I want to go (duh) - I doubt to go (too challenging for my health?) - I'm not yet planning to go (where do I get the money!).
I thought: let's start this post with a TL;DR ;-)
I want to go
Last year's SteemFest was amazing. I was nervous to go, but once you meet and hug the first Steemian, in my case @katrina-ariel at the airport, it all goes away and you know you're home.
There's something incredibly special about meeting people who you've been interacting with online and although I've had that experience 15 years ago in a different online community already, there's something about Steemians that make them a little brighter and easier to talk with than many other people I've met before.
So despite the almost month-long recovery and depression after SteemFest I really want to do it all over again this year. Ha! More Steemians more fun. I would never survive the idea that everyone is meeting up again but without me, because now I've experienced it I can't imagine myself missing this yearly gathering ever.
So: Yes, I really really want to go.
I doubt to go
I very much doubt to go. The first thing I thought when hearing it was in Bangkok is: oh my, big city, busy streets, maybe not so well-maintained ones as well. For me this is a case of mobility and after I lost part of my mobility in 2015 I've never been to such a big and busy city again.
I avoid busy streets, since people tend to walk you over and one wrong bump in my case might mean a week of painful recovery. I need to think about every step I take quite literally so I tend to avoid places that make that hard for me: busy streets, uneven streets with holes in them or even cobblestones, cities where automatic stairs/elevators are not a given.
Literally the first thing I did when reading 'Bangkok' in Roeland's post was googling 'Traveling Bangkok with limited mobility' and I ended up on a Tripadvisor thread that confirmed my suspicions: uneven streets (holes), narrow pedestrian lanes, crazy traffic, lots of stairs and no mobility adapted hotels/restaurants/stuff.
Next to that, @roelandp mentioned in his announcement post there won't be bus transfers to the different gatherings like last year in Kraków. Jumping on and off river boats and then still need to walk every time is maybe not in the cards for me this year. @waybeyondpadthai told me buses and motor taxi's are an option, so I'm going to check out if that's enough of a 'solution' for my case at least.
To round things off: Bangkok, the city doesn't seem like the best place for me to go to. Especially not when I can't take rest days in between: SteemFest will be 5 days of full schedule and last year in Kraków was very very rough for me physically, which also took away from how social and spontaneous I felt I could be.
This is also emotionally heavy, because you want to be everywhere, talk to everyone, but sometimes people are standing around a table and you just can't bring yourself to stand another minute because you already have been standing more than you normally can.
And I really believe Kraków will in hindsight be a way easier city for me to navigate than Bangkok. So the physical strain will be way way worse than last year.
Anyway, there's that. My mobility in combination with a city that might not be very suitable for people with limited mobility makes me very much doubt to go. Especially in combination with the next point... Money.
I plan to go?
I'm not yet planning to go. I want to go, but I also doubt to go. On top of that there's the financial aspect. A quick calculation learns I need about 1000-1500$ for flights, hotel, transfers and SteemFest ticket.
This is the budget only if I go for a 'quicky' SteemFest, which means the 5 days it's planned, but making a long trip for a 5-7 day visit is not really my idea of traveling. Maybe I will decide that I'll only go if I can somehow attach a week before and after SteemFest, to make it worth the long flight. But of course that means the budget will be bigger even.
Anyway. I have no way to save up 1500$ in the next 3-4 months. And with the current prices I'd have to basically halve my account just to be able to go, which is not an option for me either.
All I can do thus far is: putting liquid payouts from my #roadtosteemfest posts in my savings account, and hope for a jump in STEEM prices. Maybe try to win one of the tickets @anomadsoul is offering via various @blocktrades sponsored contests. The first one is an @actifit sponsored price which I can't join due to the 15000 step minimum, but if you can you should try! The second one is a @steemmonsters tournament contest which I'm going to try - but I know many contenders that are way more fanatic at that game than I am and have a way bigger chance at winning ;-)
So there's that. Are you already booked and ready to go?
Let me know in the comments. I haven't read many people who are 100% sure they are going yet. For those that are interested, here are some worthy posts you can read to see if you want to go as well :-)
- @roelandp's announcement post on SteemFest
- Go to steemfest.com for all the details
- @gtg's post in which he sums up all the ways he arranged for us to fly to Bangkok with discounts!
- My first RoadtoSteemFest post for SteemFest4.
- @anomadsoul's post with the guidelines for your own #roadtosteemfest post