by Katherine Rushby
Long-distance relationships can be stressful. Rewarding, but stressful. More so than a regular, same-area-code coupling, they present a level of physical exhaustion that can be exhilarating at best, and at other times, completely overwhelming. In order to stave off the negative aspects of travel, and missing each other, during the school year, planning your visits in advance is key.
So here, as the new school year begins, if you’re one of those determined folk who’s jumping back into another semester of a different-school LDR, or if maybe this is the first time you’ve been apart, is a guide to choosing your methods of transportation effectively. I give you the pros and cons of each method of inter-city (or inter-province) transportation for the already-stressed student, with a few tips I’ve picked up in the field-research stage. Happy traveling!
Bus
Buses are great. And cheap – especially if you book as many weeks in advance as you can. For these reasons, they fill up quickly as long weekends approach -not to mention that they significantly amp up their prices!- so it’s important to factor that in when planning a regular weekend visit… I can say from experience that it’s disappointing to miss out on a visit just because you didn’t realise it was Thanksgiving!
cons: If your trip is 5 or more hours, buses can become uncomfortable. Getting work done is next to impossible when you’re feeling car-sick, or up-close-and-personal with a stranger (of dubious personal hygiene), and the wi-fi is unreliable. Thus in my experience, very long bus trips can both cut into a weekend, and make you feel like a rather irresponsible and unproductive student…which definitely adds to stress levels.
pros: On the upside, buses run more frequently than any other method of transportation, and are usually more accessible on either end – Greyhound even stops directly on some university campuses.
result: for a trip that’s under 4 hours, buses are the clear time-efficient and inexpensive winner.
tip: Sign up for the e-mail news of whichever bus company best suits your destination needs – it will notify you of seat sales, which can get as low as 10 dollars with promotion-heavy firms like Megabus.
Train
The train is admittedly more expensive than the bus, but it is also faster, and its merits can be weighed based on personal preference.
pros: Typically, wi-fi is more reliable on trains, and in terms of basic comfort, there is more leg room and potential for reclining and sleeping, even in the regular classes. This translates to: more scope for productivity, be that school work with internet, or napping to make up for missed sleep. As a student, and knowing that the weekend visit might not yield much time for either of those activities, both of those options are appealing. Plus, food and drink is available for purchase.
cons: Trains run less frequently than buses, and to fewer, more limited destinations. The food on trains is expensive.
result: Trains make long journeys faster, which can maximize the time you get to spend with your SO, so if your destination is over 4 hours away, anything that makes the travel-time shorter is worth considering – even more so if you take advantage of one of the frequent sale prices!
tip: Although typically more expensive than even the most expensive bus trips, signing up for e-mails can once again be a major money-saver; viarail has regular seat sales, as well as lower fares for booking online in advance, which can sometimes lead to tickets for trips like Montreal-Toronto available for 35$.
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Plane
Whether or not a flight will be a time-saver is completely dependent on the route you need to travel – if your regular travel time is 2 or 3 hours, you would probably spend just that at airports (security, bag-check) on either end, so it’s probably not worth it.
pros: If, however, your trip is upwards of 6 hours by vehicle, and you find a deal online, then it could be a pretty good choice, when factoring in convenience (and maximizing the length of your weekend away). Also, if you need to get to different town from the airport, many of them have shuttle bus services, some of which even connect straight to university campuses. (ex. there is a shuttle service from Toronto airport to the center of the University of Waterloo campus)
cons: Expensive, even with seat sales and student discounts. The availability of planes between your two cities is highly dependent on the airlines. (Bearskin cancelled its Toronto-Montreal flights, so now the option is a connection through Ottawa). Also, airports can be further outside cities than train or bus stations, so factoring in how you’d get from airport to your SO’s place is key.
result: Planes are often the way to go in case of a semi-emergency or emergency (for speed, when you might not be able to wait for the next scheduled train time), or if for some reason your visit is going to be shorter than your bus-or-train travel time.
tip: if you feel comfortable chancing it, student standby is a less expensive way to fly, and depending on the popularity of your route, if it’s a flight between two more obscure places, you have a good chance of getting a flight.
General tips for visiting on a budget:
-if it’s a long trip, pack your own lunch/supper and snacks, as well as water. It can be far too easy to spend money on food and drink while you’re travelling, and it adds up quickly!
-be sure to check out where the train, bus station, or airport is in your destination city, relative to your significant other’s dwelling, and factor in how you’ll get from one to the other; remember that you’ll need to plan for both legs of your trip! (For instance, if you would end up taxiing from the bus station and back, versus being able to walk from the train, it might be better value for your money to take the train in the first place.)
-don’t be afraid to mix-and-match! A personal staple is: train for the longer part of the journey (between major cities), then cheaper bus with more available time options to get from big city to smaller area (to minimize layover), plus it stops on the desired campus
-take turns making the trip! If you’re both in school, or working, then it’s practical and realistic. If you’re the planner in the relationship, then do a little research to help your SO figure out how they can best reach you.
-and finally: leave the exhaustion (and any ensuing bad mood) at the station… Travelling during the school year is exhausting, so make the most of the time you have together, because it was special enough to plan a trip for :)
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