Insider Secrets From a Bus Tour Driver

Tips and insights from an industry veteran to make the most of your next motor-coach tour trip

an illustration of a bus tour driver with travel related items and a desert in the background

Benjamin R. Salas, the senior-most motorcoach driver with Paradise Tours in New Mexico, shares his tips for a comfortable, connective and safe coach tour.

Amber Day

As told to

Berit Thorkelson,

AARP

Published February 06, 2026

When you think of a “long trip,” planes and trains come to mind. But don’t discount the bus. It’s a great, leisurely option to see the sights — and often not too hard on your wallet, either.

Motor coaches are the most popular mode of transport for tour companies that cater to the 50-and-older market, including Diamond Tours, Tours of Distinction and Road Scholar, a not-for-profit educational travel company.

To learn more about motor-coach tours, we spoke to motor-coach operator Benjamin R. Salas, 64. He’s been driving with Albuquerque’s Paradise Tours, which contracts with Road Scholar, for more than 15 years. Salas, who was born and raised in New Mexico and is a member of the Pueblo of Zia tribe, served in the U.S. Navy before becoming a school bus driver in 2000. He’s now Paradise’s senior-most driver and one of Road Scholar participants’ favorite drivers, where he lends his expertise on tours, including “Ancient Puebloans: Mesas, Monuments, Canyons and More,” a nine-day trip that winds through New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. We spoke with Salas to get his tips for making the most of your motor-coach experience.

This “As told to” interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Ride easy, knowing that the driver has experience

Like I tell some of the guys who want to get a coach-driving job, you got to do your time with a school bus, or driving [some sort of passenger bus]. You know, working with people. Then you graduate into something more. School busing is a really difficult job because you’re doing two jobs. You’re driving the bus and then you gotta think about the safety of all these kids, because parents put their trust in the school bus driver to get their child from point A to point B and back home safe. The motor coach is larger than a school bus, but you don’t have as much passenger management. And for me, it’s kind of prestigious to be on the road with this beautiful motor coach.

an illustration of travelers looking at bags in bus storage

A red ribbon or other bright signifier added to your luggage handle lets you know at just a glance that your suitcase is safely on board.

Amber Day

Ensure your luggage stands out

Probably about 35 percent of passengers’ ease of mind is seeing that their luggage is on board. But a lot of luggage looks alike. Some passengers put a red ribbon, bright-colored yarn or tape on the handle. When the luggage bay is open, passengers can look in and make sure that they see their luggage. It assures them.

Choose your seat wisely

I think the best seating is the first two rows, because [passengers] get to see out the big windows in the front and see where they’re going. You got to take turns, because somebody might want to do that tomorrow. But in the back there’s usually more room, so you can stretch out and relax a little bit and recharge your electronic devices or watch something on a tablet. It’s warmer back there, too, because of the radiant heat from the engine compartments, so in the wintertime you stay nice and warm. In the summer you may want to sit midship, a bit closer to the front.

Hold out for bigger bathrooms

You have the convenience of a restroom in the back, kind of like a gravity-type commode, and it has a chemical in there that keeps it fresh. But the vehicle’s moving. It’s a small space, kind of like an airline bathroom. We stop pretty frequently, so they can wait until we get to the destination and get out of the bus. But if they need it, it’s there.

Expect cleanliness

A really big thing for me is keeping my coach clean, because it helps people feel comfortable; that they’re safe and not in a smelly, stinky, dirty bus. I sweep and mop the floor daily. I service the lavatory daily, too. I pick up and wet-mop the floors when they get off the bus during the day and at the end of the day, too. I like to make sure that it’s comfortable and clean right down to all 22 windows, so they can see out and enjoy the scenery and the tour.

an illustration of a person holding a medicine bottle and bottle of water

Don't forget to take your medication, despite trip excitement and the disruption to your typical daily schedule.

Amber Day

Remember to take medications

The one thing that people accidentally do that makes it a little bit more challenging is forgetting to take their medications. The tours get kind of exciting. They’re excited to go on a trip. They’re going to be going here, and stopping here, and they’ll forget. Like diabetics not watching their sugar, and it might get low or too high. Or somebody forgets to take their heart medication. I haven’t had a medical emergency where we needed to call an ambulance or anything, but somebody just needed some fresh air or needed to use the restroom and they didn’t want to use it in the back. Stuff like that. The rest of the group will be concerned for the passenger, but it’s also not ideal that the tour is stopped because someone didn’t follow up with their daily medication. But it’s normal. Don’t be afraid to ask the driver if you forgot to get it out of your stowed luggage, either. We will always do that for them.

Engage your driver during downtime

We do our best to give the passengers a good experience and to be safe and friendly. Don’t be afraid to talk to the driver when you get off the bus. The tours that we do in New Mexico, or the Ancestral Puebloan tours, I have knowledge of that, being that those are my ancestors. I tell the tour director that they can save the questions for when we get to our destination. We’ll have dinner together, and then they can ask the questions. That way I can concentrate on the driving instead of trying to have a Q&A on the road.

Ask for assistance

Some coaches are equipped with wheelchair lifts, though ours aren’t. But if somebody has a walker and is ambulatory enough to climb the stairs to get on the bus, I store their walker down underneath, in the luggage bay. The tour director or guide will assist the passenger on and off the bus, as much or as little as they’d like. And I make sure that their walker is ready for them to use right when they get off the bus.

an illustration of people talking on a bus

Respect the fact that you’re traveling in close quarters with other people, each with their own opinions and priorities, and hold personal conversations until the tour director finishes speaking.

Amber Day

Listen up

I’ve been on tours where maybe these two passengers want to have their own conversation going while their tour director’s talking about something. They’re talking about back home, or family, or whatever. But they’re talking loudly where they’re disturbing other passengers. They just need to know that they’re going to be in there with at least 30 other people, and everybody’s going to have their own opinion about stuff. But it’s going to be interesting, too. I’ve done Road Scholar tours all these years, and I’ve lived here in New Mexico, and I always see something different, you know?

Make connections

I’m very proud to be a veteran. I like talking to those older gentlemen and ladies who are veterans and hearing what they had to do back in World War II. One time I was honored to meet a survivor from the USS Indianapolis, the ship that took [parts of] the Hiroshima bomb to [an American island base near] Japan. On their way to [the Philippines] they were torpedoed and their ship was sunk. There were only like [300 sailors] who survived that out of around 1,200. I still get emails and Christmas cards from people I’ve had on tours. They all exchange emails. If they want to remain friends in the future, then they can do that. You are going to be with those people for three to 10 days, depending on what tour you’re taking. Go connect and have fun, and just leave the driving to me.

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Berit Thorkelson is a travel writer and editor for aarp.org. She has also written for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens and The Minnesota Star Tribune’s travel section.