Sep

20

From “Jet Set” to “Bum Set”

September 20, 2007 |

For many years I traveled the world for business extensively. Those years are not over, but I should say they have been on a holiday for the past month or so. I have been quietly (but diligently) working on starting a business and on earning money on my day trades. There has been a situation where I should travel from Boston to New York a few times in the next few weeks. The usual business oriented options are:

  • Drive - 200 miles in each direction. At the 48.8 cents per mile recommended by the IRS, this means almost $100 on travel expenses each way. Almost $200 round trip. (Take into consideration car wear, depreciation, gas, maintenance, etc.) Plus, I am tied up to the wheel and risk an accident. It takes me about 4 hours each way.
  • Fly - For about $200 I can fly. But then I have to add about $100 to $200 on transportation and parking to/from the Airport. And then I have to go through the hassle of security, flight delays, and I cant use cell phone nor wireless access from a plane.
  • Train - So far my best. For around $200 to $250 (parking included) you can get to and back from New York City. The train takes about 4 hours each way: similar to the car. However, you can use your laptop and cell phone all the way, and you can use a 3G or EV-DO card to use the internet for the whole time. Someone else is doing the driving. You arrive straight into NYC (but you can take the train out of Boston from a suburb location).

For years, I haven’t considered a less glamorous option: the Bus. Today, I decided to do so. I am watching my business expenses, and this endeavor wasn’t time critical, so I decided to try something different. Not that I haven’t used buses while traveling: while on vacation I use them extensively. However, I haven’t used them for business before, nor I had considered their benefits.

Boston to New York bus trips are $30 round trip. About 4 hours of driving. Parking is less than $30 per day at the bus station on South Station. For less than a $100 I get a trip where someone else does the driving, and I can go working all the way. I don’t loose as much of my time.

During today’s trip I used Lucky Star, one of the Chinatown buses that is giving Greyhound a run for their money (and forced them to lower their prices dramatically). The bus is clean, and contrary to my expectation is not packed full (the 6:45am bus on a Wednesday) . They appear to be on time, and the experience is… as expected: it takes you from place A to place B. Seat space and legroom? United Airlines quality, I should say. It reclines more and you can recline all the way. Good that I didn’t had a seatmate today: a privilege even scarcer on airlines nowadays. It is also a more environmentally friendly option than car or plane travel.

I ought to keep considering bus travel for some business situations. Not for every trip… but worth thinking about.


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