The Cover Art/Convention Survey: The Winning Story & Destination Are... (plus expense breakdown & backup plan) · 5:21pm March 9th
I promised a transparent vote. As such, I took screenshots of the Google Surveys results. However, those images are currently being hosted by the chat server, and nothing else. Those links have a nasty tendency to break, and I may have to replace them several times.
...I swear this isn't stalling.
Neither is this: there were 152 ballots cast. (So we did beat last year's total, and thankee.) However, a number of people only voted on a single question, and that means you're going to see a discrepancy in the totals.
The winning story
Don't call it a comeback, because it was a pony race all along -- but 500LM was in the lead until the very last hours.
The winning convention
...
...ho-boy.
The non-joke made shortly after the results were known? This is sort of like voting for a compelling new system of social programs, then wondering why your taxes went up. Not that I have any ability to levy such things, but -- there's a difference between making desires known and getting them paid for.
I'm honoring this result. I want to go. But at the same time...
...honesty is a virtue...
...I'm having a hard time believing that this goal can be met.
So let's talk about what happens if it isn't.
The destination is set. We're aiming for Japan, and everything quoted in the cost estimate sheet will be based on that. However, there's a chance that the goal won't be reached -- and as we're looking at a 2025 convention which is hosting its 2024 gathering in May, there might not be a 2025 MLP site to visit. They haven't exactly announced anything yet, and I don't expect that to happen until after this year's convention is finished.
Accordingly:
* If the goal is not met by deadline (see below), all money raised will be frozen. This total rolls over into 2025, and will seed that year's convention drive. Japan won't be on that vote list, because there won't be time to close the gap.
* If we learn there won't be a 2025 Tokyo convention and there's still time on the 2024 MLP calendar, then I'll recalculate the total and switch the city to our second-place finisher: Milwaukee and CiderFest. This should drop the needed amount by A Lot. The announcement will be made shortly after any such news comes in.
* Should we discover there will be no 2025 convention in Japan, the 2024 MLP calendar has closed, and the goal has been met -- then there's two options. Freeze funds and roll over -- or say "@$%^ it: we fly," then go to Japan anyway. I will consult with the group before making that decision and honor the wishes of the contributors and followers.
So basically, I've gotta monitor whatever news we get from Ponicon. Carefully.
But for now, we're moving forward based on their being around next year. As such, I have to present the cost estimate sheet.
Two notes before we start into that: one major, one minor.
First, I am basing all of the numbers you see below on a four-day stay.
I know. The convention is two days.
The time zone difference is fourteen hours.
Best-case with a direct flight? I'll be on a plane for seventeen hours. Add that to the time zone switch, and I can't land & run directly for the convention. I'll be lucky if I can walk. So I have to plan for getting in one day early, just to give my body some chance to adjust. Otherwise, it's the thrilling tale of how I slept through an entire convention.
The fourth day? Two reasons. One is not to make a mad dash for the airport after the convention tables are draped, and the other -- as with Germany and Seattle before, I'd like to at least have one day in Tokyo to just be there. We can talk about Things To Do if that happens.
And the minor note? If the convention goal is somehow met with time left on the clock, I will be posting a new one of Extra Time. This goal can potentially be repeatedly reached, and each time it's met equals one more day in Japan.
With that said... let's break down some numbers.
Flight: variable, but centers on $1400. We are over a year out from the actual trip, and no one will show me a booking for quite that far ahead. I have to base the costs off the numbers I'm seeing today, figure for potential inflation, and then remind myself that I can't hold my fingers in a crossed position for quite that long. It may be possible to get this down to $1250, but most of what I'm seeing is as above. Especially if I'm trying to avoid sleeping in Istanbul, because Turkish Airlines is trying to get involved with still more fun 32-hour trips. If you want to research some basic flights yourself, I'm using Skyscanner: any NYC-area airport to any Tokyo one. And if you can find a great flight, tell me.
I'm willing to try tricks like 'Fly to the West Coast, then catch a Tokyo plane from there'. There just has to be enough savings to justify it. And I'm aware that the cheapest American flights leave from Honolulu -- but then it's a question of getting there, and that? Ain't cheap. Using Philadelphia is an option. Boston adds a travel expense and would need a huge savings to justify.
(This is Economy, BTW. You can look up costs for Business Class and above. Have smelling salts on standby.)
Baggage: $0 -- I hope. Pretty much everything I'm seeing allows for one checked bag, and I'm only going to take one bag. In the event that the goal is met and I get extra time, I'll just have to do laundry.
In-flight wifi: ignored. I'll have to live without.
Flight insurance: $140. Mandatory. If I get sick and can't take the purchased return trip due to illness, insurance is the only way I'm getting home. (I'm basing this on insurance costs for current flights.) And as with Germany, I'll still need to ring an emergency bell to cover a sickbed hotel.
Transportation to and from both airports: $85. This represents the train to what will probably be JFK, and the cost for getting out of Narita International and into Tokyo itself.
Transportation within Tokyo, four days: $60 I'm probably gonna need the subway a few times. Renting a car is out of the question and taxis are rolling bankruptcy.
Hotel, four nights: $400. This is the single biggest question mark on the cost sheet. I did some research, and it is absolutely possible to get a decent hotel for $100 per night -- or less. But there's also capsule/coffin beds available, and that could be a huge savings -- if I can actually sleep in one of those things. If I can trust their security. If, if, if...
Put it this way: if we come up just short of goal and I have to start saving pennies to make it work, this is where I cut down first.
Plus there's places like this.
(Don't tell Twilight.)
Food: $240. Gawds help me if I can't find something to eat in Tokyo.
Convention admission: estimated $70. I didn't see anything specific on the site: accordingly, this is based on table rental costs.
SIM cards for Japan: $75 (max). This is something I didn't initially see coming for Europe and now know to include here. Bluntly? I'm gonna need a working phone, and I can purchase temporary SIMs from Amazon. However, the price above represents SIMs for both the phone and the tablet. And I no longer have a dumbphone. It may be possible to just get a single SIM for the phone, then only use the tablet in wifi areas. But I will need at least one SIM with data built in, because GPS walking directions or death. Given what happened in Taormina, possibly both.
Postage: $60. As before, I likely have to mail all purchases home.
Pre-flight prep: $30. Travel toiletries, supplies, probably trail mix. As per usual.
Shopping: $300. As with Germany, I recognize that this is high. However, I'm once again going to be seeing pony merch which doesn't exist in the States. Please note that if you want me to get a plushie, this number probably has to triple.
Currency conversion fees: $50. I'll need to get physical cash before leaving. This can be done on pretty much any day when I would have to be in Manhattan anyway. I realize this fee is larger than it was for Germany, but I did learn that I'll need to carry more money at the start. Withdrawal fees and on-site conversions in Tokyo may be much, much worse.
External battery for devices: $35. Maximum of 27,000 mAh can be taken on a plane.
PayPal fees: estimated at $130. I lose nearly one-fifth of a base $3 tip. ($0.49, plus 3.49% of the total amount.) This drops for larger amounts, but it's still money I don't see. The above amount is hoping that it doesn't all happen three dollars at a time: if that's the way it adds up, this number will get a lot larger.
The Stuff I Don't See Coming: $175? There's always something.
Utterly Terrifying Grand Total: estimated at $3250.
(I am currently estimating the theoretical 'Extra Time' number at $290 per day. There would be a lot of running around, admission costs, staying alive... the works. However, we'll only blow up that bridge while I'm standing on it.)
So... let's be even more honest with each other.
I could say something along the lines of 'If every one of my followers just put one base-level Ko-Fi tip into the drop account...' And that? Would be a really stupid thing to say. Yes, it's a four-digit follower count. Some are inactive. A few have died, and the pain still echoes. Quite a few are worse off financially than I am. And the voters among that total? A hundred and fifty-two of them. It's remotely possible that I might see more people supporting this campaign than voted on the survey, but...
To my limited knowledge, I have no millionaires-on-up among my readership. And if there are any, the first presumption would be that they enjoy watching me suffer -- but that's what I presume for most of you, so...
Total honesty?
I don't expect to reach this goal.
Yes, I know that you all put more than this together for Germany and Sicily, and I'm grateful still, always -- but at the same time, people knew that I was... going home. That's a little different.
However... this is what the ballots chose. I'm honoring it, and I will try to fundraise across the allotted time -- while hopefully not being obnoxious about it. But what I think will happen is that it's going to fall well short, the funds will be frozen, and I'll just wind up applying the partial total towards a 2025 convention -- which y'all will pick.
This trip may just be too much to ask for. That's certainly what it feels like. And if -- when -- it fails... I get it. Went a little too close to the sun, and the wax melted. I promise not to be disappointed, or even particularly upset.
But failure has a prerequisite. Namely, I actually have to try.
So we're going for it.
I'm already trying to predict inflation spikes and price changes, and I could easily be wrong. However, in order to avoid the worst of last-minute cost hikes, I need to book everything at least three months before the actual convention. Right now, we're presuming that's going to be next May. Accordingly, the deadline for reaching the goal is January 31st, 2025.
And as with previous years, that's it. The Ponicon 2025 drive is on, and therefore...
Yes, I can absolutely pick you up a few things while I'm in Japan. Just give me your shopping list. And an address to shop at. And the cash. And postage. And time to go buy it.
And, depending on the nature of your request, a really good explanation for the police.
Boo-ya Japan! I hope you don’t mind if I steal your cost sheet because I actually didn’t know Japan had a ponycon and I want to go huzzah!!
Whelp we made you to the samurai land
It's probably just my paranoia, and maybe OCD, but 3250 feels low for a potentially once-in-a-lifetime con trip
Unexpected fees can crop up in the dumbest places for the stupidest reasons and I'd rather you have more of a safety cushion than a paltry 175
3500 gives you a little more breathing room
4000 might let you buy something you really like, whether during your off-day or if a booth is selling something nice
Based on the little I know of Japan Internet, you might want to seriously consider upgradeing to a smartphone.
You had problems in Italy because you lacked one & it's only going to get worse as time moves on.
If you're talking Ebay, it's doable for about $50 with free 2 day shipping & a 90 day return policy for a G4 phone. Also doable at Walmart for <$60 if you're willing to keep an eye out for rollback sales.
5771759
No, I have a smartphone now. I got it off BackMarket after the dumbphone died once and for all, and I've been very carefully budgeting because my plan gets 25% cheaper if I pay for a year at once. The payment is due in May or so.
But I'm also on Mint Mobile. Which has Rules.
For Japan...
A short-term SIM may be cheaper.
With regard to temporary SIM cards, you will only need one. Buy one for the phone, and you can use it as a hot-spot for the tablet.
Also, maps will work just as badly on the phone as the tablet.
That gets my vote if there is no convention.
5771766
and the phone will be easier to hold.
I mean, yeah, 500LM didn't win, but I'm cool with MA winning. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new art will look like.
Woot! Quick back of the envelope calculation using Travelocity shows that $2k trip-plus-stay barebones number is fairly accurate. We want pictures! (and at least one Pony Goes To Tokyo fic)
5771761
$0.06 per megabyte? Geez, who do they think they are, Compu$erve?
(A reference I fully expect maybe three people to actually get.)
Yeah, any serious GPS use will burn through prodigious amounts of data and dollars. However, getting a temporary SIM card in Japan does present its own possible issues:
First -- does your smartphone actually use a SIM card? If so, what size does it take? Standard, micro, or nano?
Second -- is the phone locked to a particular carrier, like Mint?
Third -- does it work on all frequency bands ("worldwide"), or does it only work on the US / North America bands? (Mint Mobile uses GSM, so at least that answers the whole GSM-vs-CDMA issue, but GSM uses different bands in different countries.)
If you can tell me the exact make and model of the phone, I can look up the tech specs and see whether or not it can work with the Japanese cell networks.
Will pop up out of lurking to recommend Hostel World for looking for capsules and hostels - that said, in Tokyo they aren't always cheaper. Your best bet tends to be a cheap business hotel as they're generally at least decent if small.
5771915
Thankee for the research offer. It's an iPhone SE, 2022 model. I do know that it can take a virtual SIM or a physical one -- Mint is currently running on the virtual -- and can supposedly switch off between the two. Purchasing it from BackMarket meant it arrived fully unlocked.
Why this model? 'Budget' was a heavy factor. But I:
* Wanted a smartphone. (Finally. I have gotten into trouble multiple times just because I couldn't receive a text.)
* Don't need the multiple cameras of the more expensive iPhones.
* Get to carry apps between tablet and phone, as well as having them sync up.
* Wasn't giving Apple any money. (It's BackMarket, so this was a gently used, refurbished model.)
* Didn't really have major requirements for onboard memory, as the tablet does the heavy lifting there.
I could have gone into a plan and taken whatever phone was available, but I wanted the luxury of switching out. So far, my only issues have been that it's hard to get used to the screen size, and the Mute switch can be flipped through putting the phone into a case.
And yes, I got a warranty. Two years. It was a significant fraction of the cost, but I'm the world's greatest authority on my own luck.
5771942
Okay, so the 2022 iPhone SE takes a "nanoSIM"-sized SIM card. That's good; those are pretty much the norm nowadays.
However -- there are actually five different models of the 2022 iPhone SE.
They're made for different markets, to comply with various legal and technical regulations in different countries.
On the other hand, from what information I've been able to find, this will really only affect 4G operation; there's a 4G band that, apparently, is only used in Japan, and only supported by the Japanese model. That phone does support the correct 5G bands for both the US and Japan -- and most of the 4G bands used in the US are also used in Japan, so overall, coverage shouldn't be a problem, especially if you're mostly going to remain in and around Tokyo.
Based on some reading of travel sites, though, you'll want to think carefully about your intended use. While there are several options for data-only SIMs, it looks like Mobal is the only recommended option if you need the ability to make voice calls. Japan has some unusual registration requirements for accessing the voice network, at least compared to the US, so most SIM cards for travelers and other non-residents are data-only. Mobal is the only one offering voice-enabled SIMs for travelers to Japan, currently -- and they also provide customer support in English, which is a plus.
However, be aware that if you go that route, you will need to apply in advance and, thanks to the above-mentioned regulations, provide Mobal with some kind of ID and have them ship the SIM card to you at your residence ahead of time. The cost for a 30-day / 7GB "Japan Unlimited" SIM is currently ¥7920, or US$53.90 -- but also note that while incoming texts and voice calls are free, outgoing calls (domestic) are ¥44 / minute ($0.30/min), and sending texts is ¥33 per message ($0.23/msg). (Data is technically unlimited, but after 7GB, the speed throttles down from 4G LTE to 200Kb/sec.) Also, because of the above, they will require a credit card or paypal account to bill the airtime/texting charges to.
If the inability to make voice calls (and possibly, to send/receive texts; I can't seem to find a consistent answer on whether data-only SIMs in Japan still allow for SMS texting or not) is not a deal-breaker, and you only need a data plan for internet, then your best options would be either COMST Japan or IIJmio. Both are, from what I'm reading, easily available at the airport, and can be recharged or topped off at convenience stores like 7-11, Circle-K, or FamilyMart. Both have viable options around the ¥2500 (US$17) range.
As for whether you should get one SIM for the phone and another for the tablet -- while it is entirely viable to tether your tablet to your phone and have it share the phone's connection, that also means that your phone is now doing double duty, with its WiFi and 4G/5G radios running continuously, so you might run into battery-life issues. Given your usage pattern, and the relative cheapness of a prepaid data-only SIM, it might be wiser to let each device have its own SIM and not be dependent on each other's connections and battery life. (And since there's obviously no need for the tablet to have a voice+text+data SIM, you could always buy one of the less-expensive prepaid data-only SIMs for it, and buy the Mobal "Japan Unlimited" SIM for the phone; there's no reason they have to be on the same carrier.)
5771991
I have that particular phone model, and an iPad I have to tether to use my voice to text accessibility program (ava.me, I like it better than otter).
I would strongly recommend separate SIMs, if they're that cheap and you can afford them. your batteries on both devices will thank you, if you're not stuck with gov't internet.
Ah -- after a bit more research, it turns out that a data-only SIM card in Japan will not allow you to send and receive texts. If that's a requirement, then you will need to get the Mobal "Japan Unlimited" SIM card so that your iPhone will have a real Japanese phone number. Mobal appears to be the only service that currently offers voice/text-enabled SIM cards to foreign visitors.
...which, honestly, means you might be just as well off adding one of Mint Mobile's "Minternational Passes" to your phone. The 7-day pass is cheaper than the Mobal service ($40, vs. $54), and you get 10GB of data, 500 minutes of talk time, and up to 500 text messages without any extra per-minute/per-text airtime charges, and without having to fool with switching between SIMs or missing texts because the hotel or airline sent them to your USA number they have on file instead of your temporary Japanese number.
>.>
Have you heard of 'Alternative Airlines'?
It lets you book air travel that doesn't use Boeing aircraft.
5772031
Thankee for doing the research. I know it was a lot of work, and I appreciate that you looked on my behalf. *sigh* I was somewhat afraid of the results, and I understand why you're recommending going with Mint. Last year's experience with Orange's system in Europe was somewhat discouraging, especially since they were telling me to top off the minutes on my plan within seconds of installing the SIM. And that was with the dumbphone, with no data involved. I was just hoping that matters might improve somewhat. And the tablet would still need a separate plan, or be stuck on wifi.
(I did recently wonder about the issue of regional wifi passwords. If I have to type in kanji, I'm in trouble.)
Point's currently moot, though. As of this writing, Ko-Fi stands at 4% of goal.
It may be a marathon, but I was hoping to at least spot the first mile marker.
5772173
I spent a good two or three hours digging into it because I was really hoping I could find a better solution, or that maybe the first pages I found on the subject were outdated -- which they were, but not in any way that helped 
-- but in the end, it turns out that it's just really, really hard for a non-resident to get a voice/text-enabled SIM in Japan.
Yeah, unfortunately, the situation is what it is.
In fact, it used to be that non-residents couldn't get or use any kind of SIM in Japan. They had very strict regulations about only permitting devices registered to Japanese residents, with addresses and credit information on file, to access their cellphone network at all. Travelers either had to rely completely on whatever public WiFi they could find, or rent a portable WiFi hotspot which would link to the cell network and then provide your devices with a WiFi signal. It's only within the past decade that the laws have loosened to allow non-residents to purchase and use data-only SIMs for short-term travel -- but they still don't allow non-residents to buy voice-enabled ones yet.
(I have no idea how Mobal is managing it under the Japanese laws, but they've been doing it since the late 1990s, so they must have either found some loophole, or arranged for some kind of special permits or exemptions that allow them to do what they're doing.)
Anyway -- my brother has been to Japan recently (within the last few years), and one of my co-workers is actually on vacation there right now. Next time I talk to them, I'll ask if they have anything to say on the subject.
(And don't be discouraged by the 4% -- it hasn't even been a week yet since you posted the blog and set the goal, after all, and 2025-01-31 is still 10 months away. I wouldn't be surprised if that starts jumping up once your US followers start getting their tax refund cheques.
)
Oh hey, if this does end up taking off to the point it's gonna happen, feel free to poke me (or have someone poke me on your behalf); I'm a somewhat regular Japan traveler and your numbers are mostly accurate but there are a few opportunities to potentially save some $ there.
Like at the current exchange rate, you can eat and eat well for only $25-30 a day, easily. It will get a bit more expensive if you want to booze it up but even then booze in Japan is hella cheap.
That, and am friends / acquainted with many of the JPC people and lots of them love meeting international pony fans heading over there~