House of Broken Needle's Guide to Road Warrior Travel and Cons

This is con season! (well technically there are cons all year but some of the favorites are in the spring and summer sooo...)

 Rusty Needle's Guide to Conventions!

how to have a good time, save money, and avoid showing medical staff your costume!

Who am I, Rusty Needle of House of Broken Needles to give convention advice?! Well I'll tell you! I've been attending conventions regularly since 1998. In the last two years I've put 40,000 miles on my car traveling and many times, living out of scary hotels for three days a week, every week, for a year or two.  Learn from my fails and experience as a road warrior and con goer! NOTE: this is basic tips, not for the hard core cosplay crowd, I'm not getting into detail for that just yet

TIP #1: Don't eat at the hotel (unless the union is paying!)

Break out your Yelp or Urban Spoon ap at the con! Staying at a hotel? Ask the front desk staff. Staying at a scary hotel? ASK THE FRONT DESK STAFF!

Sure your hotel may have a bar or a restaurant (if it's nice heh...what's that...) and the seedy motel you found MIGHT (doubtfully) have a vending area, which may or may not have raccoons and junkies. If you're in a city, ask the front desk. There is GOING to be some place to eat within a few blocks and pizza that delivers. At a convention center? Don't eat there! Walk a block or two and get something much better for half the price! Traveling out in the boons? Well motels tend to be at "hubs" and even in BFE West Virginia you can find a place to eat. Now it might be a diner or a sketchy bar, and no it ain't gonna be vegan organic but there is food. Have special dietary needs? BRING YOUR OWN CHOW! In fact you should always have some basic snacks in your over night bag. Bag of beef jerky, some apples, and a water bottle and you are good to go.

That's right! You need special food? Bring a small cooler with your soy yogurt, fruit, cheese, whatever and you are set. Too tired after running around at the con all day? Go back to your hotel room and have some bread and cheese and boxed wine (Bring your own)!

Want delivery? Ask the front desk. Even at a sketchy $40 a night biker motel, someone is manning the desk. Call them and ask or ask when you check in. Many times you can get a discount.

NOTE: only time this rule doesn't apply is if morning breakfast is included and you can eat carbs. Then go to town!

TIP #2: Keep an "over night bag" behind your seat and heat sensitive items easy to grab
I can't think of any other way to call it but this would be a smaller bag with your meds, electronics, one set of clothes, your basic bathroom kit (see below) and some snacks easy to grab. This way when you slog into a hotel at 0-dark hundred hours you can just grab that shit and stagger into the hotel and unload later! If you have to valet your car this isn't so helpful because you have to bring in everything, but if you are self parking, or know that you are only staying at the place one night, this makes a huge difference! Eating at, or stopping at a seedy looking truck stop? With your expensive items in that bag you can take it with you and make your car less likely to get broken into.  Stopping for a while in the summer? Keep your heat sensitive items (electronics, meltable makeup, YOUR PET!) in another close bag to bring in with you! Are you a lady person? Even if you are sure your period is like clock work, come to a con without tampons and it'll be a red wedding.

Hell even if you don't need 'em bring 'em. Way to instantly make friends in the bathroom !

What's in my ONB? As someone who has spent a ton of time on the road I used to keep a bag ready to go at all times. Here's what was in it

1. Bathroom kit (deodorant, travel tooth paste and brush, razor, bar shampoo/soap, aquaphor, pain meds, two doses of daily meds, band aids, lipstick, CC cream, foldable brush, diva)
2. Spare phone charger and wall plug
3. PJS, two sets of undies and socks, 1 pair jeans, hoodie, tshirt or long shirt, 1 set "work clothing"
4. Clif bars, flask, jerky

Then I'd toss in my computer, phone, and a book. I'd be good for two nights, three days in a large backpack or small duffle. Obviously if you're bringing costumes you are going to need more bags but this a great "I"M SO TIRED I'M GONNA CRY!" grab bag to get in and get to sleep. It's also the last thing you can pack .

TIP #3: Get a Go To Bathroom/cosplay kit!

Over the door or shower rod travel kits are the bomb dot com! LL Bean has some great ones but there are cheap knock offs out there too that work fine. To the left are the bean ones. Ignore the days on it, it's more or amount of people or fuzziness. Are you packing for yourself or yourself and spouse or kids. Do you have a complicated beauty routine with many products or are you a "soap, razor, teeth, deodorant" kind of traveler. Are you going to a con in costume or just mundane? You can fit full sized products in the last 3 but the family size one is really big. Its great for cosplay if you have a lot of makeup and want something hang-able and squishy vs a caboodle. My better half keeps his travel kit on the back of the bathroom door at home!



TIP #4: Your car as your "Base of operations"
Did you know you can bake cookies in your car in the summer? (someone should do this a Colossalcon). It' gets hot or very cold in there so use that to your advantage is you have access to your car at the con. Leave your large props in there, forget bag check (Tekko...) and leave your stuff in the car. If you're road warrioring in the winter, your car is an instant cooler. If you drive an unreliable old lemon like I do, never look down on the portable power station/jump starter. They take up some space behind the seat but it's a light, a charger, and a jump starter. It's cheaper than a tow.

TIP #5: Read the hotel reviews! Travel a lot? Join Choice Hotels and AAA
It helps to read hotel before before you book. Found out the hotel I had booked for Colossal-con was an active crime scene the week before for meth thanks to a review. Don't laugh, when you spend as much time on the road as I did and are broke you stay at cheap places. Not all of us are Embassy Suite people. Travel a lot? Choice Hotels covers the Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, Econo-lodge and a bunch of others and as chains, they are reliable. It does save money and it's easy to book a room on your phone. It also gives you a little bit more bargaining room. NOTE: after online booking ,still call the place to make sure. Had problems out in nowheres Kentucky last year. Talk to a real person!

TIP #6: EZ Pass! Tolls and mad money
Don't be that guy hitting people up on facebook for money to pay for gas to get home because you didn't plan ahead. I'm going to risk sounding like your mother saying this but: if you don't have money for gas to get there and back + tolls YOU DON'T GO! Check your route ahead of time to see if there are toll roads and see how much. It's on the internet. 20 bucks covers most tolls..unless it's the PA turnpike. Not responsible enough to keep from spending your gas and toll money at the con? Maybe you're not responsible enough to go to a con. Just saying. Hitting up a lot of Toll roads? EZ Pass is the win! Saved like 30 bucks going to Phili and back thanks to it and no risk of losing your toll ticket and having to pay the full amount. Also always have a stash of emergency cash on you. You never know when shit might happen, like a car breakdown, flat tire, unknown charges on your hotel room, increased parking costs etc. Over budget.


TIP #7: Double Check Your Packing
Double check to make sure you have everything you need! Don't risk ending up at a con with only half your costume, or no underwear, or having to buy a new phone charger from a truck stop in nowheres WV because you forgot it. Again. 

TIP #8: Pack Emergency Rations
If you are prone to low sugar, or getting hangry just bring a clif bar or other small flat food ration with you to the con. You can hide a packet of power gel in even the skimpiest of costumes and it could make the difference between walking the masquerade or ending up passed out on the floor.

TIP #9: If you're uncomfortable/dizzy/feeling sick in your costume...get out of it!
I know that armor looks amazing, but if you are about to pass out and you do, EMS may cut it off of you. Get heat stroke in your fur suit and the nurses across the river will happily cut you out to get an IV lickety split. If you are feeling really bad just get back to your room, or a quiet place, and get some of the costume off and get some h20, food and air. Is looking cool worth it? LEARN FROM MY FAIL: I had food poisoning and hang over as Hellgirl and was on the edge of passing out the entire time I was at Ohayo. When things got really bad I went back to my hotel, hydrated, got out of a all the gear, and laid down for a while. Sure I missed some fun, but your health is more important. Hopefully you don't get sick to begin with but...

TIP #10 Con crud is real!
Wash your hands! Get a flu shot! Bring Dayquil in your over night bag! Having the flu on an airplane going cross country after a convention sucks!

TIP #11: travel in packs
Cons are more fun with friends! If you can find someone to go with you, go for it, it's more fun and safer. Don't have a friend? Find a group of people dressed in your fandom and make some!