Oh man, it’s been almost two weeks already?? I’m late to the #backfromsteemfest party, but let’s be honest.. that really shouldn’t surprise anyone as I was late for almost every single one of the #roadtosteemfest posts as well 👀

_{In case you have lost every book in your home and are desperate for some light reading.. here are all my RoadToSteemFest posts}

RoadToSteemFest | Choices
RoadToSteemFest | Random Facts
RoadToSteemFest | Expectations
RoadToSteemFest | Funding
RoadToSteemFest | Business or Pleasure
RoadToSteemFest | After Hours
RoadToSteemFest | Shoutouts
RoadToSteemFest | The Physical Road
RoadToSteemFest | Fears
RoadToSteemFest | Final Week

In my defense, while it’s been almost two weeks since the end of Steemfest I actually went and hid out in Belgrade for a week. So, technically, I am just getting back home.. and still am not quite settled yet.

It feels a bit funny talking about the end of this adventure after preparing for it for so long. I have a lot to say about it actually, as it was more than just going to steemfest for me but a big step in my Unexpected Journey which started with a few Random thoughts on a train a few months ago.

I pretty much decided I wanted to live my life a bit differently than I had in the past.. stepping (really jumping) out of my comfort zone whenever possible to help me grow as an individual. To help me to accept myself for who I am, stop being so scared of everything and live this life to the fullest. Making the trip to SteemFest (and presenting) was a big part of that and I want to take some time to put that experience into words..

so, while this might not be my final post about SteemFest.. it will be the end of this amazing initiative started by @anomadsoul to bring us all together.. and dude, you did just that. Thank you for making us such a family before we even got there.

Now onto the funnies...

To wrap up this adventure @anomadsoul has asked us to answer some questions about our experience there as well as share some fun photos.

Make a freewrite post sharing with everyone:

• The funniest photo you took.
• The most embarrasing situation you were involved in.
• The coolest/most interesting story/anecdote you have about SF.
• The photo you have with the most Steemians in it.
• Your new favorite Steemian (can be three, I know we met so many new people).
• Your overall experience about the whole event.
• The most random photography you took with your phone and you don´t even know why it is there.

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The Funniest Photo You Took

Well, I feel like I failed at taking photos during the whole thing.. in fact I didn’t even get my camera out until the last night.. so I don’t have as many hilarious selfies and snaps as others.. but I do have this one.. which makes me giggle everytime...

You see the lovely @yidneth brought a long her rat friends.. and since our dear friend @pechichemena couldn’t make the trip.. I brought along Pechi the piggy to hangout. This was one of the mornings of conference when the lovely creatures were having some morning coffee together. They look so happy ❤️

This is a close second though...

Where @Tarazkp confessed his undying love for @rustle

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The Most Embarassing Situation You Were Involved In

Well that one is easy.. even though I embarrass myself quite often.. one situation will always be my favorite. You see, for our final #RoadToSteemFest post anomadsoul asked us to break the ice a bit.. and one of the questions was what steemian would you choose to have a summer fling with.. You can see my answer here.. but I clearly chose the one and only wizard on this platform, @gtg.

I mean who wouldn’t? He’s freaking Gandalf. Plus, as a total dork who would love to spend my days wandering around the forest and be completely content living in a hobbit hole... this just seemed like the obvious answer.

So, first night.. after 23 hrs of travel and rushing over to opening drinks I was standing at a table talking to a few lovely people when a gentleman walked up and started chatting with us. He was informing us we were scanning our name tags wrong and said the trick was you needed to do a good hug, which is why the barcode was so small.. sounds legit to me.

He then gave me his trademark smirk.. pointed at me and proceeded to make me blush for the next 20 minutes about this whole summer fling thing. Now, I don’t blush easy.. I don’t embarrass easy and I take being made fun of exceptionally well. So when I say that he embarrassed me.. please know the man is extremely talented.

I’ve never been so red in my life..

I couldn’t form complete sentences and just man.. oh man.. he really let me have it in the most hilarious way.

Funny enough, this action made me feel completely comfortable in my environment and I felt an immediate bond with him. He is such a kind soul and made me smile so many times over the week that I lost count.

So this moment was not only embarrassing but memorable in such a positive way, thanks for that Gandalf ☺️

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The Coolest/Most Interesting story you have about SF

Well, I think the above one is definitely up there.. we also had so many adventures randomly navigating the streets of Poland at all hours of the night.. or remember that time that we were gonna take @andrarchy and @lukestokes to our new favorite hole in the wall bar to have some good Steem talk but all of our Uber’s dropped us off in different and completely wrong locations?

Yeah.. luckily I was with @crimsonclad or I would have been scared!

Funny enough, we all found each other.. than somehow found the bar.. where we sat until 5 am having some of the best chats about this platform that I think I ever have had and with some of the best people (Including @aggroed, @tarazkp and the rest of the gang). That night and all the other nights where we ended up at the same place having the best conversations will always be some of my favorite times .

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The Photo You Have With The Most Steemians In It

Well this is one I took the last night..

And one @hedac took to make sure I was in at least one photo that night, thank you 😊

And @derangedvisions was thoughtful enough to take this one on the first night of the PAL gang

Annnnd that’s it... told you I failed at photos 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Your Three New Favorite Steemians

Well, I met a lot of people who have definitely been added to my favorites list.. but if I had to just pick three they would be...

@Tarazkp

While I followed Taraz’s blog and knew he was one of the best content creators on the platform prior to the fest.. I hadn’t had much interaction with him. The first night though I immediately knew I liked him... even when he was getting onto me for not having a passcode set on my phone (thanks for that btw).

He is so down to earth, hilarious, humble, caring and intelligent. I could sit in a corner and talk to him for hours. I think we bonded pretty quickly and he immediately became my safety net. I felt at ease with him and safe.. plus I loved hearing about his hot wife and adorable daughter .. I mean.. lucky man.

We have a lot in common in our way of thinking and our just pure, unfiltered honesty. He will always be a special one to me and I can’t wait until we meet again.. hopefully families in tow!

@aggroed

Oh Aggy.. again while I definitely have had some conversations with him before.. we never really talked more than just public forum. He did immediately help sponsor me to go to steemfest after hearing I was going and going on his discord radio show to chat with him about it, which was insanely generous.. but until we met at Steemfest I didn’t realize how damn special this man really was.

We had fun at the dinner the first night then found ourselves chatting through the week.. by the end.. I had a new buddy. We even wandered around the market square, saw the Kraków dragon and stuffed our faces on probably the only vegetarian meal that existed in all of Poland.

He asked me tough questions while getting me to think long term and what was really best for me.. which I admit sometimes I have a hard time doing. I needed that talk, and not only did he ask.. but gave me some amazing ideas and jaw dropping opportunities.

He saw something in me that quite frankly I didn’t even see in myself.. and that was a pretty impactful thing for me... and I will be forever grateful.

I gained a friend, and a mentor.. while getting to know the amazing person behind the username. I look forward to continuing this adventure together and you know, taking over the world like a boss 😉

@blewitt

Holy cow this guy must be on everyone’s list right? While I had come across his blog while curating, I didn’t know him at all.. but he immediately made me laugh.. then made fun of me.. and that my friend, gets you immediately into my favs pile.. I know I’m weird.

The bowling night I happened to have my red flannel shirt on (make fun of it all you want, it’s still my favorite) and my moccasins.. well.. Chris burst out laughing at the sight, called me a Native American Lumberjack and asked to take a picture with my feet.. we were besties after that.

But seriously.. not only is this guy a comedic genius but he is so unbelievably kind!! Not only did he spend a ton of money out of his own pocket to make sure every steemian got a comic book in their goodie bag, but even gave some extras out on the last night. Seriously.. go right now and upvote all his posts.. ALL OF THEM.. in fact whatever upvote you were gonna give this crap here, just go give to him instead because he truly deserves it .

There were so many people that I loved meeting so much and even though anomadsoul said we could only pick three.. I’m breaking the rules.. cause I’m a rebel like that and am going to tag them anyways.. so there 😝

@crimsonclad.. girl, you will always have been and will always be one of my favs.. can’t wait to come see you guys in Canada. Thanks for being you ❤️

@eveuncovered, @escapist, @honeydue, @evecab you ladies rock and I had such a blast getting to know you all. Thanks for being such down to earth and badass babes.

@birdinc, David you are so much fun and such a breath of fresh air.. I look forward to working with you in the future!

@steemmatt.. dude your heart is as big as your biceps.. don’t ever change.

Ugh there are so many more but I’ll leave it at that so Eric doesn’t flag me 😜

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Your Overall Experience Of The Event

Gosh I could make a whole post on this and probably will.. but in a nutshell..

This festival made me confident in the fact that this community is what makes this platform special.. the people, we are what make it unique and we can do great things when we come together.

In fact, we are unstoppable.

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Most Random Photo On Your Phone And You Dont Even Know Why It’s There

Wellll might as well end by making fun of myself.. I somewhat remember taking this photo.. but I’m pretty certain it was at 5am and I didn’t really remember why.. so I had to dig in my phone to figure out why.

Soooo I joined a bunch of chats when I got to steemFest.. on Snapchat/telegram etc.. they were a way for all the attendees to keep in touch and make plans.. which was super helpful. But it also meant anyone in the group could message me.

When heading back to the hotel one night I got a message from someone I had had a very short interaction with earlier in the night.. they private messaged me and told me to send them a selfie of myself.. in a super flirty way.

Well y’all, I’m a dork.. and I don’t send selfies to boys or go for the whole playboy flirting crap.. so like I do to my mom when she tells me to send her a photo to show someone, I sent him a super attractive one...

I think it did it’s job...

_{I know, I know.. I’ll always be single with that attitude (and that mug for that matter), but I’m totally ok with that 😜}

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Wow this post is long.. I can’t believe you are still reading this...

Seriously though, Steemfest was amazing and I built friendships that will be everlasting while doing a ton of stuff that put me out of my comfort zone.. therefore making me a better person. I look forward to future adventures with you all and

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me through this journey. I couldn’t have done it without you!!

Until next time..

Much Love and Steem On,

Justine