+

[Iru-chan]

Okay, I live in Alabama and I have a few decent sized cons around me. The good ones are in other states, though. AWA is fair game, but my dad says that some of the ones in Florida is way too far.

I just wanted to know how far everyone here goes to get to the big cons? Also, if you go a long ways, are you financially wealthy in order to go that far just for a few days? ^_^;

Oh, and how do you explain getting out of school on Friday to your parents to go to the con? XD My parents hate the idea

[livvylove]

2.5 hours thats how far Atlanta is from Augusta. This year for AWA I got a hotel room already. I'm not wealthy by far (what college student is) but I am a good saver and so I had 300 extra in my savings account so I set that for the hotel room and my boyfriend is going to pay about 300 for everything else (he is still saving).

[Tess]

I live in backwater Maryland [the little skinny part that's wedged between PA and WV ^^;] and there's not much available, con-wise, in my backyard. Last year was my first year attending cons and I only made it to Otakon, which is about 2.5-3 hours away. There are a few other conventions in the same vicinity as Otakon [Anime USA, Katsucon, etc] but my friend and I haven't had the financial means to make the trip. We hope to change that next year, with a bit of financial planning.

I'm not familiar with cons in the south, but if there's nothing nearby, you might want to check the Gatherings forum for any cosplay meet-ups. There's always something being organized, and gatherings [from what I can gather] sound like a much more personal cosplaying experience, where you get to meet other cosplay.com members and chat a bit.

As for getting out of school, I attend college, so it's not much of an issue. I would be willing to skip a day of classes [letting teachers know, of course ^__^;] to attend a con, as it's a pretty rare occurence. Otakon wasn't an issue, of course, because it took place over the summer.

Hope I helped in some small way. ^__^

@-->--- Tess

[Chibik3r0]

My friends and I travel by car from Toronto, Ontario to Baltimore, Maryland for Otakon. We have more friends who join us that live in Pennsylvania, so we always break up the drive over two days, with last year's drive home being the exception. It's about 10 hours assuming everything goes as planned. Ohayocon was about a 6 to 7 hour drive, but the weather sucked. Other than that, it's local less than 30 minutes usually.

[Mesoian]

Farthest con I go to is Otakon, which is about 400 miles away, and I don't drive for that, I take the train. Perhaps If I was with a group, I would go farther.

[Majin Buu]

The question I'll answer first is the one that has to do with anime conventions and the distance of going there. I live in Arkansas, and the closest large convention for me would be A-Kon in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. However, I have not been to that one before. I've always taken the liberty to go all the way to Southern California to attend Anime Expo (one of the largest anime conventions in North America). So, for three consecutive years (this summer to be my fourth), I've always gone 1,700 to a convention. I know more people out there than I do anywhere else, and I don't have to worry about paying any hotel expenses.

Financially wealthy.....moi? *chuckles* No way.....not even close. I hardly have much of a life at home, so I save as much as I can to attend AX.

I'm not sure about the last one, since a.) I'm not in school anymore, and b.) I've never attended any conventions outside of the summer months.

BTW, I fly to Southern CA.

[Celebrimbor]

Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Louis are all about 5-6 hours for me, and that's about the furthest I'll drive.

[Lystrade]

I'm only 17 and my car is dead.. Sooo.. I'm only allowed to go as far as Orlando, if I have a ride, which is about an hour away from where I live.. ;-;

[OoTLink]

I'm 18, and can't drive yet, so I don't go anywhere BUT sf.. way too hard to try funky transit systems and I'm not going to take busses from bart stations to places ~30-40 mins away especially when it's a bus system I *don't* know..

This is why I never go to reccacon, which would require me to take a bus from here to the bart station, take bart from el cerrito to oakland (center of system), and then from oakland back to pittsburgh, from there on a bus for some funky bus system, to a stop that's 1 mile away from some dinky college in the middle of nowhere...

*eg* Too bad conventions in large cities also cost large sums of money to run *sigh*

[Equine]

the farthest i've gone is to Anime Axpo, which was about a 45 min drive. however, next year, i'll be driving to YaoiCon in san fransisco, so that'll be like 6 hours. as far as paying for it, i have no idea how i'm gonna do that. i guess i'll just save my money and hope i have a well-paying job by then. ^^;

and i can pretty much forget about cons on fridays if i have school. my parents would acuse me of turning cosplay into something more important than school because i need to get into a good college, and then they'd start monitering my costumes and stuff like hell. so i dont even suggest it. i dont want them getting any ideas. XP

[Mistress_Aine]

Originally Posted by Tess

I live in backwater Maryland [the little skinny part that's wedged between PA and WV ^^;] and there's not much available, con-wise, in my backyard. Last year was my first year attending cons and I only made it to Otakon, which is about 2.5-3 hours away. There are a few other conventions in the same vicinity as Otakon [Anime USA, Katsucon, etc] but my friend and I haven't had the financial means to make the trip. We hope to change that next year, with a bit of financial planning.

Yeah that would be my best friend and I live 10-15 minutes away from her. We is broked.

But yeah check out the gatherings forums. Those have a good bit of stuff. There are two I am going to.

[ArchFaith]

Hehe....well, the farthest I've gone for a con is a train ride into New York for BAAF 2003. I live in central New Jersey, so our choices are pretty limited...this year though, I'll be traveling 1 hr 45 mins to Long Island for I-con.

Wish we had more cons in the "middle states"...

[Serria]

I don't go very far. The furthest that I've gone is about five hours away. I'm fifteen, I don't have a car or money... yeah. I can't be picky. ^^

[HybridTwist]

The farthest that I have ever traveled was Anaheim, which is about 66 miles from me (but considering that I have to drive through LA, that adds about an hour depending on the traffic. However, I plan on going to San Diego Comic Con, if I can make it. As for the people that have to travel across states to get to a con or whatever, I think it's 50-50. The some people that don't have money to through around probably save like crazy to be able to go to a con (while staying at a hotel).

Originally Posted by Iru-chan

Oh, and how do you explain getting out of school on Friday to your parents to go to the con? XD My parents hate the idea

Say that it's an educational experience or that you can meet some new people and make friends. Also, if you don't have tests or anything do that day, that could actually help you.

[OoTLink]

Originally Posted by Serria

I don't go very far. The furthest that I've gone is about five hours away. I'm fifteen, I don't have a car or money... yeah. I can't be picky. ^^

Funny but some people are picky on who they answer/talk to at cons.. ever try saying hi to someone and realize the only way to get their attention was to practically knock them over?