Travel Essential: Conventions and Event

This weekend we head to San Diego for TwitchCon. I'm always so excited to go to events and this weekend is no different. Being that we've attend a lot conventions I've come up with quite the assortment of things that I make sure I have every time we go to an event.

Conventions can be a lot and run you down pretty hard, however all this stuff sort of helps things run just a tiny bit smoother. So without further ado here is what I consider my Event Essentials.

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RTX Tips and Advice

I am so excited for this weekend. RTX is always a blast and I can't wait to see and meet so many people. After attending the past few RTXs and multiple other con's I feel like I would share some tips, tricks, whatever you want to call it with you all!

1. If you are getting something signed think about how long the signature will last. Here are a list of things that don't sign well or will fade quickly: Badges, Phones, 3DS, controllers, anything with a shiny or black surface, your skin. Here are some things that do sign well: Fabric that wont be washed frequently (hats, bandanas, scarfs, etc), Paper Products (notebooks, Art),  Game cover cases (take out the cover art and have that signed), Posters. If you want to make things easier, bring sharpies, not one but multiple, hopefully in multi colors. Black, Silver, and Red are the best. If you're having a poster sign, by a poster tube and bring that.

2. You (most likely) wont be able to do everything you want, even more so with a convention like RTX where the main topics is RoosterTeeth and so much of the con revolves around it. You wont get all the signatures you want and you wont get into every panel you want to see, BUT this doesn't mean you wont have a good time.  Pick your top thing of the day and go to that, pick this on your own. If your friends want to join then great, if not go and have fun and make new friends.

3. DRINK WATER AND EAT! One of the things that happens at every con is skipping meals. Make a plan to eat. Have breakfast before you go, eat a local place for lunch, and if you want just get pizza for dinner. Eating and drinking will make your weekend so much better. Also if you go out to a bar to drink, drink water and be safe, don't ruin your event with a terrible hangover!

If you have a place that has a freezer, buy some bottled water (from a store or gas station) and freeze them. Keep them in a plastic bag inside your purse or backpack so you have cold water all day. The plastic bag will stop everything from getting wet, just be sure you seal it properly. 

4. Texas is hot. Like really really really hot. Half a mile doesn't seem far on a map or on your phone but it is, and you will sweat a lot. Keep that in mind. Bring things to freshen up through out the day as needed. I like to have wet wipes, deodorant, a hairbrush/hair ties, and a body spray in my bag. 

5. Sometimes service and wifi in the convention center is bad. If you are gonna meet up with someone have a backup plan besides texting. "If you don't hear from me, meet me [LOCATION] at [TIME]" It'll make things easier.

6. Keep in mind your party size. The larger the group the more frustrated you are gonna be. Let's be honest, people are complicated. If you are trying to find a place to eat you are gonna have a much better time finding a place to eat with 4 people rather than with 8. There is nothing wrong with splitting up for food and meeting up later.

7. Don't be a dick. Now most people reading this either A) aren't going to be or B) will read this and ignore it, but pay attention to how people around you are acting. Don't invite yourself to things, don't hold people up, don't get mad at staff/guardians no matter how unfair you think something is, and don't shout catchphrases, jokes, insults, etc at anyone.  Lastly, NO MATTER HOW FUNNY YOU THINK IT IS, IF YOU ARE BEING AN "ASSHOLE" OR MAKING FUN OF SOMEONE YOU ARE NOT BEING FUNNY.

8. Take pictures. Take lots and lots and lots of pictures. Who cares how you look, in a few years when you want to look back at things you wont care, you'll want the memories. Try and forget your insecurities and take the photos you want to take. (camera held upwards facing down at a diagonal aka selfie pose is in fact the most flattering) 

I hope anyone who is going to RTX has an amazing time and I hope I get to meet a lot of you!

If you all have any questions please feel free to leave them below and I'll try and answer them.
Hope you all have a lovely night. xoxo

Renting Tips and Advice

So as some of you might know before I made the switch to twitch I was working in property management. (Now if you don't know what that means it basically means if you lived at one of the properties I worked for and you need to pay rent, apply for a place, submit a maintenance request, wanted to renew your lease, wanted to move out, or basically needed anything while living there I was the person you talked to.) Now the company I worked for managed over 150 properties, some single family & some multi-family, and I dealt with the tenants for all of them while my supervisor handled homeowner issues, so while I was only there for a short time I learned a lot. Here's a few of the most important things I learned while working there:

  • SEE THE PLACE BEFORE YOU RENT IT! You would be surprised how many people rented places without actually visiting the property. Most of the time it was UT students who went based off pictures. Don't do this! If there is no way for you to visit it or for you to have someone visit the property on your behalf at a minimum request a current video of the property. There are a whole list of issues you can run into if you don't see the property first. Even seeing a model unit is better than seeing nothing.
     
  • Know how much money you will need to move in. This sounds like a basic fact but there are a lot of things that people don't consider. Utility account deposits are probably the thing people forget the most. Here is Austin both the Gas company and the electric company can charge you a set up fee and require you to pay a deposit, the deposits can end up costing you over 500.00. Also keep in mind that rent will be due on the 1st so if you move in on the 25th just remember a week later rent will be due again. 
     
  • Get renter's insurance. Do it, you can get it for like 15.00 a month and trust me it's 100% worth having. 
     
  • Realistically look at your budget and make sure you can afford the place. Most places require you make 3x the rent amount to qualify, but just because you can qualify doesn't mean you should. If you have tons of bills outside of living expenses (student loans, high car payments, credit card payments, child support, etc) you may need to knock the price down. Yes that means you might not get as nice of a place, but getting evicted will be a lot worse. 
     
  • Check your lease for any special provisions and make sure you understand what you are signing. Where I worked every one of our leases had a special provision that stated that upon move out the tenants will have the place professionally cleaned and the carpets steamed cleaned. A lot of tenants either didn't know or forgot and that was an extra cost they had to spend when moving out or it had to come out of the security deposit. Know what you are signing! Oh also, submit you inventory and condition form, don't forget, it's only there to help when you move out.
     
  • Lastly, if you can't pay you rent tell your landlord or property manager. It happens. The WORST thing you can do is avoid them and say nothing. By doing this you are forcing their hand to begin legal proceedings because they have no idea if you are going to eventually pay or not. While it won't get you off the hook and there will probably still be late fees, at least you wont get serviced with a notice to vacate. 

Hopefully that helps any of you looking to move out at the end of summer, especially any of you high school graduates looking for college places. If you all have any questions leave them in the comments below and I can try and help you out!

Have a great night. xoxo

10 Facts About Me

1. I am 1 of 5 children. I have a younger brother (8), a older sister (25), and two older half brothers (35 & 37).

2. I've seen more whales than you (probably). One summer my mom worked on a whale watching boat so three times a day we would go out and watch whales.

3. I started school a year early and finished by being homeschooled. I was always a year younger and my senior year my parents moved across the country so I decided to finish through an online program.

4. I use to HATE gaming. My sister would force me to play and over time I ended up really enjoying it. We would play Halo for hours and hours and hours.

5. I have social and separation anxiety. I use to take medication for it but as of late I haven't needed it.

6. Growing up I wanted to be about 25 different things. I seriously considered (looked at/applied for programs or internships) the follower: Chef, Dentist, Flight attendant, Teacher, Politician, Librarian, Music Producer, Advertising, Interior Decorator, and a few others.

7. When I took my PSATs I missed one math question. I was one digit off. ._.

8. Me and my family lived in a 14' trailer for a few months while we built our house in Maine. It had no water and no electricity.   

9. If I had to pick one passion it would be music. I love everything about it and will honestly listen to anything.

10. Im literally always cold. 99% of the time I'll have a sweatshirt and beanie with me, but I almost never wear socks. 

So there we go a bunch of facts about me. Now here are some facts about this blog: it will have no specific focus or topic (just whatever I feel like blogging about), I'm not sure how often I will post something but I'll try and keep it pretty regular, I think this is gonna be a lot of fun. If there are specific blog posts you'd like for me to do let me know!

*You can leave a comment below and either just put in a name, connect your twitter, or connect your facebook*

Have a great night! xoxo