Around ten years ago or so, I first became familiar with the convention known as PAX (Penny Arcade Expo). My first introduction to this event was primarily from the people I had connected with and befriended online through playing Halo multiplayer, and through bungie.net interactions. After being a part of the community for a few years at this point in time, I just found the whole idea of everyone gathering together just as they did online, but now under the banner of a singular event, to be incredibly exciting. I knew eventually, I would have to attend.
Except, the years went on and PAX was celebrated each year in an awesome fashion. Being actively involved in the Community back then, and with Bungie celebrating so many milestones, each year was still enjoyable to watch and hear about from afar as an increasing number of friends shared posts and sent messages describing their exciting adventures - in many cases in an entirely new city - and shenanigans that were had. The meeting of friends from far and wide, was truly a spectacular thing to behold.
Fast forward to now, and while I'm not as active as I once was, my interest in gaming, this Community, as well as a lot of the friendships I've previously forged have been maintained. Thus, I will finally be making the journey across the border and pretty much the entire continent this year with my wife, to Seattle.
Having only ever been to a few smaller Cons in my area, I know the scale at PAX is much greater. As well, I know Seattle has a lot to see and offer for just general tourism. So, I figured I'd create this thread to help not only me, but for any others who are looking to making the trek this year for a few specific reasons:
- What are some good things to know and or acquire prior to arriving at the Con?
- Best ways to get around the city?
- How to navigate through the busy Convention Centre, and tips on how to sort/prioritize activities?
- Any unique plans or lesser known places that are fun to visit in the area?
- Feel free to share any other helpful advice you might know based off of previous experiences!
For me, this trip has been a long time coming, so I want to make the best of it. Having as much information as I can prior - especially from seasoned travellers/con attendees - to arrival, means our trip can run even smoother. We visited NYC last November and I was amazed at how watching YouTube videos, and reading forums/articles prior to arriving made the trip so much easier to navigate through and experience.
So, anyone else going?
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Bar crawl, bud. ;)