sound…and reading!

This compact, low-lying, friendly country is worth a look…and so are the measures its people take to protect it.

Netherlands storm surge barrier

Mention the Netherlands among your friends in the States and what you’re likely to get back are:
a) jokes about windmills and wooden shoes, or
b) grins and winks about being able to legally use marijuana or spend time with a prostitute.

Since Hurricane Katrina, however, Americans have found another reason to take note of the Netherlands: The Dutch are the best in the world at keeping low-lying lands from flooding.

And being from New Orleans originally, that intrigues me a lot more than the prospect of blazing up a “doob” or hooking up with “industrial debutantes.”

The last time I was “home” was 2005 as an embedded journalist with the California National Guard, days after Hurricane Katrina. (God bless you guys, wherever you are now).

The levee failures had left 80 percent of the city underwater. There was scarcely a house, a school, a church, a hospital, that wasn’t either flooded or flattened.

We spent our days cruising through neighborhoods in civilian boats, sailing over the tops of cars, past flooded houses and through swamped housing projects, looking for people still trapped in their drowned homes — most of them in my old neighborhood. The disaster has forced nearly all of my family out of the city; most will never return.

Now you know why I have to see the Netherlands.

Flooding in that country is no joke. Sixteen million people live between two major rivers, the Rhine and the Meuse, and the North Sea. Much of the Netherlands — including Amsterdam, its nation capital –rests on land well below sea level.

In their history, the Dutch have lost about 150 villages and towns to flooding. The full number of people who perished in those floods is known but to God.

The North Sea floods of 1953 alone killed more than 2,100 people in Europe. More than 1,800 of those were Dutch.

Model of The Citadel, a planned floating apartment complex to be built in the Netherlands.

So when it comes to flood control, the Netherlands does not play.

FLOATING NEIGHBORHOODS
Giant round swing-out floodgates. Huge storm surge barriers with enough reinforced concrete to build a small town. Inflatable dams. Whole neighborhoods of houses that float. Now, they’re looking to put up floating apartments.

Even more significant, they’re starting to look at ways of working with nature instead of against it as a means of protecting against floods.

Their reputation as flood masters supreme went global after Katrina, and people come from all over the world to see how they do it. Dutch tour operators have caught on to this, and many now offer tours of Dutch flood control works for the lay traveler.

Works for me.

When it comes to holding back floodwaters, the Dutch are so far ahead of us, it’s embarrassing. Or it should be.

And as you can tell from this blogger in the Philippines, anger over half-hearted flood control measures isn’t limited to angry New Orleans folk.

Because it’s about more than just innovative ideas. The Dutch put in the time, the work and the money to do it right. They don’t skimp and they don’t stop.

Of course, there are plenty of other good reasons to visit the Netherlands. Amsterdam is an historic treasure, and I love any city laced with canals and dominated by bicycles. The Dutch people themselves have a reputation for being friendly and welcoming.

Also, after having seen the prototype for Nazi concentration camps in Germany, I have to pay homage to the memory of Anne Frank.

But I have an agenda — and this time, its not just a geek thing. I want to see what flood control looks like when it’s done by people who have their act together.

The shame is that I have to fly across a continent, and then an ocean, to see it.

The answer is disarmingly simple, but maybe not as easy as it sounds.

Want to start an argument? Just get some friends together who travel and ask:

The best camera for travel is...the one you have with you!

“What’s the best camera to travel with?”

Then…stand back.

Canons and Nikons and Sonys, oh my! Lumix and Leicas. Megapixels. ISOs. This could get ugly — or at the very least, RAW.

People get passionate about this stuff, and the level of passion often rises in direct proportion to the amount of money they shelled out for their camera.

Let’s simplify.

In 40 years in the news business, I worked with some of the best photographers out there. I learned more about good journalism from “shooters” than I ever did from editors.

On the question at hand, they taught me three things.

1) YOUR BEST CAMERA IS THE ONE YOU HAVE WITH YOU
And if you’re wondering if that includes cell phone cameras, the answer is yes.

You could own the most advanced, most state-of-the-art digital SLR camera on the planet, but if it’s too heavy or bulky to keep with you at all times, too big to let you shoot discreetly or too complex to let you shoot quickly, odds are you won’t have it handy.

And Murphy’s First Law of Travel Photography decrees that that is precisely when you will see the shot of your dreams.

When you see that dream shot, you want to be ready. Which brings up the second great photographic lesson.

2) KNOW YOUR CAMERA
If I had a dollar for every great shot I ever missed by violating this rule, I’d leave Bill Gates begging for change.

Too many folks wait until just before a vacation to buy a brand-new camera — and plan on figuring it out during their trip. This is like waving a red flag in front of a rodeo bull named Fate. Bad idea!

The only way to be totally comfortable with your camera is to practice with it, every day if you can. Practice until you feel you could operate it with your eyes closed — then practice some more.

I mean, it’s not like you’re going to go broke paying for film and processing, right?

Recently, I’m in Union Station in Los Angeles, waiting for a train. The station is abuzz with passengers in the cavernous waiting room. I look up to find a young bride and groom, coming to have their wedding pictures taken.

Coming straight toward me.

The warm wood of the walls and the art deco seats. Warm light from the ceiling. The winsome, smiling couple coming dead-center down the crowded aisle as if they were in church, parting a Red Sea of incredulous travelers. It was too perfect.

Or it would’ve been if I’d had my trusty Panasonic Lumix FZ-30. But what I had was the camera in my Blackberry Storm, which I’ve seldom used.

The fact that you’re not seeing that shot on this blog entry should tell you what happened next. I missed it completely.

See what happens when you don’t take your own advice? Where’s my dollar!

3) KNOW YOURSELF
Any camera can take good, even great pictures. Don’t believe it? Visit any photography museum, real or virtual. Look at some of the images made more than a century ago with the most primitive pinhole cameras you can imagine. No meters, no motors, no automated anything.

Not even a lens.

Every camera has limitations; either work within them or find ways around them. Know the kind of shot you want, and think through what you need to do to get it. Not the camera…YOU!

That way, when you do nail that dream shot, you’ll know it was you who made it happen, not the camera doing the thinking for you. And that has a way of making that captured moment in time look even better — even if you’re the only one who can see it.

When it comes to photography, it’s more about you than your gear.

Another reason to love trains far more than flying: Train stations.

interior, Union Station, Los Angeles

This is where you catch Metrolink commuter trains and two of Amtrak’s long-distance runners — the Coast Starlight, that runs daily from Los Angeles to Seattle, and the Sunset Limited, that runs across the southwestern desert and into New Orleans.

But the station is close to being a destination itself.

If you’re into architecture, this station is practically a temple to art deco design. Walking through it feels almost as if you’re stepping back in time to a bygone century.

When traditionally shortsighted Los Angeles chose to save this place from the wrecking ball and restore it to its original splendor, they got it right.

But that isn’t what makes Union Station such a fascination to me.

Union Station outside

On arrival, the restrooms, both men’s and women’s, are alive with the roar of hand dryers. The homeless are using the blowers to dry the clothes they’d just washed in the bathroom sinks.

One looks up at me. His tattered shorts, made ragged by life rather than fashion, extend below his raincoat, a large garbage bag, cinched at the waist by a grimy woven belt. He seems almost serene.

“You wanna use this?” he asks and moves aside for me.

I make a cursory pass under the blower with my hands, thank him for his courtesy and leave with my two dripping hands. I figure his is the greater need at that moment; my hands will dry a lot faster than his laundry.

On the return leg, I’m sitting in the station sandwich shop. Two minutes apart, two parades file through the waiting room in opposite directions — a quinceanera one way, a newlywed couple and their train of black-clad professional wedding photographers the other.

The star of the quinceanera, in her floor-length flaming and rhinestone-studded burgundy dress, is having her party here. The newlyweds, smiling and undeterred by the rain that forced them from the station’s elegant courtyards, are having their wedding shots taken inside the waiting room itself.

When was the last time you saw something like that in an airport?

These days, we basically feed ourselves into the increasingly unfriendly apparatus called air travel, to the point that we feel like little more than parts in the machine. As such, airports have become places to avoid if you can, and escape if you can’t. Nobody goes to an airport to have a good time.

Train stations, on the other hand, can be destinations in their own right. Union Station in Washington DC, New York’s Grand Central Terminal or the Gare de Lyon in Paris are as much places to see and experience as they are to catch a train.

Perhaps it’s because trains stations usually form part of a city’s hub, a valve in its beating heart, in or near the center of town. Perhaps it’s the way a major train station combines the functions of commuter terminal for local trips and a waypoint for journeys of a hundred or a thousand miles.

Or maybe it’s more a matter of what you won’t find there — at least not yet. Long security lines everywhere. Security procedures that are as inane as they are ultimately pointless.

Le Train Bleu restaurant, Gare de Lyon, Paris

Whatever it is, train stations seem to embrace homo sapiens in ways that would seem unthinkable at air terminals.

I mean, when was the last time you took a date to the airport?

You could do that in Paris, especially at the Gare de Lyon. There’s a restaurant there called Le Train Bleu. The Blue Train. The only danger in taking a date to this place is that she may want you to take her back again the next night — and for several nights thereafter.

Union Station has a pretty cool resto of its own, Traxx, although nothing that even comes close to Le Train Bleu. But really, it’s the humanity passing through it that makes Union Station a treasure for me, even more than its stylish old-school looks.

I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

It’s been a long time since I could say that about an airport.

Any airport.

The African nation of Uganda currently is considering a law that would punish HIV-positive men found to have committed “aggravated homosexuality.”

The proposed punishment is death.

I’m sorry, but this is just wrong.

Usually, I subscribe to the notion of “their house, their rules.” Uganda being a sovereign nation, it has the right to put forth any laws its legitimately constituted government sees fit.

This Ugandan law, however, appears to have some shadowy religious strings behind it. Strings that extend back to the United States in the form of an extremist Christian outfit called The Family.

Thanks to National Public Radio, you can learn about them here.

Other nations around the world are speaking out in protest. The official position of the United States government is that passage of such a law would be a major step backward for human rights in Uganda.

Perhaps someone should explain that to the ultra-conservative typs in Congress who apparently have been helping The Family influence Uganda politics.

If you have a problem with HIV, you educate your people. You provide them with condoms. You don’t arbitrarily put them death because of who they are.

Unless, of course, the little voice in your head is telling you that God says it’s cool.

Christianity, Islam, whatever…whenever and wherever extremism in the name of religion rears its head, it leaves cruelty and tragedy behind it.

Uganda has natural beauty to rival any in the world. I would love to encourage people to go there and see it. But so long as this measure has even the possibility of becoming law, I can’t do that.

And I won’t.

If you’re a movie buff, travel adds a whole new dimension to watching flims.

It happens in an instant. You’re watching a movie, maybe at a theater, maybe in your house. A wounded spy walks through the neon-lit night on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. Bored teenagers lean on the wooden railing that leads into a covered bridge in Pennsylvania. An aging actor walks with his much younger girlfriend through Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, the world’s busiest intersection.

In that moment, you forget all about the actors, the plot, whether it’s a great movie or just barely watchable. The scene becomes the star. And if you happen to be in a theater, you may have to restrain yourself from jumping out of your seat, pointing wildly at the screen and shouting:

“I know that place! I’ve been there!”

Another advantage to watching movies at home. No need to restrain yourself.

Suddenly, you’re barely paying attention to the flick. Your mind is racing back to your moment in that spot, your days in that country. If you’re watching at home, you and your travel companion can reminisce it aloud. The memories come flooding back.

There’s something about having been there yourself that alters the film-watching experience. Others who see that same movie with you don’t see it, can’t see it, will never see it quite the same way that you do — not, at least, until they visit that place themselves.

It’s one of the gifts that travel keeps on giving, long after you’ve worn out the souvenir T-shirt.

it’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen in love with the whole “Bourne” series of films. You know..”The Bourne Identity”…The Bourne Ultimatum”…”The Bourne Supremacy”…”The Bourne of Desperation”…”The…oh, wait, never mind!

Even if you saw it a dozen times on televised reruns before visiting the place where it was shot, that 13th viewing — after having trod that same ground yourself — brings with it a whole new perspective. And it applies equally to feature films and documentaries, even TV series.

Escapism is so much easier to get into when you’ve “been there” for real.

An added bonus: When filmmakers use one location to substitute for another, you know it.

“Wait a minute! That’s not Los Angeles, that’s Oakland! That’s not Paris, that’s Prague! That’s not Milan, that’s Berlin…no, wait…now it’s Los Angeles!”

There’s something perversely gratifying about being able to do that.

So the next time you’re thinking about taking a vacation but can’t decide where to go, make a list of your ten all-time favorite movies. Then think back to the last ten films you saw, good or bad. Between those two lists, I’m betting you can come up with some locations you’d love to see for yourself one day.

Then go see them. Your nights out at the movies will be all the better for it.

As for me, I don’t watch foreign films for entertainment anymore. I’m scouting travel destinations!

The joy of travel isn’t always in reaching the destination, but in taking the journey itself.

New Greyhound buses feature wi-fi and power outlets at your seat. Greyhound Lines photo

By SABRINA MESSENGER
For many people around the world, travel by bus or motor coach is commonplace. In the United States, however, many people feel that bus travel is uncomfortable, unsafe, or something that only “low-class” people do.

If I had $100 for every person who has ever said to me when discussing travel, “Oh, I could never ride the bus!,” let me tell you, I’d be richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined! People who reject bus travel out of hand miss out on a unique travel experience.

Sabrina Messenger

As a person who appreciates history and classic movies, I find there is a certain romance in bus travel. It brings to mind screwball comedy movies from the 1930s like “It Happened One Night,” or dramas like the 1955 “Bus Stop.”

I’ve traveled via Greyhound numerous times since 1978. I was 17 when I first traveled from Ohio to New York City on the bus. ..and regaled people with my guitar playing!

In my mid-20s, I took the bus cross country…twice…with a baby in tow! My route followed very closely the “Mother Road”…Route 66.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve enjoyed many a bus trip throughout the West, with my family or on my own. I take the bus to visit relatives, to get myself to rock concerts or special events…or just to get the heck out of Dodge!

Bus travel encourages communication and camaraderie amongst passengers, and there are plenty of opportunities to meet very interesting and fascinating people from all over the world. Sometimes it’s fun just to be quiet and watch other passengers or eavesdrop.

I can definitely identify with the lyrics in the Simon and Garfunkel song “America.”

“Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said “Be careful his bowtie is really a camera”

Bus travel for me has been the inspiration for poetry and songs.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: There currently are at least 40 inter-city bus lines in the United States, most of them in the east. Most are listed here. Some of them connect Chinatowns around the country. Others shuttle passenger between the U.S. -Mexico border and cities in Southern California and the southwestern U.S. G. Gross)

For African-Americans, bus travel in the 1950s and 1960s was “ground zero” of the Civil Rights movement. It was on a bus where Rosa Parks made her stand…by sitting down.

Beginning in 1961, courageous young students, both Black and White, began to taking road trips to ensure that buses, trains and planes were really and truly desegregated. These were the Freedom Rides. Those activists ran into people who jeered them, and many were threatened by violence. Some buses were even destroyed by pro-segregationists.

However, due to their perseverance, travel became desegregated and “we” now can travel freely. Bus travel, to me, was a hard-earned right that we as Black people shouldn’t abandon so easily.

These days, bus travel is somewhat endangered. Many routes are being cut, leaving entire communities potentially isolated. Local and regional bus companies are beginning to pick up the slack, but there is still a need for interstate buses for those who can’t or prefer not to use other forms of transportation.

Okay, so for many people, bus travel really is not feasible. Business travelers on an extremely tight deadline, for example. People trying to get from Point A to Point B in an emergency. However, for some people, like me, bus travel is an enjoyable and preferred method of transportation.

Why?

Well, some people either can’t afford or dislike flying. Trains may not be available. Some people either can’t drive or simply prefer to leave the driving to someone else.

For those who think that bus travel is only for ‘low-life’ or disreputable people, consider these facts about the average Greyhound customer:

* One-third of Greyhound passengers make more than $35,000 per year.
* More than half of Greyhound riders have received higher education beyond high school.
* Forty-two percent of Greyhound passengers are between the ages of 18 and 34.
* Nearly 60 percent of Greyhound passengers travel less than 450 miles.
* In many cases, Greyhound passengers report they own automobiles considered sufficiently reliable for a trip of a similar distance, but travel by bus because it is safe and more economical.
* The majority of Greyhound passengers travel to visit family and friends, but more than 21 percent travel for business reasons.
* The average ticket price is $45.

(source; www.greyhound.com)

For many young people, particularly from Europe, traveling by bus was the way they got to “know” America because of offers like AmeriPass. For a low fee, you could travel anyplace any time.

Such offers still exist today in the form of the Discovery Pass.

One of the arguments used to promote air travel over buses goes something like this: “Flying is safer than driving.”

Well, I beg to differ. The Greyhound website cites federal statistics showing that inter-city buses like Greyhound, are the safest mode of transportation — over cars, trucks, trains, planes and other commercial vehicles.

As for the ride being ‘uncomfortable,’ even that’s now a thing of the past. The newer Greyhound buses have been retooled to have considerably more leg room.

Also, bus travel is more environmentally friendly than either flying or driving your own vehicle. They’re also touting eco-friendly buses, too. So if you want to ‘discover America’ and decrease your carbon footprint, I recommend using mass transit of all kinds.

Sure, there are some bad people on buses. There also are bad people on planes, trains, driving automobiles, riding bicycles, on cruise ships! The chances of truly being a victim of crime while on a bus trip are very rare. The key is to always be aware of your surroundings and use your common sense, just as you would at home.

Bus travel is the closest many people can come to experiencing what it may have been like for the pioneers of long ago who traveled overland to the West. You can observe a great many cultures and personalities while on the bus, and it makes for a far more interesting trip than some homogenized air trip, when all you see is clouds, and everyone is trying to ignore each other while watching the in-flight movie.

IF YOU GO
Plan ahead. Order your tickets online and they’ll send them through the mail. Ordering online can also save money because sometimes the trips have discounts.

Read the instructions carefully on how many bags you can take. It’s a bit more flexible than airline rules, but no, you can’t take your entire household on the bus!

All adult passengers need a photo ID to board. Minors must either be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian, or have consent from one i traveling alone.

Keep any medications you may need in your carry-on baggage. The bus company will NOT allow you to unlock your checked bags to get it. If you have a disability and need assistance, let the driver know.

Alcohol is dehydrating. It’s also illegal to bring on a bus. If you’re caught, you will be kicked off. Water is your best friend on long trips. Bring your own as bottled water can be somewhat expensive en route. Don’t bring illegal drugs, either….unless you’re looking to spending some time in the crossbar hotel!

Bring your favorite tunes…but remember those headphones. Also bring your favorite reading material or crossword puzzles, and favorite toys if you’re traveling en famille. It’s YOUR responsibility, not the driver’s, to keep your offspring in line.

Bring a travel guide to spot points of interests en route, and maybe a journal to chronicle your journey. Keep a digital camera handy, too. You never know when an awesome photo or video op may turn up! Some buses have wi-fi, so if you have a laptop, you can upload those vids to YouTube while you’re on the road!

Do bring enough money for meals, but you may also want to bring some chocolate bars, fruit, veggies or other healthy snacks along with you to munch along the way.

I don’t do this, but I’ve known of people who have brought their own toilet paper…just in case. A small pillow and a blanket or warm jacket can come in handy, too…even in summer. Sometimes that air conditioning can get pretty cool.

A smile, tolerance and common courtesy go a long way. However, if someone is being annoying, is harassing you or doing something bordering on illegal, don’t confront the individual yourself. Tell the driver.

For more information on bus travel and to find out routes, visit the Greyhound website http://www.greyhound.com/