Sari, I think you should feel totally okay about sitting this one out. Just my humble opinion! I’ve been to a lot of AWPs - they can be great, but they’re also exhausting. You really need to feel super-confident about your health, and being ultra-organized helps, too. If I’m stressed or I have a lot of other things going on, I find that AWP takes a lot out of me. But then I’m an introvert ;-)
Will you enjoy getting there? Will the train ride be fun? And do you like staying in hotels? I like a good hotel room. You can't control what happens at the conference, but maybe there are other things you'll enjoy. Also, I'm not going and I'm not feeling one little bit of FOMO. Quite happy to be avoiding hordes of anxious-to-socialize writers.
I hope you go! It will be my first time attending a writer's conference. Though I'm and "oldster," I am a newbie writer and an MFA candidate. I also work for the college where I'm enrolled so I get some costs covered by the school. No kids, no husband, lots of books and writers and costs are mostly covered - how could I say no? Let us know if you decide to go so I can be on the lookout for you!
I was really looking forward to finally meeting you and getting to be on a panel together (thank you, always, for even thinking of me!) but I am very hopeful that our paths will cross again. This Libra is sitting out 💔
Two cents from me, a stranger from the Internet: Philly is fabulous--we love it so much we are planning to MOVE there this summer from Putnam County, NY--and it is not that far from Kingston, so, like, you all could just pick a long weekend sometime later in the spring and go really experience it? And let me tell you, we were in Nashville last weekend and around a lot of people and trying to be careful but also I was in situations where I couldn't be and I found it really hard to enjoy myself fully and I am still a little shaken from it? Maybe tiptoeing back in with some more local, even NYC-based smaller gatherings/events and plan to go to AWP in person next year? I have never been in person and I really wanted to go this year and made a decision a month ago that I wouldn't. I could go, but I'd have to take time away from a freelance job, and it would mean lost money and stress and aggravation. I am not going and like Geeta, have no regrets about the decision.
Sari, I think you should feel totally okay about sitting this one out. Just my humble opinion! I’ve been to a lot of AWPs - they can be great, but they’re also exhausting. You really need to feel super-confident about your health, and being ultra-organized helps, too. If I’m stressed or I have a lot of other things going on, I find that AWP takes a lot out of me. But then I’m an introvert ;-)
Will you enjoy getting there? Will the train ride be fun? And do you like staying in hotels? I like a good hotel room. You can't control what happens at the conference, but maybe there are other things you'll enjoy. Also, I'm not going and I'm not feeling one little bit of FOMO. Quite happy to be avoiding hordes of anxious-to-socialize writers.
I hope you go! It will be my first time attending a writer's conference. Though I'm and "oldster," I am a newbie writer and an MFA candidate. I also work for the college where I'm enrolled so I get some costs covered by the school. No kids, no husband, lots of books and writers and costs are mostly covered - how could I say no? Let us know if you decide to go so I can be on the lookout for you!
I was really looking forward to finally meeting you and getting to be on a panel together (thank you, always, for even thinking of me!) but I am very hopeful that our paths will cross again. This Libra is sitting out 💔
Two cents from me, a stranger from the Internet: Philly is fabulous--we love it so much we are planning to MOVE there this summer from Putnam County, NY--and it is not that far from Kingston, so, like, you all could just pick a long weekend sometime later in the spring and go really experience it? And let me tell you, we were in Nashville last weekend and around a lot of people and trying to be careful but also I was in situations where I couldn't be and I found it really hard to enjoy myself fully and I am still a little shaken from it? Maybe tiptoeing back in with some more local, even NYC-based smaller gatherings/events and plan to go to AWP in person next year? I have never been in person and I really wanted to go this year and made a decision a month ago that I wouldn't. I could go, but I'd have to take time away from a freelance job, and it would mean lost money and stress and aggravation. I am not going and like Geeta, have no regrets about the decision.