Hey awesome people!

Hyperspeed was right, July flew by and if any of you followed us on Instagram, you would've seen some of the shenanigans my 2 friends and I were up to in LA and San Diego.

Oh and guess what, our Ozarks content is finally out. Watch our Arkansas and Missouri videos - I bet you didn't expect that!

What's in store for you in August? Got any exciting plans? Just reply to this e-mail.

10 Thoughts on San Diego Comic-Con

I probably won't be able to put together a full article on the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) experience but I know many of you are curious about what it's like so here are our 10 thoughts.

SDCC takes place usually the 3rd or 4th week of July at the San Diego Convention Center and spans a Preview Day on Wednesday, and main days on Thursday to Sunday.
Tickets are highly competitive and notoriously difficult to get.. They use a lobby system where winners are selected at random for the opportunity to buy tickets. Everyone has equal chance but tickets sell out within the hour so if you aren't selected, that's the end. They trick is that if you went to Comic-Con the year before, you get to purchase tickets before they go public so that's why people go year after year.
Tickets aren't that expensive. They're only $75 a day (if you can get them of course).
Cosplay is optional but it's fun to play your favourite characters and get to meet others that share in your fandom. Some Cosplayers are really serious and will do specific gatherings and events. For us, we're not as hardcore but still like to wear our Star Wars costumes for a few days. We dressed up as Narkina 5 prisoners this year from the show, Andor. We got a lot of "ONE WAY OUT!" chants and requests for photos which was fun.
Hotels are a whole other mess. With over 130,000 people descending into San Diego that week, they literally block out all hotels in the city. This ensures there are rooms allocated for attendees and also standardized pricing. The problem is that it's just as competitive as getting tickets. To make it fair, there's another lobby system you have to deal with and chances are you won't get a room initially. We eventually lucked out with The Westin San Diego Bayview but only because we checked inventory daily.
So how do you find information on what's happening at SDCC? After my first Con, I created a Comic-Con list on Twitter. The other main source of information is the unofficial SDCC Blog where they do their best to consolidate all of the information and has a lot of helpful guides.
Start planning early. I have a pretty methodological approach to SDCC and it comes down to our interests and prioritizing things. We try to build our schedule around the exclusive toys, cool panels, off-sites, and evening parties.
You might've heard of the infamous Hall H. This is the convention center's largest hall and where the big panels are located. This is also where Marvel usually does their big announcements. The process of getting into Hall H is wild. The day before, you have to line up to get wristbands (easily a 5+ hour wait). On the day of, some queue overnight, or you can try to get there at 4AM and queue for another 5+ hours to get into Hall H. It's insanity.
What are off-sites? Studios/networks/brands will set up pop-ups both outdoors and in rented spaces that's open to everyone (you don't need a badge) to showcase their upcoming show/movie in an immersive way. Not all are hits but depending on the quality of production and the giveaways, they definitely should not be missed.
Expect tons of line ups. We always joke that SDCC is really a line, in a line, in a line, in a line... Be prepared to queue (possibly 6 hours a day) whether it's to do an off-site, get Hall H bands, get into Hall H, into the show floor itself, or exclusives. We've gotten so sophisticated that we brought these chairs this time. These portable stools were also crazy popular this year.

This Month's Travel Deals

We haven't been as on-the-ball with these this month but we are constantly updating our deals page but here are a few notable ones that we think you should know about.

Columbia Sportswear: Extra 20% off select sale items with code SAVEBIG. Expires August 2, 2023.
Mountain Hardwear: Save 65% on select apparel with coupon code MHW65OFF. Expires August 6, 2023.
Airalo: Use the code BF20 to offer an additional 20% discount to New Customers on all Airalo eSIMs. Use B15 to save 15% if you're an existing customer.
Shimoda: Looking for hiking backpacks designed for photographers? Use code WELCOME10 to save 10% off.
G Adventures:Last Minute Travel Deals Save BIG on tours departing within 60 days! Got the urge to get away within the next couple of months? With their Last Minute Travel Deals, you can save on a selection of tours that are departing within 60 days, and that only have a few open spots left.

This Month in Travel

Here are a few interesting articles we found this month. This sure inspires wanderlust and could be your ticket to awesome ;)

Hopper - Expedia terminates relationship with Hopper. I'll be honest, I've never used Hopper but have any of you had any luck with it?
Best Country to Visit - Telegraph's pick for this year. Do you agree?
Number 1 Place to Live and Work Abroad - Are you thinking about going nomadic? This list might be useful.

What's next at Going Awesome Places

August is going to be a bit more low key for us because there are big travel plans coming for the rest of the year. We'll share all of the details in our August edition!

We want to hear from you

Is there anything you'd like us to discuss in upcoming newsletters? Have you ever wanted to go to San Diego Comic-Con? Let us know by replying to this e-mail!

Cheers,

Going Awesome Places Team

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