I am supposed to go to a conference at the end of this month. I sent in an abstract, it was accepted, I was excited. I wrote the paper hastily, and it didn’t turn out like I wanted it to (my own fault). I’m part of the on-line conversation the group is having, and the subject matter is one that I’m genuinely interested in and want to continue working on. The conference is generally a good one, and I’ll probably know a good number of people there, including several of my local colleagues (although I don’t know who).
After putting it off for ages, because I am nothing if not a procrastinator, I seriously looked at what this trip would cost me. I had surveyed flight costs several months ago, but that was before I knew when my session was (8:30 Saturday morning, ffs!), and prices were all over the place. But as of this morning, the 2-night/3-day trip breaks down like this:
Association fee: $65 (to be honest, I’ll have to pay this anyway, it’s a professional org.)
Conference fee: $120
Flight: $360
Lodging, 2 nights (at a hostel): $40
Food: $40
Transit: $50 (this is if I cheap out w/ MTA on this end and only pay for a SuperShuttle to/from the airport at my destination)
Total: $675. Gulp. I think I’ve spent less on a week in Europe. Okay, not less, but not much more.
I should go. I’ll probably enjoy it. I don’t have lotsa money lying around, but I can charge it and pay it off without killing myself, and maybe get a little bit of it reimbursed by my uni in the fall.
I don’t wanna go. I don’t want to deal with air travel (even though I should be able to avoid a baggage charge with a single small carry-on) and all the bus/train/plane/shuttle hurry-up-and-wait. I don’t want to spend that much money on something I feel so “feh” about. I’d like to put it aside for a long autumn weekend in Vermont with Robot Boy, or save it for Xmas, or pay my part of the rent, or even just stash it in my IRA.
Can’t decide. Have to decide.
