I Like the Bus (Julie Beck, JULY 24, 2015)
As a traveler, my competitive advantage is laziness. I truly do not mind sitting still in one spot for hours with nothing to do but read or listen to music. In fact, those are three of my favorite things—music, reading, sitting. And I cherish when circumstances give me an excuse to spend my time that way, rather than worrying that I could be being more active, or productive. Because I am doing something productive—I’m going somewhere.
This sort of me-time can be achieved on many forms of transportation—planes, trains, and automobiles (ones I’m not driving anyway) but the one I most enjoy is the bus. I like the city bus—especially as opposed to the subway, how it takes you through the streets instead of below them—and I like the long-distance bus. The bus to me is a meditative space, a safe place, a bubble out of time and away from life that moves me gently from one place to another.
I have to fly to visit my family. The bus is better. It’s cheaper. You can bring liquids. There’s no security. You just get on, and get off. The cost is more one of time (though depending where you’re going, if you factor in the time you spend getting to the airport and going through security, you may end up breaking even). And it’s time, I think, worth spending. The more efficiently we use our time, the more demands are placed on our time. There’s something to be said for a forced slowdown.
Going somewhere is an act. And there’s a pace at which I can fully take in the act of going somewhere and it’s not 500 miles per hour. A driving pace seems a good compromise. The scenery might blur around you, but you're still touching the ground.
(From: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/i-like-the-bus/399518/. Adapted.)
The writer likes the bus mainly because
