I haven't been to a furry convention since covid started, and don't plan to any time soon. But as a thought experiment, I've decided to see how many furry cons I can go to in 2024 if going to furry cons was all I did.
I'm pulling this data from Furrycons.com, which doesn't actually have a lot of cons listed for next year, as most cons haven't announced them yet, so I'm using 2023 information, which is pretty complete but not full, so I might be missing a few.
I also want to do this on the cheap, and reasonably safely, so I've come up with the following rules:
- I have a car which will not break down
- I have enough money to spend on gas and food
- I have no other expenses
- I have a passport
- I drive 8 hours a day at reasonable highway speeds
- I have the ability to sleep in my car, but it will be uncomfortable (I have a sleeping bag and warm clothes, etc. I personally have lived out of my car down to around freezing. Itās not pleasant but can be done for short periods)
- We have to attend a convention during official convention hours
- We have to be there long enough to attend an event and browse the dealerās room, so no midnight drive-bys
Alright? Let's go to every furry convention!
1. The Hard Months
It starts out pretty rough for us, unfortunately. January and February feature several cross country trips and long drives in back to back weeks, and wouldnāt you know, nearly all the conventions are in the north. But weāve just started our journey and weāve got plenty of enthusiasm so letās get at it.
We ring in the new year at the New Yearās Furry Ball (January 1, Wilmington DE). We canāt stay long, though. Shortly after the ball drops, we take a quick nap and get on the road. We are driving 6 straight days to make it to Anthro Northwest (January 7, Seattle WA) on time. If we stick to our driving schedule we should pull into the parking lot around Saturday afternoon. This is going to be cold driving, across the top of the country through North Dakota and Montana. It should be the worst we face all year.
From there itās a relatively short two-day drive to Further Confusion (January 14, San Jose CA). We enjoy the warmth while we can, because we immediately turn around and make another six-day drive to Anthro New England (January 21, Boston MA). We close out this hellish month with a trek to AnthroExpo (January 28, Oklahoma City OK) and up into the mountains for a little skiing at Furry Ski Weekend (February 10, Frisco CO)
Cons Attended: 6 ā ā Miles Traveled: 9229
2. Decisions, Decisions
After a rough month, we actually get 3 whole weeks off as the convention schedule moves overseas. Iāll be spending the time down in New Mexico, a relatively short drive and warm place to sleep. As the calendar ticks into March, we have to make our first choices of conventions to attend, as they start to stack up when furries awake from hibernation.
We begin by driving up to VancouFur (March 4, Vancouver BC) at our own pace. We are confronted here with another choice to make: Gateway Furmeet (March 11, St. Louis, MO) and Fur the āMore (Arlington VA) are on the same weekend. FTM is the more established and larger convention, but Iām choosing to go to Gateway instead. It cuts down on driving not just this week, but the next as well, and I have a score to settle with the St. Louis Arch.
Pulling out of the hotel parking lot, we can choose to go either north or south. Furnal Equinox (March 17, Toronto ON) and Texas Furry Fiesta (Dallas TX) are about the same distance away, but the weather is decently warm, I have a great history at FE, and Texas is a little scary, so Iām headed north. Conveniently, this sets us up for one of the shortest drives of the trip, ending the month of March at Motor City FC (March 24, Ypsilanti MI).
Cons Attended: 4 ā ā Miles Traveled: 4660