You did it. You have those tickets for that con sitting in your email inbox. No matter if this is your first convention out of town, or you have done this many times before, you still need to prepare. There is the actual logistics of traveling and getting to and from your home to the convention. Then there is also everything else that comes with being in a different city and being at a convention.
1. Budget
Before you do anything you kinda need to decide how much money you have, and how much you want to spend. Personally, like all things in my life, I have a spreadsheet for this. I copy them from trip to trip and add new things as I go. This is also the same spreadsheet I use for trips that aren’t convention related. Another benefit for having this document sitting in my drive is that I have the information on how much I spent on previous cons and I can go from there and decide how much I should be spending again on this trip. Really, I am a nerd and I could probably talk about spreadsheets and budgets for a real long time, so I am going to stop there. As long as you have a budget that works for you, great.
2. Plan Your Travel
Are you driving, busing, flying, or catching a lift a friend. Booking my flights for an out of province convention is the very first time I do right after buying tickets for a convention. I personally use https://momondo.ca to book my flights. I like that it gathers prices for me from all across different airlines, and I can sort it by cheapest, or quickest. After this, if you don’t have a friend’s place to crash at, do hotel bookings. Sometimes I will book my hotel for the actual convention weekend with my tickets if there is a deal with the organizers. After I have my flights booked I can then either change my hotel booking, or book an airbnb in a different neighborhood to explore before or after the convention.
3. Figure Out Transit
I generally do this at the same time as books hotels or Airbnbs. Because we don’t rent cars, we rely heavily on city transit and ride shares such as Uber or Lyft. In my bullet journal I write down my arrival time from the airport, the time it takes to get to my accommodations, and the time it takes to get to the convention center. Google Maps is great for giving you all of this information so you don’t need to hunt through multiple websites. Although I would suggest if using a city’s transit for the first time, take a peek on their website to figure out fares and how they work.
4. Get Travel Insurance
If this is your first time out of the country, I would take look into travel insurance. I am lucky enough to have travel insurance through both my work health plan, and my credit card. If you have either of these I would suggest checking with the first to see if you have some sort of travel coverage. If not, shop around for some plans. Travel Insurance isn’t that expensive, and often you can choose between single trip plans, or annual plans if you plan on traveling more through the year.
5. Check the Weather & Make a Packing List
These go hand in hand for me. Generally a couple weeks beforehand I will have my general list written out, and my travel toiletries packed away with my suitcase already. I probably do this earlier than most people, and earlier than really needed. I like to anxiously prepared though. This gives me enough time to also do an inventory of what I might need to go out and buy before my trip. A week or so beforehand I will see what the weather looks like, and start planning outfits and clothes to pack around that. Just keep in mind that weather is ever-changing, and if it says it will be super hot all week, maybe pack a sweater just in case.
6. Make A List of Nearby InterestsI mentioned google maps earlier and I shall do it again. Maps is my best friend on a trip. Before a trip I will mark interesting nearby shops or restaurants to check out. This really cuts down on the time wasted laying in your hotel room trying to figure out a place to eat after the con when you already have no energy. Just open up google maps, see the places that you marked weeks ago as interesting and pick one. I collect my list of places to check out by spending the weeks previously on Google or Pinterest, looking at other bloggers posts on places they enjoyed. Also put a call out on your twitter or Instagram to see if your friends have any places they would recommend.
7. Decide on Costumes & Make a Packing List
As soon as you can, try to make a line up of costumes you are wearing and bringing. When I figure out what I am bringing I write down a list of every single piece I need to pack. I get into really fine details personally. I also have these lists written down in a spreadsheet in my drive, so I don’t need to try to remember every single piece I need to bring every single time I want to bring a costume with me. Having it in drive also gives me the ability to add things as I need to, depending on if I redo, or do something different to my costumes.
I generally try to have a rule that I don’t bring costumes I don’t have finished yet to an out of town convention. If you do, it makes it even more important that you decide what to bring ASAP so you can figure out everything you need to get done. This brings me to my next point.
9. Make a Crafting To Do List
Whether you have a costume you are working on, or a costume is already done, make a to do list. Pull out your old costume and go over all the things you maybe forgot that needed to get repaired on it. Having everything laid out on paper in front of me also helps me realize how much I need to do however long before leaving for the convention, and how I need to spread my work load.
10. Keep Your Immune System and Skin Healthy
On a good day I suck at taking care of myself. The weeks coming up to travel though, I try to be better about it. I generally do a lot more in regard to skin care coming up to a con to make sure I don’t have any unwanted breakouts in photos. Face masks and moisturizing happens a lot more 2 weeks before a trip for me. Also remember to drink lots of water, and actually get a good amount of sleep before a convention as well. It sucks to be on your way to something exciting, only to realize that you have gotten sick.
Are there things on your list of preparing for con travel that I missed out? Let me know.
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