Land of Oz

Irrational Fears

How many do you have? One of mine has to do with traveling. It drives other people nuts. I hate to get to a terminal shortly before departure. And to me shortly can be measured in hours. I have no problem getting to a terminal a couple of hours before departure and then chill out reading or watching while I wait for transport. I've had friends who get there just before it's due to leave and that drives me crazy.

While I used to fly a lot, I haven't been airborne since the 9/11 excuse came into being. It's nothing about fear of flying or anything, just haven't had a desire to fly to anyplace. I'm mostly a stay at home kinda guy. I've been on a few trains and buses and have picked people up from those places. Usually I'm a couple of hours early to pick them up. No problem for me, since I just grab a book or two and relax.

This came up because I'm taking a 10 hour bus trip and had to pick up the ticket today. I need a ride to the terminal (and we all know how appetizing bus terminals are) and hesitate to ask to be taken there as early as I'd like to be. So, I'll have to bury my fears for awhile and fidget and fuss while I have visions of the bus pulling out as I pull in.

And if they are wondering why bus travel isn't more popular in the US, it's because it will take me 10 hours to travel 300 miles. Granted it's cheap - $55, but slow. I guess that's the tradeoff.

However, I just checked the airlines and the same trip via air ranges from $372 and up up up and takes 3 - 6 hours - that's 3 - 6 flying. I don't even want to think how much extra travel time that entails. And while I'm going from Michigan to Toronto, the flights from one airline all connect in Chicago or Milwaukee and for another they connect in Columbus.

Oh well, the bus is sounding better and better - as long I get to the terminal early, that is.

2fers: Greyhound and priceline.com