As spring sports embark on the start of their respective seasons, with the excitement to finally get on the field comes the hours of dreaded traffic that comes with life on the road. Some of our most treasured memories with our teams will come from these bus rides, in which we certainly take for granted when we’re experiencing them. But with that being said, and while there’s still time to complain, listed below are major reasons why long bus rides as a college athlete are an absolute struggle.
1. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there when you have to ration snacks.
There’s only so many fruit snacks and juice boxes to go around, and don’t mess with athletes when it comes to food. It takes some strategy to not starve on your ride back to campus.
2. There are definitely unassigned assigned seats, sorry not sorry about it.
If you’re a freshman, don’t dare pick your seat and think it’s permanent because you’re at the mercy of upperclassmen’s seat choices years in the making.
3. Moving around when people are napping turns you into a track star.
You might as well have run the hurdles (if you don’t already) when trying to maneuver around the bus with legs sprawled across the aisle. You don’t want to wake up a teammate, but you really, really, really need to use the bathroom.
4. The back of the bus is not all its cracked up to be.
When you make quick stops, you’re most likely the last in line for everything: Food, bathroom, etc. It makes you stop and question if it’s really worth it to sit where the cool kids sit.
5. Movies are both your best friend and worst enemy.
Do I want to watch "The Dark Night" sometimes? Surely. But the action-packed, bumping bass is not what you want booming in your ear just when you try to fall asleep.
6. The seats are just small enough that you can’t comfortably lie down.
Us athletes are usually pretty big people and we’re most likely traveling in glorified Greyhound buses. Those pleather seats are anything but plush as early as hour three.
7. Can we talk about the lack of leg room?
For nearly the same reason as above, we are long-legged people who really could use that extra space, bus companies. So, if you’re over 5’7”, good luck.
8. The lack of temperature control is less than chill.
Getting your bags on the bus, finding your seat and getting settled can be enough for anyone to break a sweat. Then two hours in you’re absolutely frozen. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
9. Snapchat being the most incriminating form of viewable evidence out there.
Storied or individually sent, sleeping snaps can be quite embarrassing. So thanks, teammates, for letting your entire contact list pass judgment on my sleeping position.
10. High-energy freshman v. sleeping seniors.
We get it, freshman, your first bus trip is exciting and new, and you’re basically expecting the equivalent of a slumber party where you stay up all night. I hate to break it to you, but everyone else wants to sleep and we really don’t want to hear about the crazy thing that happened in your dorm last night.
11. And lastly but certainly not least in my book: If you get carsick, your homework doesn’t care.
Pages upon pages of reading for that class Monday morning at 9 a.m. that you’ll have no other time to do really has no tolerance for how dizzy you get reading in the car.
