Bus Stop

Ever sat on a bus, not able to move anywhere? I expect the majority of you have! a seven hour journey to London could have been the most boring journey, saying that, it wasn't. It was early morning when I climbed aboard the megabus that departed from the local ferry terminal. Outside was pitch black, all I could see where the empty seats around me and two boys chatting away. They were chatting about their weekend and student life in general, clearly one mutual friend they were discussing was the joker of the pack and seemed to entertain them on various occasions. I was not being nosey, I just couldn't help but hear and it did pass the time away, now and again I would smile to myself, listening to their stories. Eventually they both fell asleep for a bit, the bus was still fairly empty so I closed my eyes too. I woke up as we approached our first pick up stop.

Then it dawned on me, I have internet and instagram therefore hoping that the outside world would follow my journey. Every bus stop we pulled up to, I felt the urge to take a photograph therefore documenting my ride. In a documentary style approach, I captured each pick up from my stationary position using only an iPhone looking out of the window.

I uploaded to instagram, one image per stop. My existing followers and new followers interacted to my surprise, and the hits kept coming. As a visual artist/photographer, It certainly gave me support to carry on capturing what I could see right there in front of me.

So why did I choose the megabus? well it was simple, I felt although the journey was longer there was a driver onboard someone who kept an eye on the passengers, so as a female travelling alone this made me feel safer than perhaps the train plus it was also a cheaper option which is definitely a bonus in this day and age.

I arrived in London and was once able to move about again, and get on with my business.

After attending to business in the city, it was time for me to do the stationary journey again and head back home. This return was quite different to the previous trip. I knew boarding would be considerably busier from London Victoria station, so I stood in a queue and waited to board. I found my seat and made myself ready for the long journey ahead. There was an empty seat next to me and I had no doubts it would get filled. This is when I met Antonio, he was an Italian business man with a fairly good English dialogue, perhaps at times not understanding every word, to which he would show me his translation on his phone, I then understood. He was visiting the UK to open a chain of Italian restaurants, with one in London and one opening soon in Cardiff, the name 'Ciliegino'. I spent the whole journey talking about his company and his dreams to open more in the UK, guess the other passengers heard too. He asked what took me to London and I explained I was a photographer. We exchanged details and in future, I maybe able to help with advertising by creating some food photography, and fingers crossed I can eat the pizza afterwards.

So why have I wrote this blog, although at times we might be alone and travelling in a stationary position, a photograph, a smile, a conversation may just help you get through those boring hours and that doesn't cost anything. You never know who you might meet along the way. Who knows one journey can lead to another in future!

Bev

https://www.instagram.com/bevvypix