Amazing opportunity for an amazing community! First of all, I would like to congratulate @barrydutton, he really did deserve it! Secondly, I would like to apply for the trip myself as well!
I would love to attend this year's Steemfest due to my addiction to the platform's community. No, really! I've never been a part of any group that was so friendly and helpful. This fact makes me want to talk to these people in person and maybe strengthen the bonds I have already built while living on Steem.
I wasn't able to attend last year's Steemfest due to the simple fact that I didn't know about the platform just yet, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to go, because I am still a student with a tough financial situation. Although, lack of money can be considered a burden, in some cases it can lead to great outcomes. Throught these years I tought myself to only spend on things that are complete necessities. I don't drink anything accept for tap water, thankfully it is safe in my area. I don't eat anything except for on-campus lunches, which were prepaid through tuition and fruits/vegetables (I'm vegan 🌾😋). I'm also growing my own vegetables on the balcony to keep up with my goal of achieving complete self-reliance and independence in the future, which is also one of the reasons why I started to use Steem on a daily basis.
If I was to attend Steemfest this year, you can be sure that I won't spend more money than absolutely needed, I can even send the money that was left back. I love giving back to the people. Just last year I pledged my birthday to charity: water, which meant that instead of receiving presents or money from friends and relatives, I asked them to donate the money they were going to spend on me to charity: water instead. If I had enough money, I would organize another one of these giveaways, so that yet another person could go to the conference.
While on Steemfest, I will attend the Hackathon for sure, because it will be a great place to talk to like-minded programmers and discuss project ideas. One of my own concepts, or even a project in-progress is Tokeit, on which I was working on for about a month now. What Tokeit is, (or at least will be 😅) is a fork of the Steem blockchain, which will be dedicated to cannabis discussion. Why having a seperate blockchain for this project is a good idea can be read and discussed in this post by @decentralizd. Important to note is that I don't smoke cannabis myself, due to my financial situation, but I want to provide a well working platform for those who can afford to experiment with the lettuce ☘️
In conclusion, helping me travel to Steemfest would mean the whole world to me as this won't only make me get fangirled the hell out with the whales who will surround me, but it will also help me make new contacts with programmers who could give me feedback with my Steem-based project, which will in long-term help me give back to the community with a fresh Tokeit blockchain.