We’re heading into a new year, and with it, I’m steadily working on plans to make it a great year for Wandering NerdGirl. This is a rough idea of how I aim to approach next year, and there is always room to add or remove things.
shopping
Give the World Your Best
The last year has been… interesting, to say the least. 2018 was a challenge for me mentally, physically, and emotionally. But, I decided I’m not devoting any more energy to bad things. So, today I want to focus on something good.
Cons, cons, and more cons.
For the last month, roughly, I’ve been an exceptionally busy gal on the weekend. Between the first weekend of February until the first weekend of March, I’ve been at some sort of con every other weekend:
- Wizard World St Louis
- Planet Comic Con (in Kansas City)
- STL Comics Winter One-Day
HOLY EXHAUSTION, BATMAN! My poor wallet hurts.
However, it was a pretty fun to have so many, so close together, to compare how different they felt. Different levels and experiences, etc. So, while I plan to post about each one individually, I’d like to take a moment to compare the three.
Fan Expo Canada 2017 – Day One
My very first trip to Canada went a lot smoother than I had anticipated. For some reason, I imagined quite a few hiccups and setbacks for a solo trip: forgetting some vital thing for travel, getting lost trying to find my gate, having some issue in customs because I haven’t been through anything like that since I went to the Bahamas when I was 13 and 15, both times my mom was there to take care of everything. Needless to say, when my mom and brother dropped me off at the airport, I was a bit nervous.
However, breaking in my passport on my own was an interesting experience. There was a blend of anxiety from just being by myself, and also a strange sort of relaxation from it. By the time I arrived in Canada, got my phone working, made it through customs and had my money exchanged – I felt like I had the hardest part of the trip over. I made my way to the train with ease, boarded and stowed my luggage, and took the peaceful 25 minute trip from the airport to Union Station – just across from my hotel.
The Fairmont York Hotel in Toronto
I’m back!
Packing for FanExpo Toronto
Well, it’s FINALLY here. I leave super early in the morning for Canada. Less than 24 hours until I’m in Toronto… HOW DID IT GET HERE SO SOON?!
Which means, I’m in final stages of packing tonight.
So, what am I bringing along for Fan Expo?
- Jeans and T-shirts (duh)
- My Comic Book Stor-folio
- My con bag
- Various comics I hope to have signed
- Normal, boring trip necessities – makeup, hygiene products, pajamas, etc.
- A small handbag for any non-con adventures
- Camera
- My magical book of lists that goes everywhere with me (see the “I Heart Horror notebook above)
I have my hotel confirmation and all of my tickets printed and packed. My information written down so I know when to be where and how. If the printer cooperates before I leave, I’ll have a con floor map and schedule printed, too. Tomorrow is pretty well lined out in my head, so I think I’m prepared.
All I have left to do is last minute packing, and the actual journey to the airport.
I can’t wait! I’ll have loads of pictures and hopefully some great posts for you guys when I get back!
See you when I get back!
~Angel
“You Have a Trip Coming Up”
This is a reoccurring reminder every time I go shopping before any trip.
You have a trip coming up.
Yup. I do. So, tell me, how’d I go to buy some jeans for my trip, and end up with all this?
Okay. Let’s reason, a bit, here:
There was a sale at All the Rage comics (which I need to do a proper post on, sometime), where everything I bought was either 50% or 25% off. So, the three comics toward the bottom were 50%. Then the 1986 trade paperback of The Dark Knight Returns was 25% off, and I ended up paying less than $10 for it. Then that copy of Metal was 25% off, and I’d been wanting that particular cover. Decent and fairly inexpensive haul, there.
The Lil Gotham issues were $2.99 at V-stock, and actually came with a second issue behind each one. So I walked away with issues #1-4, plus my mom bought them for me. So, zero spent on those four issues.
I needed to buy a small purse, and planned to make this purchase, because I don’t want to haul my con bag around outside of the con itself. I mainly just needed a place to shove a few items in that zips. So, I went into Hot Topic to have a look. They were having a sale: if you bought any bag, if you put anything into the bag, you’d get 25% off the bag AND the item. So, the Tiffany Pop! from Bride of Chucky got shoved into the Harley bag. I left paying less for both than I would have for just the bag, itself. SCORE!
I did get my jeans and other miscellaneous clothing items I needed for my trip. But the point was showing that I could still make a haul like the one above, save a bunch of money, and still be ready for a con that is now ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY AWAY! Whoa. I should finish packing…
~Angel
Wandering NerdGirl 