A terrible hotel, a great convention and a horrible week

The tenth of February I went to a convention with my sister. I was looking forward to this convention, as I really needed something big to lift my spirits. To make sure we’d have plenty of energy at the convention, we booked a room at a youth hostel near the convention. This way, we didn’t have to get up very early and drive all the way there. Because we took this precaution, and the convention was only one day, I was sure I would recover from this convention quickly.

I was so wrong… The day before the convention heavy snow was predicted. Because of this we suddenly decided to drive to the youth hostel sooner than we planned. This meant that after getting out of bed, we immediately had to pack our bags and head over to the youth hostel, so we’d be there before the snow would fall.

We weren’t on time and snow did fall during our drive to the youth hostel, so the drive there took quite some energy from my sister and I. After we arrived in the right city, it all went downhill. The parking garage had a very narrow entrance, which we could only barely enter. After that scary drive into the parking garage, we went to the youth hostel. It was hard to find the entrance, but we managed to find it.

I’m not sure if this was a good thing though, as the youth hostel was terrible. It had poor maintenance, a shower where you had to press a button every 4 seconds (Yes, we counted that!) to keep it running, a scary elevator with loose walls, two employees who cared more about playing foosball than their job… and worst of all: Beds, so terrible, that my sister only slept for four hours and I didn’t sleep AT ALL.

After a whole night of staring at the walls, we found out that at least breakfast was okay at the youth hostel. After breakfast, we went to the convention. This particular convention actually did better than last year and I had quite some fun at the convention. I loved seeing all my friends there and doing what I do best: helping out at a convention. I kept myself awake by adding some sugar to my system.

That last thing, staying awake with sugar, is usually something I don’t advise to anyone and I still don’t advise it to anyone. It’s a bad idea to do at a convention, as the adrenaline rush from all the fun, combined with the sugar, makes you burn away your energy at a faster rate than you’re supposed to. This is the first time I used this method at a convention and I regret it already. The week after the convention I was beyond exhausted. I still went to the few appointments (I knew I’d at least be A BIT tired the week after…) I had, but I actually didn’t even have the energy for that. Every day took a lot from me and I should’ve cancelled my appointments.

At the end of the week my body got too weak and I caught a virus. Saturday night (… right? I kind of lost track of time last weekend) I wanted to go to bed and right at that moment my body decided it was enough. I got very dizzy, felt horrible, my temperature rose a bit and I lost the little energy that I had still left. I couldn’t even get myself up anymore. After an hour of being taken care of by my sister and mother, they both supported me all the way upstairs to my bed.

Going through a convention on sugar for a day, after not having slept the night before, was a terrible idea. Not cancelling my appointments the week after was the worst idea ever. If you ever catch me lecturing someone on staying awake on sugar (energy drinks count too with this rule!) at a convention: This is why. I know the effects, because I feel the effects ten times as hard. I was stupid not to listen to my own advice.

I was stubborn. I didn’t like the idea that one night of lack of sleep would rob me of a fun convention and a whole week of appointments, where other people usually just need one or two extra days of sleep and they’re fine. I guess I was rebelling against my Chronic Fatigue, which is of course just stupid, as my Chronic Fatigue won’t suddenly go away by ignoring it.

To end with some happy news: I’m starting to feel better again and my plants are growing really well! I’m proud that I managed to water my plants, even through all the above experiences.

The plants are leaning down because they were leaning towards the sun (I turned them around before making the picture), they're not leaning down because they're dying.