There are stories of a time when hitchhiking was known as the cheapest way to travel long distances. Well, those days are long gone, along with free love and experimenting with questionable substances. If you hitchhike today, chances are no one will pick you up or even worse, if they do, you may not make it to your destination.

Nowadays, everyone travels either by car or plane, and that is expensive! You have to be prepared to shell out 100's of dollars, no matter which of these ways you choose to travel. Gas is constantly rising, along with the prices of the parts and fluids it takes to keep your car running. And the way  people are loaded onto a plane these days, is a slap in the face to those who are without frequent flyer miles. If you think Greyhound Bus is a much cheaper option, think again. You are still going to pay almost $100 one-way, only this time you are going to sit for hours with a bunch of people whose best friends might well be their own shoes... But hark! There is a better way to move freely about the country.

In 2006, Megabus got started in Chicago, IL offering bus rides from Chicago to one of five other cities for rates as low as $1! Now it is 2012, and Megabus has grown immensely, serving over 18 million riders! You can travel to and from over 80 different cities in the United States and Canada, and surprise! The rates are still the same!

If there are any doubts about how this service works, here is a personal account of what it’s like to ride the Megabus from Dish Magazine contributing writer Liberty Ray

 KS: So what made you decide to try Megabus? 

LR: I think I was coming from the Philadelphia airport to downtown when I saw my first Megabus and it was really interesting. It was just this great big bus and the colors and how the bus was designed was very appealing. It had this presence about it and it said, “Megabus” on the side in giant letters along with its advertisement for low fares. That’s when I decided that I would look into it. I wanted to go to Manhattan and I would normally take the train, but the cost was $50-125 for one way, depending on when you went. So out of curiosity I looked up Megabus.com, found that a trip from Philadelphia to New York City was just $11!

 KS: So what were the people on the bus like? Were there any weirdos?

LR: All of the people on the bus were the same kind of people, mostly middle class and there were a lot of college students. There are a lot of colleges in Philadelphia so the students are always looking for cheap ways to travel and. Everyone on the bus pretty much kept to themselves, so it was a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Everyone either had a laptop or a book or was sleeping. So no, there were no weirdos.

 KS: How was the bathroom? 

LR: Well, I am quite a small person, but even I had a hard time trying to squeeze in between the narrow space between the last seat on the bus and the door to the bathroom. But once I got in, like the rest of the bus, it was very clean and well stocked.

 KS: So how do the bus stations work? 

LR: I like to get to the station early before I have to board a plane, or a bus for that matter, so I got there 30 minutes early. You get your tickets online through Megabus.com and then as the time gets closer to departure the line gets longer and then bus comes, and they check your confirmation number and then you get on. But because I was there early I found out that there was a bus that left  left a half-hour earlier and all I would have to do is pay $5 more. That is,  if they have the space to accommodate you, since the bus was pretty full..

 KS: In cash? I thought that everything was done online? 

LR: They have a handheld device that you can make last minute transactions on.

 KS: Overall, how was your experience on the Megabus? 

LR: It was very pleasant and I was thrilled by how inexpensive it was. It was a smooth ride, and the driver was very clean-cut, and it smelled nice and new on the bus. There was carpet on the floor and the windows were nice and big.

So there you have it! Megabus! The clean, affordable, convenient way to travel from one major city to another. Summer road trips don’t have to remain a thing of the past, because now with Megabus, you can have a summer adventure for rates as low as $1!

Be sure and check out their many routes for reasonable prices in various regions of the USA at MEGABUS.COM!