Discovering New-To-Me Ways Of Getting Around

Hi, it’s Leslie, and I just got back from nearly two weeks in Florida. I started in the Sarasota area, worked my way up to the Crystal River, across to West Palm Beach and flew out of Miami. I went with a pretty loose plan of when I would get to my next destination, and how I would get there. I figured I would just rent a car. But, it is spring break season and rental cars are scarce, and no one wanted to rent to me one way.

So… I took an Uber from Sarasota to Clearwater. It’s a pretty long distance, and cost me about $80, but still cheaper than renting a car, and the driver knew exactly where to drop me off that was close to a beach and to some shops, as I requested. I’ve never taken a rideshare ride so far.

My friend Laura Vaughn (remember her? She used to work with me here at the River) picked me up in Clearwater. I stayed with Laura for two nights, but then I needed to figure out how to get across the state.

Laura suggested that I fly. I checked prices, and it was only $109 from Tampa to Miami, but wait, there was a train and wait wait, a Greyhound bus? That went directly to West Palm Beach, which was my next destination?

So I ended up taking ‘The Dirty Dog’ as one of my friends called it. I’d never taken a Greyhound Bus before, but it was actually a fairly pleasant experience. The bus was clean, and stopped frequently for bathroom breaks. (plus it was cheaper than flying)

Once I was in West Palm beach, I stayed with my friends there for the rest of my trip, but I was able to take a train down and back to Fort Lauderdale to see another friend, and then again to Miami for my flight back to Chicago.

I’m feeling rather plucky about the fact that I was able to figure all this out, and also not spend a huge amount of money doing so.

Have you traveled by unusual modes of transportation? Let me know in the comments.