SPN con adventure update

[vyperdd]

Made major progress with booking things for my big Con trip to the USA which is just 2 months away.

It's going to be quite the mixed adventure as I'm doing all my internal travel on Greyhound buses -- LA-Vegas (5 hours), Vegas-Denver (23 hours) and Denver-LA (19 hours) The last two legs are overnighters, thereby saving myself 2 nights accommodation. Where I'm staying is even more interesting, ranging from 6-bed dorms in hostels in LA and Denver to the 5-star Sheraton (PasCon) and Marriott (DenverCon) hotels on the con weekends. In between I'm staying for 4 nights at the 3 star El Cortez hotel & casino in Vegas that my travel agent found for me for just $67/night.

Now that travel and rooms have been taken care of, I can put all my savings towards spending money for merchandise and photo-ops at the 2 cons and general day-to-day living expenses. The budget is still going to be super tight but I know I'll have enough to have a good, fun trip.

Autos & Photos I'll be getting are:

Denver- Autos (All included with Gold ticket)
Jared, Jensen, Misha, Mark Sheppard, Gil McKinney, Tahmoh and Mark Pellegrino

Photos paid for-
Jared x2, Jensen x2, J2

Photos I'd like to get (depending on budget)
Mark P, Gil, Tahmoh.

Pascon - Autos (included with Gold ticket)
Jared, Jensen, Misha, Mark Sheppard, Osric, Kim Rhodes, Ruth, Brianna, Richard, Matt, Travis, Kathryn Newton

Extra autos-
Rob Benedict ($25)

Photos paid for-
Jared, Jensen, J2

Photos I'd like to get (depending on budget)
Kim, Richard/Matt/Rob triple

Comments

[junkerin.livejournal.com]

The longest time I spend on a Greyhound was 27 hours.
That was the day I decided I hate traveling by bus.

You trip sounds great!
Have fun

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

WOW! You re going to have SO much FUN! I so wish I could be there with you, and not just because it's the guys, but to see a con newbie (like I was and am) enjoying the first amazement, it's intoxicating, seeing that joy spread across someone's face! I can still feel that smile on mine!

Next time bb, if I win the lottery we'll do a year of cons, on me :D

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

That's going to be an amazing adventure! You must be beyond excited! Apart from Jensen and Jared *still swooning*, I loved meeting Travis and Ruth, they are both lovely people, so friendly and much better looking in real life! I look forward to hearing all about it, and traveling by Greyhound bus sounds really romantic - it's probably not! - but what a great way to see some of the country too. Woo hooooo!

[hugemind.livejournal.com]

Oh man, this sounds seriously awesome! You're going to have a great trip. :D

[hugemind.livejournal.com]

Oh man, this sounds seriously awesome! You're going to have a great trip. :D

[netlynn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a great time! Safe travels and be sure to fill us all in on the shenanigans!

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

27 hours?? Gee, was it that bad??? I'm hoping I'll enjoy it a bit more. Plus, there are stops along the way where (I assume) we can leave the bus, stretch our legs and grab something to eat and/or drink. Or do we have to take all our food and drinks with us? I do plan to take a good supply of snacks and water with me.

Thanks!!!

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

I'm so looking forward to the whole trip. I get so excited just thinking about it, that I get this huge grin and have actually squeeled out loud on more than one occasion, usually while watching one of the J2 panel vids. One of the pros of living alone, though Sam gives me odd looks when I get too giddy.

I loved the AHBL6 weekend so much but with Jared not being there, Denver and PasCon are going to just so much better and special.

You are on, girl!!!! SPN world con tour, here we come. 9 months traveling all over the US, 2 months in Europe for JIB and Asylum and 1 month home in Oz to rest and recover. Sounds like the life for me!!!

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

The bus travel is truly a financial decision but I'm hoping it will be lots of fun too. I'll get to see parts of America that I just wouldn't if I was flying everywhere.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, not just the boys. There will be 15 different guests spread over the two cons, so I'll be getting lots of autos and hopefully heaps of photos if I can afford them.

Depending on my access to free - wifi, I'm going to do my best to update LJ as much as I can. This trip is certainly that I will want to relive for as long as possible.

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

Thanks!!!! I still can't quite believe it's happening despite the huge amounts of money I've spent already. Probably won't feel real til I'm on the plane flying to New Zealand then the US.

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Travelling by myself I'm going to try to be as safe as possible and yet still try to have lots of shenanigans to tell you all about. Will probably leave the hard partying for the 2 con weekends where I'm with our wonderful SPNFamily.

[junkerin.livejournal.com]

Well it was very cold on the bus thanks to AC.
True the bus stopps but you usually don´t have much time.

[sailorhathor.livejournal.com]

Wow, sounds like a really fun trip in that you get to have lots of adventures! If you want to know anything about Greyhound, ask me. I worked for the Fare and Schedule number for over four years and I have traveled by bus to both coasts, about 1,500 miles.

My first pieces of advice would be:

1). Whenever you have a transfer (changing buses), make sure you go to the side of the bus and get your checked luggage from the handlers. Take it to the new bus with you and the baggage handlers will put it in the new bus for you. They will not transfer your luggage to the new bus for you! If you don't go get it, it could get lost, or it could get put on a different bus and arrive at your destination before or after you. This always caused a lot of anxiety for passengers who expected the baggage handlers to transfer their luggage for them. If you're not clear where you are transferring, let me know and I can help you read the itinerary.

2). Keep your money/purse on your person while sleeping. The driver will turn out the lights at a particular time and sometimes, people do steal during this time. They usually won't dig around on your person, but they will look through a purse that's in the overhead bin. This kind of thing isn't rampant or anything, but I have taken calls from people who left their stuff out easily accessible while sleeping and they got a bunch of expensive stuff stolen.

3). Don't put extremely valuable stuff or medicine you need every day in your checked luggage! Keep it in your carry-on/on your person! Can't tell you how many calls I fielded from people who put their "I'm about to die without my" heart medicine in their checked luggage and that luggage was now lost.

4). When the bus has a stop, it's okay to get out and stretch your legs, use the actual bathroom (instead of the port-a-potty on the bus), get something to eat, buy some souvenirs, but unless you know for sure you have a long layover, I wouldn't try to sit down for a long, leisurely meal. Get your food and hang around near the bus. I have seen this happen: bus driver says, "We'll be here about 20 minutes," people fuck around and try to sit down and order food and eat it leisurely at a table, people expect the driver to tell them individually that the bus is leaving, bus driver comes in the truck stop/fast food place and calls that we need to board the bus, people eating leisurely at a table don't hear him, driver leaves without them. I would actually get my food and eat it on the bus unless we were stopped for at least an hour, that's how paranoid I was about being left behind. It's not a bad idea, though. Just stay aware. It's the people who expect individual attention that get left behind. "Why didn't the driver come to my table and tell me we were leaving?" Because he can't remember every face that was on the bus.

5). This one will probably make you laugh: There is no first class on the bus, no stewardesses, no food and drink service. You get your food and drink at the stops. Seating is first come first served, there is no assigned seating. So, don't mess around, just get in line to board as soon as it's allowed. You'd be surprised how many times I got questions about this sort of thing. How would they even separate first class from coach? Where would they put the stewardesses and the food/drink cart? There are a few areas where they do have assigned seats, but you probably won't encounter that because it's more for shorter trips between popular New England destinations, like New York to Atlantic City and such.

6). Keep your ID/passport on you to show whenever they ask for it. In that area of the country, you may encounter border patrol agents at least once.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any questions.

[vyperdd.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for all the advice. Much appreciated even though I think of myself as a fairly smart and safety-focussed traveller.

All of what you've said is common sense but it's good to be reminded again. I wasn't expecting 'plane-type' service on the bus but had wondered if there were assigned seats. Want to get to the stations and line up early as I would prefer a window seat, both for the view and somewhere to lean against to sleep.

Luckily I don't have to take any meds but I can understand about keeping things I want/need during the trip with me and not in my checked baggage.

So, would you advise against using the on-bus toilet???

My longest layovers are 3 hours in Salt Lake City on the Vegas-Denver leg and a couple of 1 hour layovers on the Denver-LA trip. And if I'm reading the itinerary right, I've only got one bus transfer (in Salt Lake). The numbers in the schedule section change from GLI 6052 to GLI 1300 but are the same on the other 2 legs. I will be pretty paranoid about missing the bus so won't be going far or getting sit-down meals. Am planning on taking enough snacks/drinks with me to cover the whole trip.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Personally I couldn't think of a more FUN way to spend a year!!! *dies of happy at the thought*

[kazluvsbooks.livejournal.com]

You are going to have the BEST TIME LOVE, i just know it!!
Wish i could be doing it with you <3

Fingers crossed for AHBL for next year xx

[heavenli24.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it's going to be awesome :). I'm flying out to the US from London next Saturday to stay with relatives and to attend DallasCon :).

I haven't travelled on Greyhound buses (I took an Amtrak train from LA to NYC - 3 days on the train, so 3 nights of accommodation sorted and it only cost $120), but my brother took the Greyhound from New York to LA and unfortunately he hated every minute of it :(. It was mainly because he's almost 6 feet tall and the seats were too cramped for him, plus he didn't have much to do on the bus so he was totally bored... he actually read 2 books (and he does not read books, ever!). The minute he got to LA he was so fed up that he called our aunt in Arkansas and got her to book him flight to stay with her! He had no money anyway though... so I have no idea how he was expecting to survive a week in LA with no hotel booked and only $60 in his pocket :S.

However, I've spent many hours on both day and night buses in South America and I didn't find it that bad (one bus journey in Bolivia was 12 hours with no toilet on the bus - we just got a couple of rest stops with a hole at the side of the road!).

[sailorhathor.livejournal.com]

Sorry if I overadvised you. :D It's a subject I've learned a lot about so sometimes I can't stop talking.

The on-bus toilet is okay, but it's very small and usually smells. The toilets at the stops are usually better for size and odor. It really depends on how bad you have to go or how long til the next stop. I think on one trip the bus toilet didn't have any paper, but all the other trips, it did. Basically, it's adequate.

>> The numbers in the schedule section change from GLI 6052 to GLI 1300

That indicates that you're changing schedules. Most often this indicates a transfer, but sometimes you'll just change drivers. Is it written like this?

PROVO, UT 04:10 PM 04:10 PM GLI 6052
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 05:05 PM GLI 6052
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 08:15 PM GLI 1300
EVANSTON, WY 09:45 PM 09:55 PM GLI 1300

That's definitely a transfer if it looks like that. You'll notice that the city is listed twice. On the Greyhound website, it actually says "TRANSFER" on the itinerary for that one. Oh wait, that's your schedule, LOL. Yeah, you have one transfer. :D

Heh, the last time I took a trip, I didn't have a cell phone. At all the big stations, people would be crowded around certain areas and I couldn't figure out why. Later, I figured it out. They were charging or plugging in and using their cell phones. :D

Planes are nice, but I really like doing some travel on the bus. You see much more of the country that way and get to buy souvenirs in many cities, if you want to.