Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

granola. black coffee. Eat an occasional pie and ice cream when you need the energy. DONT eat in terminal restaurants. The worst of the worst. Maybe if you get lucky there'll be a small restaurant nearby where you can get a decent burger or salad or both. If you want to go vegetarian, then pack your own food and grab fresh stuff at the closest supermarket. The driver can tell you this if you ask. Take water.

I've done these trips before so be prepared its not a whole lot of fun. Bring water, I highly recommend it. As far as food goes trail mix, stuff to munch on is great. I don't recommend making a sandwich on the bus, the bus is likely to be crowded and the road may be rocky. Neat idea would be soup, or gazpacho. Most of the stop that the bus will be making (for food anyways) will have a microwave you could use.

Ear plugs or portable Music are highly recommended.

Veggie sushi rolls. My mom always made rolls for us on long trips. Because the rice is seasoned with rice wine vinegar and sugar or sesame oil and salt, it keeps longer than plain rice at room temp. Add spinach seasoned with soy, sesame seed oil, toasted sesame seeds, garlic (be sure to blanch the spinach and squeeze all the excess water out, then season), pickled daikon, julienne carrots sauteed and seasoned with salt and sesame oil. If the rice and veggies are well seasoned you don't the soy sauce for dipping.

oops, forgot to add, try not to take anything particularly smelly, you have the right to eat anything you like, but remember you're on the bus with lots of people and what smells delicious to you could really be nasty to someone else, or even to you if the smell lingers and mixes with the lovely aroma found in most busses.

When I did this, we brought water, granola bars (just try eating loose granola on a bouncy bus), beautiful pastries for breakfast (no smells), and sandwiches. Since you'll be riding so long, you could pre-pack or you could take a baguette and some spreadable cheese (like Laughing Cow - requires no refrigeration and can be spread without a knife). The soup is a great idea.

Thinking about our trip, I'm glad we didn't bring anything that set us apart in terms of the way the food looked. You don't want to look wealthy (sushi) or dangerous (a knife - even for cutting cheese).

Careful with grains and beans as they can ferment so you'd have to have some type of really long lasting ice pack.

Here are a few shelf-stable suggestions...

Whole grain crackers
Nutrient packed health food cookies
Sports energy bars
Peanut Butter
Nutella (perfect excuse to have it!)
Honey
Granola
Rice Cakes
Dried Fruit
Nuts

If you can keep it cold:
Cheese
Yogurt

If you can stand meat:
Dried Pepperoni
Dried Salami
Beef Jerkey

Sun Dried Tomatoes, rehydrated slightly and mixed with olive oil, S&P. While I despise granulated garlic, there really isn't any shelf-stable way to use garlic safely over that period of time. So use it but sparingly!

In any case, have a wonderful trip! You are brave - I could never do that many hours on a bus.

Perhaps some sort of rolled-up lavosh-like sandwich with lovely vegetable and cream cheese? Seems like, rolled tightly in plastic wrap, it would keep neat and relatively fresh...I've made these for lots of veg friends. Also, I make a salad with corn kernals, cooked rice, red onion, cilantro and lime juice, with a little chile powder for kick...keeps real well at picnics, so it stands to reason that it would on a bus, too (and not too smelly)!

In response to Hilary: As a veteran of many Greyhound marathons, I can definitely say - expect the worst. The food facilities will be worse than you think, the people on board will be worse than you think (once you leave the Northeast the passengers get sketchier by several orders of magnitude), and the service will be worse - made sure you know exactly where you're going, have your luggage with you at all times, and don't be afraid to ask the drivers and staff at the bus stations many questions, even the same ones over and over, even if they yell at you - it's not being shrill and high-maintenance; I've saved myself from being shipped off to parts unknown several times this way. Keep checking the schedule, and don't relax until your driver actually says "this bus is headed to so-and-so." If they try to route you someplace else, ask why, and don't stop till you have a straight answer - again, even if they yell at you. (Oh, I could tell you stories ... many, many, many stories ...)

Other tips: try to look as dirty, unattractive, and unlikely to have money as you can - trust me, it'll cut way down on harassment. Keep your cell charged. And if you're a woman traveling alone, it's definitely preferable to have two seats to yourself if possible - so when you get on the bus, or when it stops to pick up more passengers, lay yourself across both seats and pretend to be asleep till everyone's seated. Won't help if the bus fills up, but it'll keep you comfortable as long as possible. Oh, and the buses can smell pretty bad, so if you're sensitive to smells you should definitely think about bringing some kind of essential oil you can dab on yourself. It also really helps to carry a blanket or two, since we're out of coat weather - you need something between your head and the window and/or the seat bar when you're resting (you could even kill two birds with one stone and douse the blanket with your favorite scent). And dress in layers, like you would on a plane, since temp can be unpredictable.

Stay safe! Hopefully I haven't scared you too much ... it's often unpleasant, yes, but if you use common sense it's not so dangerous - there are, after all, lots of people around all the time. And it'll be an adventure to remember!

One last thing - bring your own toilet paper; the bathrooms are usually out. And disinfectant gel. I'm normally against disinfectant gel because it contributes to the development of superbugs, etc., but once you see the bathrooms on the buses and in the stations you'll understand.

Good luck!

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Lol - I concur!

Great, grainy salad I found in the Everyday Food magazine.
(WARNING: It's dangerously addictive...pace yourself...you'll eat more than you realize, and then it feels like it keeps expanding in your tummy! haha...)

Bulgur Salad with Grapes and Feta Cheese
Serves 2
½ cup fine-grained bulgur wheat
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¾ cup boiling water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced scallion
¾ cup halved seedless grapes
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1. In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup fine-grain bulgur wheat, ½ teaspoon coarse salt, and ¾ cup boiling water. Cover; let stand until bulgur is tender, 30 minutes (Make sure all water is absorbed, otherwise, your salad is too "wet" instead of nice and fluffy.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 1 tablespoon olive oil; season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add 2 tablespoons minced scallion, ¾ cup halved seedless grapes, ½ cup each toasted chopped walnuts and crumbled feta. Add bulgur; toss.

Freeze your water bottles. They double as cold packs that way.