![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbyNQw2hKPXVzoFdZuRSTvCT4HvHNVgQf8NM6X5rMSGA8/image.png)
[](https://steemit.com/partiko/@steemcafe/i-decided-to-stay-1-more-day-jv2xn3af)

Behold, the second time I've put my face on the blockchain.

The main purpose of this post is to let SteemFest attendees know that they're NOT alone.  Coming down from this past week will take time.  Let this be a blogging hotline for anyone feeling down that this life-changing event is over.

This is a safe space.  Share away.  We can cope together.

The second purpose is to encourage new attendees to come next year.  Sharing my highlights will give them an idea of what they can look forward to.

...Today, my friend asked if I enjoyed my trip and if I ever wanted it to end. It's embarrassing, but I'll share the clip.

https://media.giphy.com/media/l3vQZ8ko4l0nvjm2Q/giphy.gif
[](https://media.giphy.com/media/l3vQZ8ko4l0nvjm2Q/giphy.gif)

#### Did I have a good time?
####
The answer is a resounding YES... before crumbling into a ball of withdrawal.

SteemFest was an instant home-away-from-home experience.  I met more nice and like-minded people in one week than I have in my overpopulated city in a decade.  I learned so much about kind-hearted and inquisitive souls across the world I actually share plenty in common with.  It blew my mind.  

The trip wasn't about investments and money for me, and it wasn't for everyone I spoke with.  It was about growing something special together, with everyone seen as an integral component capable of creating opportunity. It gave me the revitalized hope I needed.

It was clearly about the community and its people, the perfect common cause.
#### It felt like humanity was everywhere.
####
The [first night of meeting @coruscate](https://steemit.com/steemfest/@steemmatt/a-thousand-words-are-worth-a-special-picture) with an awesome crew of early birds helped me warm up quickly.  I also got off on the right foot with a very funny @anomadsoul by letting him know his fly was down.  He's probably the only person I've ever met who prefers it that way.

The second night featured a long out-of-body esoteric talk with @flauwy.  We both had the chills and might've levitated for a minute. The guy is a genius in his arena and I'm excited to keep in touch.  I then had a long talk with @yabapmatt, which was my first look into the @steemmonsters and witness world from the inside. 

The opening event was capped by my first of many talks with Open Mic legend, @luzcypher, who lives life with the pedal to the metal.  Hearing about his story and the history of Open Mic got better when he told me about how a man came all the way to a SteemFest to personally thank him for his father's prize, which was several months of salary.  Mic drop.

After watching a few seminars on the first day of sessions, I realized that it'd be more valuable for me to focus on having as many conversations as possible.  I could always watch the reruns and sleep later.  I did pop in on some sessions, most notably when I heard @steemcafe blowing up the second channel on my headset with an electric presentation.  This guy, IJ, is a fireball, with @nomadicsoul as his counterpart.  They were both a blast to hang out with.

After getting lost in time talking with @cryptogee about futuristic society over the first day's lunch, a group got me talking about how I thrift and upcycle for a living (while the majority of my packaging supplies are personally recycled to help the environment).  I'd never had that happen to me, and some came up the next day with more people to tell my story to.  Thanks to @roxanne + @oroger (a very kind couple), @teamsteem, @joythewanderer, @transisto, @travelgirl, @redrica, etc., for caring, so I'm motivated to start blogging more on this. 

On bowling night, I'll let @martibis' summary speak for me:

> Later that night we had the bowling competition, where I might have had a few too many gin tonics and ended up playing foosball and talking to a whole bunch of people rather than playing a lot of bowling. The funniest moment was definitely when @steemmatt was trying to distract the opposite team (@oroger and @stoodkev) by pointing out a cute girl behind them - which caused me to look up, instead of them and have them score a goal. Whoops!

Fast forward to @nomadicsoul and @teamsteem's mystery alcohol drinking video challenge at the second day of sessions, where I had them bending over in laughter from my reaction.  Little did they know, I've practiced that sketch for years, waiting for the right time.  After several nights of minimal sleep and water, it _did_ taste like battery acid mixed with gasoline. I love when things aren't serious, and these two, among many others, kept this trip light and fun.

On this day, I also had my first of a few talks with @andrarchy about coordinating meetups in my city. He took the time to listen and give input, while encouraging follow up to make this happen. I figured that the SteemFest experience doesn't necessarily have to happen once a year, so I should take charge to make this experience happen more often while we wait for the next SteemFest. Mike, the head of @sndbox, also shared the same sentiments when we spoke.

After a talk with @llfarms about finding the beauty of things via photography, I got lost in the fog (literally) for 2 hours in the middle of the night to take my [first stab at taking picture for Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemfest/@steemmatt/krakow-photography-attempt-making-myself-get-lost-in-the-fog-in-the-middle-of-the-night).  This was well received to motivate me to continue on a new path.  Not satisfied from a few hours before, I walked to the ICE conference center off the path in the mud for 45 minutes the next AM to take more shots and soak up the scene.  Thanks to her and @jarvie for the inspiration.

There was a critical point on Friday afternoon when I had a choice to make.  I couldn't stay awake and desperately needed sleep.  I tried to find a place to hide for a nap, but had no luck.  Instead of going home to recharge, I chose to struggle through dinner with my head nodding off, and dig deep for the music event.  

Instead of leaving the club early after the performances, I stayed until they threw us out.  I'm glad I did this because I had a spontaneously deep personal conversation with @teamsteem about lots of difficult family things that have happened in recent years.  He listened without blinking for 30 minutes with encouragement to go on and good advice.  This was a really important moment for me.  He understood what I went through and appreciated how hard it was to more than cancel out the battery acid drink prank.  Here's a picture as a small thank you if he catches it.

![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYeMYEGWNFnRVZvuCT2dfid5zEC3CfBsVtsAvYTFnHtqj/image.png)

After another late night, my body took over.  I slept from 3:30 AM until 6 PM, minus 90 minutes.  I had to skip the events to make sure I could be sharp for meeting others.  I didn't want to look tired and be dull to insult anyone.  Energized for the first time since Monday, I headed over the karaoke event after a pit stop at Beer Event where I got to meet @birdinc from Steemit, Inc., and thank him for resteeming a recent post about debating taking this trip.  Small world.  

There was no way in hell I'd ever sing karaoke, especially in front of a packed room of Steemians and foreigners (or either), with half of my voice gone from talking, yet @steemcafe had me getting up on stage (sober), to sing the event's second song... a fast rap Vanilla Ice.  That's like difficulty level 99. 

The story has a happy ending because @derangedvisions ran up on stage to take the mic out of my hands and save my soul. He's sang this song forever and nailed the rest of it while I hid behind him on stage. 

After about 30 minutes and two beers, I came to and was singing with the crowd in no time.  For future karaoke attempts, IJ, my songbook is 90's rock alternative. The first picture above was at the end of the event.  The forces of the universe also rewarded me with a modest diamond bracelet I found on the floor no one has claimed yet.

Here's @daveonarrival tricking me into singing Enrique Iglesias' Hero before I stopped myself mid-line to make the place laugh.

![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbKcTX4b1hV9C2Y8bf1tGBYdB18LuzUgvRBqmKLoLvEpP/image.png)
It was an accident.
![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbCTVB364FX8PvdFqnNKdDwHn4QQacXWJCtA7BPcVX3m3/image.png)
Retreat!! @steemcafe wasn't having it, probably because he knew I'd use his picture at the top of this post.
![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUiziaqEkrxL11m8UNRuWs3kJWJkVCWN3F8fYW2KoAaQ6/image.png)
@daveonarrival was thrown off for a moment, but got back to crushing the song and melting hearts.

[Timestamps left so you can enjoy.](https://d.tube/#!/v/daveonarrival/m9npn8j6)

Sunday was probably the best day of the trip for me.  After 3 hours of sleep yet again, I powered through to meet @kevinwong (etherpunk) and a fascinating @mammasitta for a few hours, while @joythewanderer was sneaky when taking one of my pierogis.  Kevin is really humble and a class act.  I'm glad we could finally get some face time.  @tarazkp later joined in and led a master-class discussion on communities and Steem economics.  He's got a ton of passion and intelligence I support.  I learned a lot from these conversations.

The salt mine tour and closing dinner felt like I was in the Lord Of The Rings' gnome kingdom. It was spectacular.

The closing drinks at the Qubus were very memorable.  I had a long talk with @blocktrades to learn about his background, the creation of Bitshares and Steemit, and all types of cool stories.  I also got to speak with @transisto for a while about his former business and recommendations for my resale/salvage business.  It was completely up his alley and a conversation I never thought I'd deep dive into at the time.  It meant a lot that these guys could spend this time sharing knowledge and giving lots of advice, regardless of my stature on the platform.  

After pitching a tinfoil ball to ze crazy German @rivalzzz, who _eventually_ hit a hard line drive at me with an empty wine bottle for the out, he showed me some of his pitching prowess.  Others joined in.  I never would've imagined this happening beside dozens of Steemians, but I also didn't think I'd go to SteemFest.  I left around 3:30 to go home to pack for my flight in a few hours.  

Thankfully a very cool guy @blewitt (re: the generous comic-book gifter in your welcome pack) was on the same flights, so we made sure neither of us slept through boarding calls after pulling all-nighters. I slept 8 of the 9 hours on my second flight as a small miracle.  I think I just felt peace and happiness for what I experienced all week, as well as pure exhaustion.

It was interesting how so many stars aligned on this trip for me.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get the balls to take the risk, took the time to talk and listen, and showed they care with interest and respect. I wouldn't have enjoyed anything if it wasn't for the conversations and genuine nature of virtually everyone.  

Here are some of the others _not_ mentioned above I had very nice conversations with, and would like to generally express gratitude to, in no particular order.  I introduced myself to many key stakeholders for quick hellos, but I wouldn't count them as conversations.  It was valuable to put faces to names and understand their character, even though I couldn't get into a big talk with them.  

Every interaction was very important for my overall experience, so while I'm not listing details, I remember them all.  Since my SteemFest app lost its contacts every morning, this is from memory and a few notes.  I hope some will catch it and also value their chats with me in some way.

@louis88
@bugavi
@olga.maslievich
@soyrosa
@ura-soul 
@surfyogi
@twinner
@felix.herrmann
@r00sj3 (& her bird)
@gillianpearce
@dan-atstarlite
@jaybird
@gtg / @gandalf
@fredrikaa
@prc
@tixinhacapitinha
@revisesociology
@artakush
@sambillingham (shout out for remembering my daily fitness challenge)
@joannewong
@aggroed
@eveuncovered
@suesa
@lizanomadsoul
@abh12345
@toocurious
@celestal
@tanbay
@evecab
@el-cr
@buttcoins
@rea
@steevc
@world-travel-pro
@felixxx
@soldier
@katrina-ariel
@hashcash
@kevinli
@yidneth
@enginewitty
@adetorrent 
@eric71 
@guyfawkes4-20
@nanzo-scoop
@alexvan
@starkerz
@noisy
@jonching
@therealwolf
@illucifer
@roelandp - THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

I'm looking forward to building upon these new friendships.  They're important to me, so I'll follow through.  Say hi any time as well.

I'll also be there for the next poker tourney.  I was conflicted this time, but let's get a monthly SteemFest alum game going on the Steem Poker League.

I'd also like to thank @arcange for helping with my last-minute SteemFest ticket before sprinting to the airport.  It was great to spend plenty of time hanging each day! He's a very nice guy.

@punchline / @hanshotfirst chipped in with donations towards my pierogis and I didn't let him down.  Thank you for now (your post is coming soon).

The trip opened with a [pic](https://steemit.com/steemfest/@steemmatt/a-thousand-words-are-worth-a-special-picture) with my good friend, @coruscate, and fittingly closed with the same.  

![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmY4x9PZiZdiNJoEh1P7e2Jaqp22oujVfyVAyg6rh3DoXt/image.png)

#### To everyone, feel free to reply with your highlights, and please keep inspiring us all!
####
Just one more night with the bracelet on,
@steemmatt