Backpacking on a Budget

I've recently been familiarizing myself with 4chan. Transporations is one of image board sections. It was interesting to read one of the posts where someone shared his story about taking public transportation between downtown Baltimore and Six Flags outside of D.C. After seeing others share their adventures with public transportation, I felt obligated to put in my two cents.

Note: For most of my life I've viewed the fact of not having a car as booty. Since the days of high school my outlook of many things (including how I get around). While financial contraints have played a major role, I've learned to try and get the most out of life even without the convience of owning a car


Living in New York City all my life I've been spoiled with having access with the best public transportation system in the world. Of course it takes moments like being stranded on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia after a cab wanted $101 take me 39 miles south on I-95 to remind myself of this.

I've had quite a few public transportation adventures. There are quite a few transportation systems in the New York City/tri-state region including the MTA subways and busses, New Jersey PATH trains, and the Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, and NJ Transit commuter lines.

A few years ago I discovered that there were chinatown bus companies that went to cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C. and Boston at a fraction of the price greyhound was charging (this was before Bolt and Megabus).

While there are several chinatown bus companies that offer service to those major cities, there are also a few that travel to smaller cities like Albany and Norfolk, Virginia. There are other major cities they cover like Atlanta but with the money they charge, you could probably find a cheaper airfare from a budget carrier.

Tying it back in with public transportation, it feels adventurous whenever I start off taking the MTA bus and subway to chinatown, then a few hours later I'm familarizing myself with the SEPTA system in Philadelphia, the METRO system in DC, or the T in Boston.

There are quite a few stories I have and eventually my blog will contain each and every one of them (as oppose to being spead out between facebook, myspace, and livejournal)
Keep an eye out on emanuelross.blogspot.com