After I decided I wanted to go up to Michigan to see my parents, the question was, “How?”

I didn’t even consider driving. My wife and I have driven our Hyundai to Michigan, Washington D.C., North Carolina, and Tennessee – but it’s gotten a bit worn down and I’m not really confident taking it much farther from home than, say, San Antonio.

What about flying? I checked airline prices, and couldn’t find a flight in the next couple of weeks for less than $1000. Right now, that’s impossibly out of our budget.

The last time my wife and I took the Greyhound bus from Austin to Michigan and back, we swore we’d never do it again. Greyhound severely oversold the trip from Chicago to Memphis, and we couldn’t get two seats together – all the fat people who were waiting in line grabbed window seats, and we were separated.

If you know me, you’re probably saying, “Well, Ed, who are you to talk about people being fat?” That’s a fair point. I was definitely overweight or even obese at that time. But my seatmate, and my wife’s seatmate – they were FAT. We were crowded and miserable all the way to Memphis. We had a fairly good trip the rest of the way home to Austin, but we were determined – NEVER AGAIN!

However, sometimes life has a way of making you change your mind…