Fan Convention Tutorials for n00bs: The Final Countdown Pt. 3
*This article continues from a previous article. If you would like to read the previous articles, please click here for Part 1 and click here for Part 2.
Okay, so let’s skip ahead a bit now to that crucial, but agonizing week long countdown to the date of departure. You’ve got The Fever in a bad way. It’s hard to concentrate on work, your dog has to leave you notes on the refrigerator to remind you to feed him, and you forgot to watch Heroes! Oh no!
It’s okay. It happens to all of us. (Article Continues After Cut…)
So with this in mind, if it is even remotely possible, take the day before you leave for con off from work or school. I know that not everyone will be able to do this, but it’s worth doing if you can. First of all, you won’t get anything accomplished at work the day before con. Just forget even trying. Second, I know and you know that you didn’t do everything well in advance and you’ll have a bunch of last minute stuff to do. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Even I end up running around like crazy the day before con. With that being the case, do yourself a favor and give yourself that 8 hours that you’d normally be doing chair spins in your office (or potentially losing a limb if you work with heavy machinery) and get all that stuff done.
One of these things should be grocery shopping.
A lot of people don’t do this because it never occurs to them, but one of the best ways to save some scratch at a convention (especially a long one that can realistically lasts 4-5 days for many folks) is to bring some of your own food items for breakfasts and lunches. For just a few dollars from each person, you can literally provide breakfast and lunch for 4 people where you could easily spend between $75-$150 (per person) if you were to eat in the hotel’s restaurant or in local fast food joints.
Grab yourself some foodstuffs like cold cuts, sliced cheeses, peanut butter, jelly, bread (though I recommend tortilla style wraps instead), condiments, instant soups, cereal, oatmeal, and yogurt and eat well on the cheap. You’ll even feel a little better if you eat this kind of stuff instead of the garbage at the local grease pits as well. You treat your body badly enough as it is at these kinds of things with the lack of sleep and alcohol intake. Don’t compound it by eating slop.
Of course, bringing perishables like cold cuts means you have to keep them cold so you have a couple of options. First, since not all hotels provide in-room refrigerators, your first option would be to use a cooler. You’ll probably have to use one to get all that kind of stuff down there including soda and the like to begin with, so you’ll likely have one on hand. It’s not a bad option either. Between attending numerous conventions and doing a good bit of camping in my time, I can tell you that by draining a bit of water and topping off the cooler with ice every other day or so, you can keep most anything good and cold. One trick is to dump some salt into the cooler as well. This effectively lowers the freezing point of the water, allowing the temperature of the water to fall below 32 degrees and thus keeping everything that much colder. Using this method gets canned drinks very cold, very fast, as well!
If you’re lucky, the hotel will provide small refrigerators. In that case, I’d suggest using the cooler for beverages and the like and using the refrigerator for food. Either way, you should have plenty of room for everything if you have a decent sized cooler.
Finally, as it pertains to shopping for groceries, if you think you can fit it into the car on the way to the convention, consider taking a case of bottled waters. You will need to drink as much water as possible over the course of the con one way or another especially if you plan on drinking alcohol. Just keep this option for keeping yourself hydrated in mind.
To Be Continued…
Scott “Scooter” McGowan
