Service Trip Bus Rides
By Max Ronan
Our bus rides are the beginning and end of our trips, and sometimes in the middle too! This year the bus ride was only 6.5 hours which is shorter than the usual trip. You might be thinking, “That sounds much better than an overnight trip!” But in my opinion the longer trips are much more fun and they give more time to connect.
Our bus driver’s name is Wilson and he’s been driving on these trips for many years. Wilson also joins us for dinner sometimes. We stop at gas stations every few hours for the bathroom and snacks and it’s almost always a Kwik Trip (They’re Wilson’s favorite).
The first two service trips I went on had much longer bus rides. On the bus we play games, talk, and sometimes watch movies. There’s also Wi-Fi so we don’t even have to worry about downloading shows beforehand.
Last year a lot of people played a card game called Scum. You might be wondering how someone plays a card game on a moving bus with no tables, the floor! If you see people laying or sitting in a circle on the floor they’re most likely playing a game. This year chess and red neck rummy were games that got played in the bus.
Most of the bus ride for me is talking with friends and sometimes new people too. Last year I made two new friends on the trip and we talked a lot on the bus. Conversations on the way there consist of what’s happening in our lives, what we’re looking forward to, and some random topics as well. On the way home we talk about experiences and adventures from the trip.
I like the longer bus rides more because you can relax and pretty much do whatever you want. I think the long bus rides really give us time to connect with new people and get to know them more. But everyone’s experience is different. The long rides are tiring but they’re fun!
This year we started using the Bluetooth feature on the bus to do some karaoke. We played songs like “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, “Come on Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners, and “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. I think on future trips we’ll continue to play our own songs.