SteemFest 4 Diary: Final Days & Goodbye's

in #travelfeed5 years ago

Day 4 Pancakes and Beer

It was so tiring after 3 days that we woke up late. We still made it on time for pancakes! That was my first time to try Dutch pancakes and I must say it was good.

A big group went out and I got separated from the @travelfeed team. You may have seen me with them most of the time because I prefer smaller groups but I was happy to step out of my comfort zone and join other people.

A few people were left and we were supposed to join @cryptospa and @vezyts to explore the city but then we found that they were going to the Grand Palace so we wouldn’t have time to watch poker. @gandalf and I then went somewhere else and ended up on the side streets of Bangkok. It was interesting to see their daily life and locals were concerned because we looked like lost tourists. They were giving us directions and they were very nice that they let us trespass their neighborhood.

Local Neighborhood

We really didn’t know where we were going but we found the train railway and waited for the train to pass by. It was interesting and there were other tourists who also stopped by to wait for the train. I guess train watching is a thing, but was fun. After "train watching", we walked through more canals and another neighborhood until we reached Prince Palace for the poker game.

Train Watching

I have never played poker so I was just part of the audience. It was helpful that @arcange provided a Poker 101 so I was able to understand what they were doing. The group was serious, there was competition and mentos and candies at stake ;)

Serious planning going on

While waiting for them plan, we watched sunset. However, there was a lot of smog but the colors and clouds were still pretty. It was an amazing view from the Prince Palace.

"Smogset"

After poker, we walked to the venue of #BeerSaturday. We didn’t get there early though because we found an interesting event with so much good food so we stopped for a while.

"Deletable" :D

I don't know what this is call but was so savory and delicious

It was nice to catch up with other Steemians at the #BeerFest like @detlev, @louis88, @liliana.duarte and @rmach. @lilia-duarte and @rmarch were our neighbors at the hotel but it was the first time I was able to catch up with them, they’re a lovely couple!

great craft beer recommended by @detlev

After beerfest, the group was divided – one wanted to party at Khao San Road while the others including me just want food. We had street food and we accidentally joined the walk to Khao San Road. @gandalf and Bart (I can't find his username so I'll tag @engrave - please let me know your username haha) had to retreat when we can no longer pass through the crowd and went home.

Late Night Dinner

Crazy Khao San Road

Day 5 River Boat Cruise

I had a really great time but something personal happened on the last day. I was going through something personal. I almost did not join the river boat cruise but @for91days convinced me to join since it was one of the highlights of SteemFest.

However, I had to leave the group during dinner and just wanted to be my own which was crucial to me. In the job that I left, I had to pretend to be happy even when I am not, otherwise, there will be more pressure for me to be okay or I’ll be reprimanded because of something behavioral (ie not joining the group because the collective is valued in Filipino culture). If I was to be forced to join in when I could not, then it would just be repeating what happened to the employer I left.

I am thankful that @roelandp told me that I can sit wherever I was comfortable because I was going through something.

I sat at one corner for dinner and some people were concerned. I don’t want to attract attention but I could not leave the boat. I also chose to be there since it was the last night.

It was sad to say goodbye that night. I wish there was more time and opportunity to talk to more people. There were a lot that I didn’t even get a chance to say hi to. Maybe, on next year’s Steemfest I’ll be able to.

Post SteemFest Thoughts

Today, I am still not able to process through everything. The @travelfeed team have just finished successful meet ups in Chiang Mai and so it felt like a continuation of SteemFest. It was nice to meet new people but the constant small talk can be exhausting.

SteemFest for me was, at least towards the end, was an emotional rollecoaster. I think it triggered personal issues I had because I had to deal with a mix of people.

Most people in SteemFest were really good and nice but of course there will be some who are not so nice, at least to me. I am well aware that I am no one in this platform and I’m happy that despite that, people still talked to me.

However, there are some people who I think didn’t like my presence. For instance, I was with a group of people during opening drinks and someone dropped by to shake hands and introduce himself to everyone, EXCEPT ME. I am not an important person but there I can see how your stake and reputation still matters.

There was also another person who just didn’t acknowledge my presence when we’re in a group. She would be so happy talking to others but when I try to talk to her, she wouldn’t even look at me. Unfortunately, she keeps showing up wherever we are and I am still affected. I am getting really pissed off that she had to make me feel that I don’t belong to the group that I just initiate to leave the group, but would talk to me when there are other people. I don’t want to experience discrimination so I’d rather just go on my own.

These are just a few people who didn’t treat me fairly but they really affect me. I’m a sensitive person and I get easily affected. It’s easy to tell me not to think about them but it’s difficult for me. I tried, however, these triggered some personal issues I have and I know I have to fix it. In a way that’s a good way to remind me that I need to fix myself.

So will I attend the next SteemFest?

I don’t know. Maybe when I can handle these personal issues I have because for sure there will be that one person in a group of good people. I did not take this journey just to be discriminated but that will always happen at some point.

I wish I wasn't so affected by these couple of people because for sure there were more people who were accepting of me. I am thankful that I am in a tightly knit community – @travelfeed – otherwise, I would not be so involved now. I re-joined the team as their "Social Media & PR" person and would be mostly speaking with outsiders of Steem so I guess that’s good so I am not affected of the politics and behavioral issues in this platform.

This platform is made up of people so these issues will not go away. It’s something I have to learn to deal with. It would be easier when everything is just online, I guess.


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Getting off the bus right now, but i will be back later

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I prefer smaller groups

It was a pleasure to be part of a preferred smaller group! :-D
Thank you for being you.

Thanks too for keeping me safe when crossing the crazy roads 😃

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Bart (I can't find his username)

I had the most difficult name to pronounce in the entire Steemfest event :)

Thanks I wouldn't be able to know that's even difficult for me to spell haha Nice to meet you in SteemFest.

so sorry to hear about what you went through in the cruise. it was nice to meet you by the way, you were one of the first persons that i got to talk with in the opening drinks night. yeah i agree, there are some people in the event that kind of feel like they were a bit 'discriminatory', i felt that too but maybe im just imagining things. lol but anyways even if they were, just know that its on them and not on you. you should attend the next steemfest! would love to see you there again!

it was nice to meet you as early as opening drinks. and I like your attitude that you don't care even if some may seem discriminatory. Thanks for the advice. I get easily affected by other people and have to fix that.

yeah we all have issues we need to fix and we are all a work in progress. just keep your head up and look on the bright side! ill see you on the next one ayt! :)

Thanks! :)

I found SteemFest a bit overwhelming as I don't do well with big crowds. At times I felt like withdrawing to a corner as I had nothing to say, whilst at other times, if I came across people whom I got on really well with, I would be so wrapped up in conversation with them and totally ignore other people around me without intending to. I'm not sure if this is what happen to some of the other people you met, but I am not here to defend them as I wasn't around.

Life is never fair, some spend hours crafting a post and only end up with a few $ payout and others could get $20/$30+ with just a photo. The same goes for relationship, we gain some and lose some. I'd like to think we have all gained more than lost during SF4.

Now that you've started a new life so to speak, it will be what you make of it and who you want to be. Whatever personal issues you had doesn't need to follow you around as no one know who you were from back home. Carrying baggage around can be very hard work and you don't want that when you're travelling. Keep in touch!

Thanks a lot for sharing your perspective. SteemFest was also overwhelming for me and I heard the same from others. I have accepted that it is not fair here and life is like that.

If there's a take away for me here is that it made me aware of some personal issues and baggage that I carry, that needs to be dealt with. That's why I took this big journey. Will keep in touch :)

And no I didn't dislocate @wanderein 's arm to convince her, hehe! It would have broken my heart though not have her with us on the boat. I'm glad you did and I'm glad you found your little corner to be near all of us while you could withdraw yourself a bit.

Thanks for convincing me. It was still a great cruise and still enjoyed my quiet corner :)

@wanderein, hey, I hope you are doing well!

Hmm, I didn't know that you had some uncomfortable situations at Steem Fest. You could have shared with us your concerns. Anyway. Just take it easy and try not to be so sensitive.

Hope to see you at next Steem Fest. You're an amazing young person.

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Thanks for your concern. Don't worry I'm feeling a lot better and it's an issue I have to personally deal with.

I'm so glad to have met you nd your infectious positive energy. Keep spreading joy!


Congratulations @wanderein!
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I went on one of those riverboat rides just one time. I know it is touristy and what not but I thought it was great fun, the pageantry when they pull up, the semi-luxurious feel of it all really appealed to me. The food was just average but that was beside the point. Now if they just included unlimited booze and it would be exactly what i was looking for. I hate pacing myself!

yep food was average, street food was a lot better but I like the view. I didn't even get to drink there. There was unlimited booze during opening drinks of SteemFest and the other nights, you'll like that :)