Usually the conferences I visited meant boring speakers and even more boring people.

Wait...what?
Did I just imply that I could be boring too?
Moving on swiftly...

Of course not. I'm a Steemian after all!

But the word 'fest' gives it a different ring doesn't it?

Take away 'conference' and turn it into 'fest' and voilà:

you know your experience will be different.

But the fact that I read about it when I did and the gut feeling
when I wondered what it would be like, makes me call it fate.
There was a reason for that gut feeling and it was about time to act on it.
Mind you, when I decided to go to Steemfest,
I had only been active on the platform for a week or so.
There was certainly no other reason for me feeling that urge to go.

I didn't know anyone...yet.

This amazing banner was made by @rubencress Thanks for that!

As the time passed, I started to look forward to meeting all the people I knew online,
but also meet new people along the way and all in real life!
Nothing compares to real life meetings with people you actually like.
And by the time I set foot on that plane to Portugal, I was as excited as a child on Christmas eve.
It had only been 4 months or so on Steemit for me but I knew I had done something great by buying that ticket for myself. So many people had already become so familiar.

The first evening, during the welcome drinks, I felt a little bit out of place.
For just a little while. Before the night was over, that feeling was completely gone.
And there was more to come...
There were some expectations about visiting Portugal.
I had never been there so this was an excellent chance to see this great place.
I was never disappointed.
Well, maybe when Steemfest ended.
That will definitely be a disappointment this year too.

New expectations

I am very much a person who likes to just 'go with the flow'. I don't like making too many plans, because in my case plans always work out differently than expected. The same goes for expectations. If there are none, one can never be disappointed. I teach my children this and try to live by it as much as possible.

I have to be their good example after all.

But in the back of my mind, there are always some kind of expectations. What to expect when we meet people from last year again. Will it be awesome? Of course it will be. No doubt in my mind.
Other than that, I will definitely go with the flow. It's the only thing to do when so many bright people with such great energy come together in one place.

Expectations of Krakow? I had none. To be honest, when my mind & eyes that sometimes suffer from Dyslexia-Light read that this year's Steemfest would be held in Warsaw instead of Krakow, my first response was: 'Meh'.
Not about Steemfest itself, but because Warsaw didn't appeal to me at all. However, when I realised it was Krakow, that feeling changed. Don't ask me why, because I know little of the city, but what I know, is enough to maintain my interest. I expect to be surprised, because I know @roelandp has chosen this place and this man is not one to take things lightly. We know we're in good hands.
I expect to learn more about the city's history. Even now, I try to read as much as I can. I like to come prepared. Or at least try.

Not expectations but hope

The rest of Steemfest? I expect nothing. Instead, I hope to see certain people I met last year again this year.
I already know that some of them won't make it. That really sucks. On the other hand, I had hoped to see others, people that weren't there last year. They won't all make it either. Sucks again.

But well, we can't have everything. I don't have to expect or hope for anything to know that either way, we'll all be in for something amazing.

Meet me at Steemfest!

This post was happily made in Steempeak!

Please check it out @steempeak or https://steempeak.com