We just traveled by overnight bus from Hua Hin, Thailand to Phuket, Thailand. Chad and I were excited. We love being on the road to a new destination, and our favorite ways of getting from place to place are either by train or bus. Despite the longer time traveling than by airplane, we both feel so much more accomplished and “travel-y” ( yes, that is the best word I could come up with… A little bit sad I know).
This time on our overnight travels, I had some revelations as I laid awake most of the night and I wanted to share them with you. These could be applicable for any overnight bus, but especially for the ones in Thailand.
FIVE TIPS FOR TAKING AN OVERNIGHT BUS
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1. Wear leather, pleather, or vinyl pants as that’s the only way you’re not going to slide down the seats when they recline. Leather seats on a sleeping bus seem like a good idea, until you actually have to sleep in them.
2. Those winter clothes at H&M I told you about here, i found out they are sold for travel on the VIP overnight bus. Okay, that’s probably not the only reason, but they keep the bus at an artificial snowy degree most likely near -20 C. Winter layers are recommended.
3. Yes, there is a bathroom, a tiny stinky bathroom. But it’s better than nothing in a pinch. Bring spray hand sanitizer and it will help you clean the toilet without having to touch it.
4. On the subject of the bathroom, also make sure to bring your own tissue as it is not usually provided. I choose to believe that that is the reason the bathrooms are always wet everywhere (many people here wash themselves with hoses next to the toilet and do not use toilet tissue) and not that some guy (or many guys) peed everywhere because the bus was moving so crazily.
5. I have never used my blow up neck pillow on our trip so far, but I used it on this bus ride and thanked my lucky stars that I chose to bring it with me. My last recommendation, is to bring some sort of neck pillow if you want to sleep.
Now it’s your turn to give your tips for traveling on an overnight bus, leave them in the comments!
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