Guess who’s not coming to Blog World 2009?

Guess who’s not coming to Blog World 2009?

While you’re sitting here reading this post you’ll begin to understand why sometimes a deal is not always a deal and why sometime we need to decide to forgo something we really want to do, that just doesn’t add up!

I really hadn’t considered even going to Blog World initially. I’m pretty new to blogging. But then I started hearing the all the buzz on it and next thing I knew entered a contest.

The contest was to write about a volunteer experience. The winning entry was to receive an all access pass to Blog World 2009!
That’s where it all began. I started thinking how cool it would be to go. I’d get to see and mingle with all the well known speakers and bloggers. I’d get a chance to meet interesting bloggers from far and wide and talk with them about blogging and be part of the buzz. Then there’d be the party! Sign me up!

If you want to see my entry I’ve posted a revision on this blog. Just go to the site map to find it. The title is “Absolutely Easiest Volunteering Ever.”
I wrote about support for San Diego’s arts programs and in particular, driving support for saving the Coronado Playhouse’s Free Shakespeare.
So anyway they announced the winner and…and of course the winner was, well not me! It was a fellow blogger who wrote a story on her volunteering to help support victims of rape.

It was very fair and I don’t feel a grudge but it was disappointing never the less, although I think I put on a happy game face. I was disappointed I didn’t win, but was happy for her. Besides the fact that she won the full access pass so she could attend free, she also shared with me that she would have the opportunity to stay with some relatives so that eliminated her paying for accommodations too. Sweet. Basically she just needed to drive or fly out to Vegas from San Diego, and get a few days off work.

So anyway that still left me with a dilemma, to go or not to go? The more I looked at the details and how I could arrange things the clearer it became that it was going to be very expensive for me to make it to Blog World 2009!

I started looking and checking into everything. What I came up with was if I cashed in $40,000 of my flight miles points on my Visa card, it would get me the following, a $100 credit on a flight, and two nights at the Marriott Hotel. I needed to be at the Marriott Renaissance because it’s the closest to the Convention Center and Blog world. There was no way I could be up for all the walking otherwise and I didn’t want to use a mobility device and hassle around with it. (Pride?) I know I simply couldn’t handle all the long walking with the state my ankle is in. You can also look up my post on Z Coils shoes.

So I would burn through $40,000 of points which would be $400, and here’s what I still would need to pay. The extra on the flight $50; extra on the price of the hotel with taxes and admission to Blog world for the weekend, around $400.00. Meals would run around $100, parking and transportation to the airport, $40. Loss of income in sales commissions $600, cost of shuttle and tips to and from the airport approx 50.00. Whoa that’s a whopping $1640 for two nights and three days.

When is a deal not such a great deal? The answer, when you spend a lot more than you can afford to implement the discount! It just wasn’t in my budget. It’s possible in 2010, with pre- planning but it’s not happening for this year.

One major objective I am focused on is how I can sort through and eliminate lots of excess accumulation so I can trim down my possessions. This is in harmony with my plan to go away next year during the summer to the high mountains or northern coastal regions for 3 or 4 months.

What I decided to do instead is very practical rather than exciting. None the less it makes sense. I took the flight miles which earns me a piddly 1% and transferred 50,000 points, which is $500 to my bank account to help pay down part of my American Express bill.
The American Express was unusually huge, as I had bought 4 new tires at Costco and also paid for my new health insurance and paid for reinstating my Realtor membership, which I need so I can get insurance. Health and Medical insurance cost is absolutely astronomical. See my other posts on the state of Health Insurance.

So that my friends is the saga of why I am not going to Blog World 2009! With luck and the law of attraction I hope to make it to next years event so I can write a riveting review about actually going to Blog World 2010!

It’s easy to leave a comment. Did you attend Blog World 2009? If so, why and if not why didn’t you? If you did attend, what do you think were the highlights, pivotal events or people that captivated you? What do you think could have been better? What would you suggest should be changed or done differently next year? Share your story about what was most valuable about your Blog World experience and thanks for your participation!
Click here to check out Blog World 2009