I’m a paranoid person. When driving down the highway I imagine 18 wheeler’s tires blowing and either taking off my head or causing their loads to topple over trapping us in a fiery death. It’s who I am and I’ve come to accept that. So, when I know I’m going to be in an unfamiliar place I like to scope it out before I get there. You know, so I know where to go when the ax-wielding madman is on the loose or there’s a sudden outbreak of E. coli.
You’re probably wondering how being paranoid and blogging conferences mesh together…well, we’re going to pretend it’s not paranoia but a need to be prepared that drives me for starters. Having a general idea of where you are, in my opinion, is a mandatory requirement to getting around ANYWHERE! Here are a few other reasons why it’s NOT a waste of time to check out MapQuest, Google Maps, or whatever and figure out where the hell you are going.
- It Saves You Money
- Have you bought a bottle of water in a hotel? Dinner? Snack? Cup of Coffee? Yeah, me neither. Especially not after I did a virtual walk around the neighborhood and found a couple of grocery stories, restaurants, and Starbucks.
- Off-site parties may be way off-site, or they may be a few blocks away. Keep that cab fare in your pocket and put on your walking shoes. I swear it won’t hurt, save the cab ride for the trek back to the hotel when you’re feeling tipsy and loaded with swag.
- You Less Likely To Get Lost
- Imagine someone comes up to you at the gas station and asks, “Is there a Wal-Mart here? Where is it?” When you start to give directions you see their eyes gloss over at the first mention of a turn and the panic in their voice as they say, “Wait, I should write this down.” Don’t be that person. You don’t have to be a human road atlas but for goodness sake it doesn’t hurt to give it a glance. Know what direction your going…north, south, east, and west.
- More Efficient Sight-Seeing
- This year at BlogHer I have only a few windows of time to do some sight-seeing. I don’t want to waste any of that time looking over maps and asking questions, period.
- You’ll Be First in Line in the Restroom
- If you have the time, walk around the conference location and become familiar with the elevators, bathrooms, stairs, etc. Every time we go to the Fox to see a show I’m amazed at the lines spilling out of the women’s restrooms. Especially when, just one floor above is a virtual ghost town.
- I ordered a new camera about a week ago and I won’t get it until this Friday. That makes me upset.
- I've been working on projects for the EcoChic’s July Upcycling Crafting Challenge, once I get that camera you’ll be seeing more about it! I swear!
- This week I should get an appointment with a neurologist to figure out what’s up with my head/nerve pain. Remember this…we think it may be back but in a different spot.
- I still haven’t received my BlogHer volunteer schedule which means I can’t really get excited or figure out which sessions I want to attend.
- What should’ve been a monster harvest of blackberries has shriveled up in the sun and been destroyed by pests. Heat waves suck.
- Selling the house seems like the impossible dream which means we’re looking at an easy $4,000 in homeschooling and private school expenses.
- I checked out Tinkers electronically and it’s about to expire…I still have roughly 500 Kindle Fire pages to read. I forgot how much fun reading can be, Paul Harding’s words are refreshingly well thought out and just pure beauty.
- I need one week of no pain, no prescriptions, clean eating, cool air, and silence to get back in focus. Okay, I’ll settle for a kid-free night and a bottle of wine.
