Bussing...

This time around marked an experiment with a different mode of transportation back for Christmas: Greyhound. All said I think that I'd consider doing it again, although probably not if I'm only heading back for a weekend.

Total time involved: it's about 14-15 hours total - although about 1.5 hours of that was rest breaks accounting for a midnight snack and breakfast. (Being able to hit a restaurant and walk around for a bit makes this way better than longhaul flights). Compare to 1.5 hours on a plane plus probably an extra 2 hours at the airport in addition to the time you'd spend at a bus station.

Total cost involved: Round trip on the bus was about $180 without really any requirements for advanced booking. (Thanks to the Greyhound guy for mentioning they had student discounts - which brought my ticket down to the same price as their advanced purchase. Typical round-trip airfare these days on the route would probably be a bit over $300 - so that's about a 40% savings. (I did manage to fly once round-trip for $190 a number of years back on a now-defunct airline).

Total number of means of distraction involved: They seem to be a bit more nitpicky about number of carryons, but one backpack can fit quite a bit of stuff. I was packing a laptop (~ 4-5 hours battery life in practice - managed to get some paper writing done, but wish the bus on the route had power outlets). I was also packing a tablet (HP Touchpad - 8-10 hour battery life in practice and way better to watch video on than a laptop); a ereader; an ipod touch; and an Android smartphone. No seatback entertainment system active (although the bus was wired with a few video monitors) but that wasn't an overly big disadvantage.

Total environmental impact involved: Greyhound claims 170 passenger miles per gallon. Airplanes - it depends. About the best you can do with a full plane is 100 passenger MPG. Typical load factor is about 80%, so you'd have to reduce that somewhat, and also account for additional overhead ascending and descent given the shorter-ish length of the route. Still, Greyhound seems to have a fair bit of an advantage - and probably more stable pricing over the long term if gas prices continue upwards.

Total hours of sleep involved: Not all that many. Still can't sleep too well on a bus. I do have a travel eye mask thingy which I've had a number of years and saw when packing - that was a great idea to include.