Charter Buses

Charter buses are great for any kind of group travel!

Recently I realized that some of my favorite childhood memories came from vacations and trips. Some of these were obviously family vacations, while others involved various sports teams and clubs that I was involved in. I played soccer and softball through high school and was also involved in a few extracurricular clubs that occasionally traveled. One striking memory that I have is from a trip I took with my club soccer team in eighth grade. We headed up to Michigan to play a competitive indoor tournament. We had played many tournaments before but this trip had one distinct difference, we booked a charter bus. It was my first time traveling in a coach bus and being with all my friends made it that much more special. In the past, we had all typically driven separately with our parents and possibly siblings. This wasn’t necessarily a terrible way to travel, but there was a disconnect with the rest of my teammates. Some of the trips were long and everyone was arriving at different times and possibly on different days. It made it very hard to coordinate meals and practices, all of which can help build team camaraderie. All of this was made much easier by using charter buses to travel as a team.

The reason why I am brining this topic up is because I recently was trying to think of some trip to plan with friends and family that breaks away from the norm, and keep everyone together. Charter buses can be utilized form much more than just sports teams. Coach transportation is booked every day for church travel, executive travel, city tours, and everything in-between. I was tossing around ideas of how to get everyone together for a sort of outing and my childhood memory came back and pointed me in this direction. Currently my thoughts are leaning toward chartering a bus to travel downstate to see a Big 10 college football game! I feel like this can help get my friends and family together to enjoy a sporting event together and create a lasting memory. The most difficult part in trying to plan a trip like this would normally be the transportation, but this is made easy by getting everyone together in one place. The cost is supplemented by not having to book any hotel rooms. Being able to leave and come back in the same day also makes the trip easier for anyone that might have ties at home that would prevent them from making a weekend trip. I just want to see if I can recreate such a wonderful experience.

Fall Travel

Every year when the leaves begin to change and the air is crisp, I begin to think of possible travel plans. It seems that everyone has the same ideas, visiting some pumpkin patches and possibly finding some apple picking destinations. This year I figured I would dig a little deeper and locate a few beautiful fall destinations that are sure to have a lasting impact on my view of this wonderful time of year. I am a local to the windy city so for me, I don’t have much access to nature outside of the occasional prairie and vast amounts of farm land south of the big city. I want to see more than just flat lands and wilting corn husks. That’s why my first destination researched is the Smokey Mountain region. Although the drive may seem a bit daunting, (coming in at just over 10 hours) I believe it will be worth a trip. The magnificent rolling mountains are covered with a variety of trees that change color as the seasons begin to progress down through the mountains. Just viewing pictures makes me rethink why exactly I live in the Midwest. I have read a few other travel blogs that have also mentioned this as a great destination. Nature is not everybody’s thing, but trees with this much color might just change your mind. This time of year brings the perfect climate, at least in my opinion, to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, bike riding, and camping under the stars. This type of trip may be a bit removed from traditional autumn travels, but it would certainly be a rewarding one.

After digging into more details and possible activities I came across a great thought. I love to travel with groups but making the trip isn’t always the easiest thing to organize. Depending on the size of the group, coordinating airfare is not a task that I want to delegate to myself. One alternative that isn’t commonly thought of is a bus charter. This gets all members of a traveling group all together in one private area. I know it may seem expensive but it really can become a cost efficient way to travel when compared to airfare. To me, chartering a bus is a fantastic way to bring a group together and create some wonderful memories. Now it’s just convincing your group to think outside the box!