As the school year ends and summer comes to a start, it’s time to recognize one of the busiest times of the year for some students: convention season. Whether you’re stitching together your latest cosplay for Fanime, vlogging with your friends at VidCon or taking photos with your faves at Comicon, convention season is the same. For a weekend out of the year (or more!) you run on Redbull, adrenaline and three hours of sleep a night in a sardine can of a room -- and when you’re not physically at the con, you spend every waking moment prepping for when you are. Here are seven essentials every convention-goer needs to have at all time.
1. A Backpack
Where else will you keep the rest of your essentials? Your backpack will also be a great place to store your loot, as well as other things gained during the convention
2. Dry Shampoo
Dry shampoo is a lifesaver! If you’re familiar with sharing a room to max capacity, then you know the struggle of shorter showers, and sometimes you don’t always have time to wash your hair. Fortunately, dry shampoo exists! If you’ve never used dry shampoo, it’s easy: you spray your roots with the dry shampoo, rub it around as it absorbs the oil and comb it out. Depending on your preferences, dry shampoo could extend your hair washing by up to four days.
3. Deodorant
Summer conventions are the pits, literally. As fun as they are, sometimes you’ll catch a whiff of someone’s B.O. while you’re crammed in a line. No fun. Save yourself -- and others -- by swiping your pits every now and then.
4. Water Bottle
Hydration is so important. Many convention centers are littered with water fountains, so filling up is no problem. During summer conventions especially, it’s important to keep yourself hydrated so you can enjoy yourself at the con.
5. Portable Charger And Phone Charger
Brought your charger to the con? Great. Phone’s dead? Go find a plug. All the plugs are taken? Oh. During a convention, having a cellphone is having a lifeline -- it multitasks as a phone, camera, notepad, etc. and when that dies on you… Then what? How will you capture once-in-a-lifetime experiences with your favorite celebrity or copy down the number of that cutie who waited in line with you? Easy. Portable charger. Instead of panicking once your phone hits 2 percent and carefully conserving your battery by squinting at a poorly-backlit screen for 20 minutes, plug it into your portable battery pack.
6. A Fanny Pack
Believe it or not, that amusement-park-dad-trend is making a comeback. Whether you’re rocking a brightly colored one or a traditional "dad" one, have your valuables close to you, in order to either to keep them safe or to whip out your phone for that awesome selfie.
7. A Buddy
I cannot stress how important the buddy system is during a convention. Whether it’s someone you came to the con with or someone you met at the con, if you wander off alone, then make sure someone knows where to find you. Some cons have a specific audience and some people want to violate the safety regulations used to keep that audience safe. Additionally, it's always nice to have a friend, even if it's someone to just run down to the convenience store with. Stay safe and have a buddy.
Con-life can be tiring and stressful, but if you're prepared, then it shouldn't be a sweat. Stay safe and have fun this summer!
