A lot of people travel for work. So do I. I travel a lot, and the more I travel, the less I feel like driving. Driving wears me out, especially when I need to get somewhere and return home on the same day. Over the past two years, I’ve rediscovered bus travel – and I highly recommend it. Travelling by bus is definitely not what it was when I was a student.
I work in training and education, so every week I find myself in a different place across Croatia and the wider region. Driving somewhere every week and losing all that time, while also having to stay constantly focused on the road and everything happening around you, is incredibly exhausting. On top of that, travelling alone by car can be quite expensive. Driving from Zagreb to Split costs around €60, while you can sometimes find a bus ticket for around €20.
BlaBlaCar and sharing a car with someone? I’ve tried that too. Twice I got lucky with my fellow passengers, but several other times I couldn't wait for the journey to end because of the people I ended up travelling with. I don’t always feel like spending four hours travelling from Zagreb to Split with a complete stranger, or slightly less time travelling to Pula or Osijek. Sometimes it’s not even about the person – sometimes I simply want to spend a few hours in silence.
My job is all about talking. And after delivering a four- to six-hour training session, the last thing I want is to keep talking to someone. My legs are tired too – far too tired to spend even more time behind the wheel.
That’s why I now travel by bus for most business trips. Every week, you’ll find me at different bus stations and rest stops. You might think I’m unsuccessful because I travel by bus – I’ve heard comments like that before. A colleague of mine, who delivers a different type of business training, also frequently takes the bus to his destinations. Once, after he posted a selfie from a bus, a whole bunch of people on Reddit started making fun of him, saying that he wasn’t successful.
In Croatia, apparently, there’s still something embarrassing about being seen on a bus. In some Western countries, even prime ministers and mayors travel by bus, tram or bicycle, while here something like that can still be considered a reason to make fun of someone.
I have a car too – a German SUV, the kind of vehicle you can show off a little. I mainly use it for longer family trips, driving my child safely to their grandmother’s house in the countryside, or for occasional trips to Bauhaus and similar stores, after which I fill the car with things that would never fit in a taxi.
Until two years ago, it never really occurred to me to travel by bus – the same type of vehicle that used to take me from Zagreb to Split and back every weekend when I was still longing for my hometown. Back then, buses were awful: no air conditioning, no comfortable seats, no power outlets, no Wi-Fi... But a few years ago, I got on a bus again for the first time after having a minor traffic accident with my car, and I was amazed by how comfortable bus travel had become.
I usually book a seat at the front so I can watch the road like a driver. Sometimes I also choose a bus with a table if I need to work on a presentation. But most of the time, I don’t actually do anything particularly productive on the bus – except read. I love reading, but somehow there’s much less time for it when you have a small child at home.
On a bus, you have time for that. Five hours in one direction and five hours back gives you plenty of time to read. Luckily, I can read while travelling, although I know many people don’t find it comfortable. You can also put on your headphones and watch the scenery go by, using the time on the bus to simply stop for a while. Not to work. To rest.
The time you would otherwise spend driving can be used much more meaningfully. And one of the best things about bus travel is that it can be very affordable. You also don’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to. On some services, there’s even the option of buying two seats so you can make sure nobody sits next to you – and it can still be cheaper than driving somewhere yourself.
You might be wondering: “Why didn’t she mention flying?”
There’s simply no point in flying from Zagreb to Split or on similar routes. First, you have to get to the airport, then wait to board, fly, and afterwards still get from the other airport to your final destination. In the case of Zagreb and Split, flying can take around 3.5 hours in total, while travelling by bus takes about 5.5 hours. Flying can also be considerably more expensive, especially once you add the cost of transport to and from the airport.
Travelling by bus has its disadvantages, of course, but for certain routes it has turned out to be a great option for me. It means less time behind the wheel, lower travel costs and, perhaps most importantly, a few hours in which I can simply switch off.
Now, if only people on buses could learn not to use their phones on speakerphone...
If you’d rather spend your next journey reading, resting or simply watching the scenery instead of driving, you can compare bus routes from different carriers on Nomago InterCity and choose the departure that suits you best.
Compare available bus routes and book your bus ticket online with Nomago InterCity.
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