Quick down-n-dirty about Eurofurence 20:

1) Yes, I will be there. This will be my very first Eurofurence -- be gentle!
2) Staying at the Estrel (theoretically -- had to book through a third party to get in and it's prepaid so we'll see what happens.)
3) Arriving by Snowpiercer high speed train to some station in what used to be East Berlin. I'm hoping to live my own personal spy movie as I disembark and catch a cab to the hotel.
4) Arriving late and leaving early. This means I'll be there Thursday and will be leaving Sunday. Why? See down below.
5) Hunt will be trekking across Germany with me and will be partaking in what could possibly be the largest collection of polar bear suiters in one place at one time -- bring your cameras to record this moment in epic history!
6) I'm all about the eats and drinks. If you've got some cool place to share with me or want to tag along while I make like Tony Bourdain, you're more than welcome.
7) I'm traveling with my spousal equivalent. She's used to me being a weirdo and hanging around other weirdos and she's even taken in some of a con before (Confuzzled last year). However, furry isn't her scene. She is however very much into animal charities so I expect she'll be participating/get involved in any panels involving the bat folks this year.
8) God damn! I'm going to have fun at this thing, aren't I?

To better outline what's happening, this con is going to be part of my two week get-outta-our-shithole-jobs vacation we're striving to take each year to preserve our sanity. We'll be starting the trip out in Munich and exploring the Bavarian countryside as well. After EF, we'll be traveling to Tina's grandmother's hometown in Western Germany. From there we head north to visit the town she was an exchange student in. We'll be wrapping the trip up by traveling to Denmark which is where we will end this adventure.

Since this is primarily a couples vacation, I honestly began planning it with the thought we'd bypass EF completely. I want to make this trip something we both enjoy at the same time. While I would have been sad to miss out on the opportunity to attend the con and meet folks I've always wanted to meet, the explorer bear in me would have been perfectly happy to visit other parts of a country I've never been to. A compromise was reached when I was able to secure a hotel room that we'd attend the heart of the con (Thursday-Sunday) but I'd bypass the beginning and leave a bit before it's over. The last part's no big deal for me (I usually avoid PCD by bypassing dead-dog time anyway), the first part's a challenge because I really want to see several things in Berlin and wanted to give myself time to do that outside con time. As it stands now, I think I'm going to either be bogged down with con-things or will have to bypass things I really want to do in order to see sights. Essentially, this could end up being a bit like Confuzzled was last year -- by day a tourist, by night drinking con bear. Hoping to find a happy midpoint somewhere in there, but we'll see.

Hope to see a number of you there and I'm looking forward to meeting all-new, all-different folks as well. This is going to be special! :)