by Ian Campbell

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: November 24, 2008

When you think of travel, most think of planes, trains, and automobiles. What about the bus? To some it may be a dirty three-letter word; to others it is an affordable way to get from point A to point B. Many people say that when you travel by bus, you get what you pay for. That is true if you are going a short distance, or you board the bus and slip into a coma for the duration of your trip. What if your trip takes you further than a coma will allow, such as, three days across the country? Even then, knocking yourself out-via sleeping pills-does not work because most likely you will have several bus transfers. Whether you like it or not, if you take the bus, you will experience more than think. What you sacrifice in time, you make up for in money-and what you give up in total comfort, you get back in lasting memories.

My last bus trip took me on a roller coaster of human emotion. By the end of my three-day trip, I was stinky, exhausted, and ready to get off. However, along the way I experienced first hand some of the finest examples of human beings that I have ever come to know.

While our bus was resting at a truck stop outside Denver, Colorado, I watched as two passengers, who were strangers before the trip, took turns singing and playing with a young baby while her father rushed into a McDonalds. I found out later that the babies mother had recently left the two of them, and cleaned out the joint bank account. Now, the father was struggling to make it to his parent's house, across the country, with his year old daughter. What made me initially take notice were the countless times fellow passengers helped him and his daughter out, these passengers were all strangers. When it came time to transfer buses and go their separate ways, they were all acting very emotional and thick as thieves.

In Wichita Falls, Texas, I had another memorable encounter. This time it happened through a conversation I had had with a man named James Smith. Mr. Smith, who is a 56-year-old man with no formal education, worked his entire life to support his family of 14 children. I met James as he was heading home after a long stint away from his family. He was heading back to Jackson, Mississippi. This was the first time James had ever been out of Mississippi. His entire life had been spent laboring either for his brothers and sisters, he's the oldest of 12, or now as he would say, "dedicated to his children." During our short time together, we talked about why he worked so hard. His response

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