Pećs - Long Bus Rides and Travel Tensions

I have been on a fair share of greyhound busses in my life thus far, and generally it can be described as one of the most uncomfortable, boring, and occasionally traumatizing experiences. I lived for several years in Edmonton and to take the bus home for christmas was a THIRTEEN HOUR ordeal that was always packed to the gills. The seats were cramped, the toilet smelled like chemical death, the people smelled of cigarettes, and there was always, ALWAYS, a screaming baby.

I would say our two day, 1000km voyage on the greyhound-style bus from Prešov to Mostar, BiH was considerably better comparatively. We each had our own two seats to occupy (and if you were really lucky, the back was a five-seat bed-like PALACE) we could walk around to stretch our legs, there were giant windows to observe the passing scenery, and we all knew each other so there was always conversations happening.

There's still no escaping that you're on a freaking bus for the better part of two days, but I think we made the best of it.

Survival.

At one point, we all started playing a game called "Deniro" where one person would say a movie, the next would have to name an actor in that movie, then the next person would have to say a movie that actor was in, and so on and so forth. If you can't name a movie or an actor then you get a letter, and the person who spells D-E-N-I-R-O first loses.

Obviously, as a freaky movie trivia virtuoso, I was annihilating this game.  I was only slightly smug about it.

The first day of bus travel, we drove mostly through Hungary (where we drove over the ACTUAL Danube river) and stopped for the night in a town called Pećs (pronounced "petch"). We were all pretty tired but the call of food was too strong to ignore. We had to get out some Hungarian Forints from an ATM in order to actually purchase said food, and one of the guys miscalculated the exchange rate and ended up with, like, $200 dollars worth of money to use in a place we were only staying in for one night.

At this point, everyone was getting irritable, and we ended up just eating at McDonald's because it was right there and sold food, and we all just wanted to go to bed. I took a few pictures of the square near where we were staying but that's really all we saw of this place.

I think the combination of spending five days in Prešov, where we were either spending socially taxing out-of-the-box time with the Roma or going out of our minds with boredom in the hostel, and the subsequent long and boring days on the bus, has taken a bit of a toll on some of the travelling pairs. It's completely understandable that we will get on each other's nerves - I think that's just a given when you're travelling with anyone. You're out of your comfort zone, chances are you're also tired, hungry, and irritable. Becoming annoyed with your fellow travellers is a given.

The trick is to be aware that you are not an island. Even if it's unintentional, something you do is probably going to be the reason someone else is irritated. How you deal with that person, however, is what can either escalate or diffuse the situation.

No one likes confrontation, but I think if you're up front and say "hey, did I do something that's bothering you?" in an earnest and genuine way, you might be able to save yourself the trouble of spending five days wondering why someone suddenly despises everything you do.

And if you're the person who is irritated with someone, stop and think if what the other person is doing is actually the cause of your irritability, or if it's maybe something else (like homesickness, or tiredness, or something else subliminal) that actually causing you to feel this way.

The main thing is, don't take everything personally. Most people don't intentionally try and do things they know will piss someone else off (unless they're a sociopath, in which case, good luck buddy!) Make sure you're looking inward as well as outward when you're diagnosing something that's making you feel weird. And always, be accountable for your own actions and reactions.

I don't know when this turned into a therapy session, but there it is.