Alternatively Titled: How Not To Starve To Death Because You’re Having So Much Fun You Forget To Eat For Three Days
Listen, I get it. Time moves differently at a con. It’s easy to forget about lunch and other mundane mainstays of a daily routine when there are panels to be attended, autographs to stand in line for, and cosplays to be paraded around and photographed. So as a reminder as much for myself as anyone else, and with Katsucon approaching faster than the falling blade of a guillotine (but, like, in a good way), I thought it appropriate to spend a few minutes neglecting my heap of incomplete costumes and break down the complicated relationship between cons and food. And how to weather it.
Food options on site at a con will range from fantastic to pathetic, depending mostly on the venue and a little on the location. Sometimes you get lucky and there’s a full-on food court with lots of inexpensive options for food that’s not even terrible. Sometimes, your only option is one of those portable stands with a warmer box full of pizza that's about as fresh as you feel around 4pm on Sunday. And it costs $15. Lookin’ at you, Otakon. No bueno.
A lot of cons will have a concession stand running in the vendor hall/artist alley area. The food quality will vary from meh to downright depressing, and the prices are pretty uniformly unfortunate. Often, there’s a restaurant inside or attached to the venue. These usually have pretty good food, but you’re paying through the nose for it. Katsucon in particular comes to mind, with its swanky indoor atrium and the sports bar contained therein. There might also be restaurants within a block or two of the con. That’s about as far as I’m willing to travel in cosplay before my anxiety starts to literally cause me to shrink. If you’re less inhibited you can venture further. The point is, get the lay of the land early. Scope out your options before it’s 4pm on Friday and you’re gnawing on the corner of that fan art print you just bought because you haven’t eaten all day. Know where your best option is for real food. Know where your second best option is.
Breakfast (And Optionally, Coffee)
The most important meal of the day. My friends, do not just drink coffee. You will have a bad time. Put something in your stomach at the start of your day. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a con that didn’t have a conveniently located Starbucks, but if you don’t want to spend money on breakfast, plan ahead! Grab a couple of granola bars or bananas to bring to the con. You can keep yogurt in your hotel room mini fridge, if you’re a yogurt person. Bagels don’t have to be toasted to be edible. Neither do pop tarts (I know, not a whole lot of nutritional value but we’re talking survival here).
The list of reasons why it’s a good idea to have pockets or pouches of some nature on your cosplay extends far beyond “snacks,” but “snacks” is probably near the top. Clif bars fit excellently inside a cell-phone-sized pocket or pouch. You guys, the chocolate brownie flavored ones don’t even taste healthy. It’s great. Keeping fruits and veggies in the room that you don’t need to cook is a great idea for when you collapse in the middle of the day to make repairs, change your cosplay, or otherwise rest and recover. Things like grapes, carrots, cherry tomatoes, berries, etc! If that sounds too healthy for you, use the in-room coffee maker without the little coffee pouch to get hot water for your cup noodles. But be careful children, that’s a lot of sodium. I’m sorry.
Some cons will try to place water coolers at convenient locations around the venue, but don’t rely on this. Even if they’re around, they might be empty. (A lot of them have them in panel rooms more often than in the hallway, so if you’re wandering the con dying of thirst, try ducking into a room, often there’s a water cooler or pitcher near the back.) Carrying water around isn’t always convenient or possible, so don’t pass up an opportunity to hydrate if it presents itself. When you’re snacking or eating lunch or dinner remember to drink something!
Listen to your body. It may be trying to tell you that you need food, even if you don’t feel explicitly hungry. I’m exactly the sort of person who only thinks about the last time she ate when she’s lightheaded and wondering why she suddenly feels so crabby when really, she’s having a great time. I’ll start to get really lethargic and kind of sad, but I rarely feel my stomach grumbling or any of the usual signs of hunger. I don’t know why, but at least I know now what it means and how to fix it. The key to all of this is planning ahead. If you wait until you’re starving to figure out your food options, you’re more likely to fork over $20 for the first basket of fries you see, or even worse, you may decide not to eat because all the options are too expensive. Please eat. Don’t die. You can do it.
Surviving the Con: Hotel Rooms
