Our Country Internal Tourism

When touring your country: Canada, U.S., Botswana, Germany, Australia etc. remember your dirty clothes. Where will you wash them, at the next hotel or public laundromat? Go online before you leave home.

The advantages of in-your-country vacation by bus is the scenery. If you take the car, the driver cannot admire the change of scenery in Alberta as it prepares you for nature’s artwork called British Columbia. Well! I suppose it will depend on which direction you’re coming from.

The primary driver and relief driver in long distance trips concentrate on well maintained but unfamiliar roads, therefore careful is the word. They cannot share the enthusiasm from the back seat. Mummy look, a deer!

But families take the car out of habit. They drive to the supermarket to pick up milk and laundry detergent. They take the car to fetch suits and other clothes from the dry cleaners. They also drive to the gym during the summer, when the house is six blocks away.

Therefore it is second nature to load home into the car and take it on vacation. How? We take toys, feeding chairs, coolers, all hair and face creams, pillows, blow dryers, favourite shoes, duvet covers, own clocks (phones have clocks) and even garden chairs.

There are bathroom and lunch breaks along the way. I suppose we need garden chairs because we cannot sit on the grass or park benches most states provide at roadside picnic areas.

Taking bus trips is safer. Bus drivers don't sleep on the job because they work shifts. The driver you started with in Winnipeg, won’t be there in Saskatchewan.

When families go on a bus tour vacation, parents can enjoy the beautiful country and doze off at will. They don’t have to sit next to each other. They must sit next to a kid, and have long overdue bonding. They can even answer questions like, daddy where do kids come from?

Packing will have to be tight when taking a cross country vacation by bus. Hotels and Bed and Breakfast places (England) provide towels, hair and body products and other basic necessities. Only essentials go into bags. No teddy bears. Kids will sleep on parents’ laps or shoulders.

Hats and caps will take care of the hair and no shoes for every outfit. Pack large scarves. They work as light sweaters or wraps for the beach. Pack smart and light, and no bottled water.

“The bus will be boarding in 5 minutes.”

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.