Sleep in Motion

As I've mentioned, I often sleep on the bus. When you have an hour of travel time to class (and you're not driving) sleeping just seems like the best option, especially on the really early morning commutes when it's still dark outside. Some people are so into sleeping on the bus that they bring travel neck pillows and small blankets. This seems a bit much to me, as it would mean carrying around naptime supplies throughout my day at school until I could get back on my rolling bed chamber and sleep my way home. All I need to sleep on the bus is either a seat to myself or someone sitting next to me who doesn't spend the ride chatting on the phone.

At this point in my commuting career (about 4 years), my internal clock has the ride pretty much timed and I tend to wake up about the same time each morning as the bus pulls off the busway onto Grant St. If you're new to sleeping on the bus, it might be a good idea to set an alarm on your phone or ipod to vibrate you awake about ten minutes prior to your stop.

I've never slept through my stop, but I've come close. I've also woken up way early, looked around in a daze completely perplexed by my surroundings and began to panic under the assumption I had missed it.

Keep in mind, it's easy to fall out of an aisle bus seat while nodding off, and it also might not be a good idea if you know yourself to be a heavy drooler or someone who talks in their sleep. Otherwise, it's a great use of time on the morning commute.