State Of The Galacon/Sicily Trip. (One month remains in the Ko-Fi drive.) · 5:36pm Jun 16th, 2023
Before we start, I want to take public notice of a recent event.
Yesterday, I posted my first G5 story. This is because there's now enough material in the series for me to feel comfortable in exploring the characters, and I wanted to write a G5 story.
Yesterday, I also lost three followers. Which happened immediately after I posted that story.
...y'all are picky.
Well, in the name of fair warning: there's going to be another G5 story this month. It'll be a light comedy, focused on Pipp, and it'll probably be posted by Sunday. If that's something which offends anyone, then I'm going to assume you remember where the door is.
(You'd think I'd gone and worked blue again...)
And now, The State Of The Journey.
Sicily is go.
The initial goal was reached with more than a month remaining on the July 15th deadline.
There's still a tip drive under way, and it continues to be about Sicily. (See below.) But...
...I'm going.
I'll have one more chance to truly breathe.
I reeled, when the number went over the top. I spiraled through guilt and gratitude. I'm still doing that. (Mostly guilt.)
I get to go.
But I don't know how long I can stay. And thus the drive continues.
I can't go home again. No one can, because you change, and your home changes, and... the person you were and the place which once existed can't intersect a second time.
I can't go home. But because of so many of you, I get to go back.
...I've been waiting for something to go wrong. As the world's greatest authority on my own luck, I keep thinking that there has to be a backlash. Something which keeps me from going at all. Or, since I was determined to breathe true air again, then maybe it would have to stop breath entirely --
--- there's a lot which can still go wrong: put it that way. I'll try to avoid most of it.
However, if war is declared against all of Europe before the end of summer, just presume it's my fault.
I've been holding a nightly photo essay in the chat server. Showing off the island, and explaining why I want to go back so badly. No one's thrown a shoe at me yet. And I think I may have made at least a few people start considering their own future vacations.
Because the volcano can be peaceful.
And the waters are so blue.
And I miss the streets.
And we're kind of welcome there.
(I may bring more images from the ongoing essay into the blog, when there's two weeks left in the drive.)
But I don't know how long I can stay.
The original goal was meant to cover the flight into Catania, a somewhat-increased expense to get home -- two one-ways -- and four full days on the island. I was going to fly out of Germany on the 19th, try to stay in Sicily through the 23rd, and then leave for the States on the 24th.
But we reached that goal number early, and... now that I know I can go, I want to stay a little longer. I'm trying to buy time. Which means the drive continues. There's just a related purpose in play.
For every full $250 raised between now and midnight EDT on July 15th, I can spend one more day in Sicily. (Fractionals just make the stay a little easier.) This goal has already been met once (more guilt and tears), and I can now fly out on the 25th. There is a maximum duration -- I have to pay rent in person, and that means I must leave no later than October 2nd -- but any hours purchased will be precious.
It's up to you. It's always up to you.
So... actual progress made, and some 'lack thereof':
Flight into Germany: booked. I'll actually be coming in via Frankfurt. I tried for Stuttgart as the closer airport, over and over. There was one point when I considered landing in Paris and then taking a train the rest of the way. But as-is... compromise. Frankfurt allowed me the luxury of a direct flight, and I can't miss a connection when I don't have to make one -- at least, in the air. I'll need to get out of the airport, then catch a train to Waiblingen.
The flight takes off on September 14th and lands on the 15th. Ticket cost, with insurance and baggage added, was just under $400. I'll need to spend another $40 to $80 on trains in order to complete the journey. (Prices are variable by hour.) The total is still less than any Stuttgart flight worked out to be.
The bad news here? JFK. I'll have to reach and then face down one of the busiest airports on the planet. Allow up to six days for getting through any and all checkpoints. Each.
Flight into Sicily: not booked. I'm trying -- but I keep running into the same obstacle: just about every airline decided their maximum weight for a carry-on bag was 17.6lbs. I am not confident in my ability to meet that, especially if I'm carrying anything from Galacon. So I've been trying to get a checked piece added without going over $200, and... it's been a challenge. Especially when I'm trying to avoid too much in the way of connection chaos. There's one route which means having to change planes in Milan, and 2:20 to make the transfer might not be enough. Another offers more time. Namely, six hours of it. In Zurich. ...well, the airport. Which I can't leave.
There are directs, of course. Today, I found a one-way nonstop which goes into Catania. It's $60.
You heard me. Sixty dollars. That's it.
...plus $49 for luggage.
Also, it leaves from Frankfurt Hahn. Not Frankfurt itself: a secondary facility. So first, I'd have to reach Frankfurt again. Toss on $40 or more for trainfare again, along with adding in that travel time. And after that, I have to get to the airport. Which is...
...124km from the city.
But that's okay! There's a bus! It runs five times a day! Only takes two hours or more to get there, at a cost of $22 for the busfare! And with so many moving parts in play, surely nothing could possibly...
...maybe not that flight.
Hotels: not booked. I have to speak with my bank on July 3rd and have them authorize purchases in Europe: if I don't, the debit card shuts itself down. Once that conversation is had, I can line up somewhere to stay. Germany can be fully booked. However, as I don't know how long I'll be in Sicily, I'm just going to get Night #1 in Catania and #2 in Nicolosi. Plans will become a little more finalized as we get closer to deadline.
Prep work: under way. I don't have to worry about bringing my media meter along, as I officially completed my panel time a few days ago. (I wasn't kicked out. Two years is the max, and I've been told that they might consider bringing me in again -- after another two years.) It's a little too early to pick up supplies.
But I have been checking train schedules. Trying to map out routes. Looking at Germany for Things To Do on the 18th, after the convention's wrapped. Asking for advice.
I could still use some.
Euros: acquired. I used a currency exchange in Manhattan. (I was in the city for the day anyway.) Accordingly, I now have 400 Euros in bills, at a lower price than I would have paid for swapping at the airport. This is mostly meant to protect me against first-day debit card problems: if I have cash, I can do something. With no physical money and a bank error... issues.
Phone: still an issue. If I make or choose to take a call, it costs me ten dollars. This fee turns the phone on for one full day, and then the next call after that is another ten dollars...
Maybe a burner would be easier.
Data: working on it. I'll probably have to purchase a few daily plans from local providers. Something I really can't do until I get there.
Fear: lots. So much could still go wrong.
But...
...if I make it to September...
...if I can get on that first plane...
...it's been years since I've felt this close...
Your story is good. So far, G5 is NOT.
For financial reasons, I haven't seen the movie. After your story, I did watch some shows.
I've been watching MLP since it was on broadcast TV in Phoenix in the 1980s.
G5 has excellent animation. Plotwise, better than G3, not quite as good as G1/G2.
I'd be willing to bet the 2020s ain't going to have anywhere near as many Bronies as the 2010s did. Still, I plan on watching S1 (as time & tolerance permit) before coming to a final decision.
Doyle came to HATE Sherlock Holmes. Felt it distracted from his other stories. (I'd bet a fair number of people didn't know he also wrote Sci-fi. ) He kept writing Holmes stories because that's what the publishers wanted.
That's basically why Pratchett stopped writing everything but Disc World & why Anthony quite writing anything but Xanth.
You might be able to save a lot of money on public transport fare if you sign up for a "Germany Ticket." It's a subscription, but you can cancel it on a monthly basis at any point until the next payment is due, it allows you to use the majority of local public transport in all of Germany with only a few exceptions and it costs only 49€.
And yes, tourists are supposed to be able to book it. All you need is a working bank account.
https://www.bahn.com/en/offers/regional/deutschlandticket
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-new-49-monthly-travel-pass-explained/a-65421776
I'm more worried about the volcano...
Could you mail anything you pick up at the con, or some of your by-then used clothes, back to your own PO box to save on luggage space?
If your trip to Sicily is a return flight than you can stow things you don’t need in Italy in a storage locker at the airport when you depart, and pick it up on the return leg.
Estee, you have 2591 followers as of this writing. Obsessing over a single-digit variation in that number is... not healthy. When you suddenly lose three hundred followers in the wake of one story, then it's time for you to be concerned. Three barely even qualifies as random noise.
Now, as for the phone issue: You might find these useful:
Best Europe Sim Cards: Top Data Sims For Travelling
Using A Cell Phone In Europe Made Easy and Affordable
If your phone isn't locked to a specific carrier, you can get a prepaid SIM card like one of these and use it. There will likely be at least one kiosk vendor at the airport selling them to travellers, and probably more than one. Those kiosks will generally also have "burner" phones that come with the right kind of SIM (or eSIM) plus airtime, if you want to go that route. Getting just the SIM card would be cheaper, but the burner-phone option might be easier since you can have them set it up for you and activate it right there at the airport, and you won't have to worry about where to store your US SIM card until you're ready to return.
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I'm starting to feel like no one got the joke.
I really like the first photo. That greenery looks so neat against the black sand.
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*confusedly raises hand*
Read the G5 story this morning. G5 isn't my cup of tea but I don't read Estee's stories because he focuses on G4. I read them because he makes the characters interesting. Quirks and all. In many ways more interesting than how they are in canon. Good luck with the trip, and keep writing.
Sicily is a nice place, did Catania-Palermo-syracuse before and need to go there again later on
i might see you in Galacon, need to do my own trip plans after returning from BronUKon
as someone else said, the 49 euro ticket for all of Germany is a great solution and you can take any train, bus, etc except for fast ICE/IC trains.
i would also suggest going on bronies.de, might find someone to travel with from frankfurt, also share a place to sleep like many, will save some cost.
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I've had to mail stuff back home just from a con here in the states; while TSA doesn't have any rules specifically against a large latex foam axe being carried on, it could and probably would be confiscated by the TSA officer at the gate (it's really a judgment call on their part). The smaller axe was able to go in checked luggage with no issue.
I keep buying stuff from Knighthawk Armoury every damned year, heh-- almost purchased the bricks and rolling pin too.