OK.... SO right at a month away!!!!!! Whats everyone's preparations looking like??? When do you start getting ready.... I myself only pack 2 days prior... lol
I usually pack up on Tuesday night, as our group begins the drive down after work on Wednesday. It's about 5 hours, so saving even 10 minutes from having to throw stuff in the bag is nice.
Need to get some new luggage and nerd clothes. Do some research into new board games. Reinstall spotify so I can listen to the gencon playlist on my 7 hour drive down.
Try to keep myself busy to make the time go faster
Whats on everyones Gen Con playlists? Alestorm and Van Canto are on mine
Preparation Level: Calm Nervousness.
Everything that can be booked has been.
Trying not to worry too much about the O'Hare to Union Station connection at Chicago; I'll either make it or not, and if not, that's what fun travel stories are made of.
Need to do a test-pack, to see whether I can fit everything into my carry-on plus a foldable bag for the trip home.
I'm pushing the wheel of pain to get all buff for orc killing.
Poor, pitiful me, I can only attend Saturday, so not much preparation. Using all my vacation time for a trip to Europe, shortly after GenCon, part of which includes a Homecoming event with one of the Exhibitors. See them at the convention, then see them at home.
2. When do you start getting ready...? It is an ongoing process starting when I decide I have the money to make the trip. So about the time the Event List opened up. I figure that around the first week of July I will get my GO Express tickets for getting between the hotel (I will be at the airport) and the convention center. I suspect that I will do a final pack about two days prior to my flight, and the following day drop my cat off at the boarding resort.
2. I will clean the house thoroughly and spend time with my wife and kids the week leading up as they're not coming. And spend all of Wednesday packing and tripple checking that I have packed and loaded up the car. Driving to pick up my roommates and then crashing at the last roommates house before driving up to hotel!
Looking out con items like clothing, badge holders, etc.
Training hard for the Orc stomp. Working out budget for how much I can spend.
I have been forcing myself to not get ready yet :P
Lists. Lists are my friends. Lists make sure I don't do something stupid like not pack the badges. I have promised myself that I will not start making lists until the start of July, so I am ready for Monday :D Also, by making lists early, if I randomly think of something I should add, like start taking Vitamin C tablets a few days before, I can just run and add it to the appropriate list.
I have several lists. One is "Stuff to do this month" and includes things like get a haircut and break in my new shoes as my old ones are getting too worn out.
Another is "Stuff to do the week before" and has things like start packing the tickets and clothes, and stopping by the bank to get cash for the vendor hall.
Next is "Stuff to do the day/night before" and is things like pack whatever I won't need in the morning, get clothes ready for the morning, charge my battery pack and laptop, double check that the tickets are packed, order a Lyft to take me to the airport, etc.
Finally, there is a "Stuff to do in the morning before going to the airport", which is triple check that the tickets are packed, use and pack up the toiletries like toothbrush, feed the cats, and general panic.
There is also just a list of things to pack, which includes things like my phone charge cable and the sleeping mask I'll want at the hotel, things that aren't immediately obvious like clothes.
Having done this 3 times, I have not forgotten anything important so far and it soothes the obsessive planner side of me :)
~Komori
- Start taking Airborne from now through the con. - Plan places to eat lunch and dinner everyday. - Catch up on lots of board game news about games, so I know what to buy.
I pack like Indiana Jones - last minute; jacket, whip, revolver...