OVFF: Do I dare?

[thatcrazycajun]

As most of the people who read my LJ know, the Ohio Valley Filk Fest is next weekend. Kayak.com (the best site for booking travel, bar none—and yes, Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, I do mean you) tells me that the best time to buy plane tickets to Columbus, OH (which has the nearest airport) would have been the first week of September, when the fare-trend chart shows a round-trip flight would have cost under $200; but, silly me, I wasn't even thinking about going back then. Now it will cost a minimum of $472 to fly there at the times I need to go (I cannot give up a day's income to take Friday off, even if my boss would give it to me). The next best option is to fly into Dayton and drive 45 minutes to an hour on top of all the time involved in flying, but it seems to cost about half as much before a rental car is factored in. And that's not even talking about the additional costs of a hotel room or share thereof for two nights, ground transport, con membership, banquet tickets (!!), other food, etc., etc.

Am I insane to even be thinking about this at all, this late in the game? There are lots more responsible uses to which I could (and should) put all that moolah (like paying off my not-inconsiderable debts)...but dammit, I do NOT want to be sitting home alone that weekend! (My partner singing_phoenix will still be overseas until mid-November.) I beg the wise counsel of my friends list. (Then again, given its makeup, this crowd may not be an objective one on this subject...)

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

If you need the money for other stuff, or you worry about how much stress the trip will be, stay home.

If you can spare the cash, and especially if the rental car was part of the plan originally, I think it'd be a very good idea. Coming in to Dayton rather than Columbus is an even better idea -- it's on an OSU home game weekend (so make sure you've got a room booked).

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I'd say stay home that weekend, and plan instead for an event together with M when she returns. Anything from a con (Philcon and GAFilk come to mind) to a weekend away together, just the two of you, would be terrific ways to spend the same money for, IMNSHO better use.

Perhaps there's someone in the relatively local area you can spend the weekend with, to alleviate the not-at-con blues (and believe me, you're not alone in those!). Or spend it online with the rest of us losers loners folks who just can't be in Columbus this year.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

While ACat and I would love to see you there, we can CERTAINLY understand money crunch. I don't know that we'd be going ourselves if it weren't our anniversary and our annual tradition for that, since we got together there. Con are bloody expensive.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Well, speaking from my own "not going to OVFF" standpoint...

If the money is stressing you and you haven't made plans, I'd think it irresponsible to do go.

So, insane? Nope. But probably not wise.

And I should note that I'm not the paragon of virtue when it comes to fiscal responsibility

[patoadam]

Here are some possibly contradictory comments that may help you decide.

If you decided in September not to go because of the expense, then you probably made the right decision and you shouldn't be swayed by your last-minute emotions.

If you expect your cash crunch to be temporary, you should go.

If your cash crunch is chronic, then if you stay home, use the money to pay down any high-interest credit cards you may have, and buy tickets earlier in future years, you may be able to increase the total number of future cons you can attend.

If you do go, you can stay in my hotel room free of charge.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your generosity and kindness. I will keep it in mind and hopefully have decided this by this weekend.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

General Rule of Thumb: If you have to ask yourself, "Can I really afford this?", you probably cannot. This hasn't always STOPPED me from spending the money anyway, but there are always consequences down the line.

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

I could have afforded the player piano.
But I didn't have the room for it.
Sometimes, it's not about cost.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

If you didn't have room for it, you couldn't afford it.

It's always about cost. Cost just isn't always about dollars. :)

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Ask singing_phoenix what she thinks. If she doesn't freak out at the idea, you can probably afford to go.

[suecochran.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see you there, but not if it's going to stress you out too much emotionally/financially.

If it were me, I'd think about how much debt I have, how secure my job is, how soon I think I'd be able to pay off my debt with/without going to the con, and how much I'd regret -not- going.

[mrgoodwraith.livejournal.com]

I'm not the person to ask, because I'm always telling people to come to Confluence even if they can't afford to. ;-) I can only say that *I'm* going to OVFF despite being penniless, hoping that I can sell enough of my CDs there to recoup my expenses. (Is there something *you* can sell, at the con or elsewhere, to defray costs?) That's probably not wise or even all that considerate, considering that my mother'll be on the hook for any of my expenses that I *don't* cover. But mom's being very gracious about it, and I just can't stand the thought of missing a marquee event such as OVFF -- a mere four hours' drive away -- for the first time in eight years, so...there you go.

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

How 'bout if thatcrazycajun stays home and buys your CD as compensation? ;-)

[mrgoodwraith.livejournal.com]

Buying my CDs is A Good Thing, but not at the expense of making it to OVFF. :-)

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

After a new check of the latest fares and my bank account balance, I have decided that flying to OVFF is absolutely out of the question now. My Plan B involves taking half a day off of work that Friday (lost gross income = about $60), then driving up and back (Mapquest estimated travel time each way = about 9 hours, less if I drive like the proverbial bat out of you-know-where). The cash outlay for that amounts to about $280, factoring in the above offer of free crash space. Opinions?

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

SP just e-mailed me begging me not to do this insane thing, as she fears for my safety. Sooo...never mind. Guess it's off this year. Sigh.

[patoadam]

Sorry to hear that. See you somewhere, sometime, somehow.

[filkferengi]

We're in town that weekend & would definitely be up for doing something and/or hanging out. Music can be had and shared [check the userid ;)].