Tips for going to a homeschool convention all by yourself

I’ve been to all of one homeschool convention.  I’ve had plans to go to other homeschool conventions, but they fell through for circumstances beyond my control.

{This post is sponsored by Great Homeschool Conventions, I totally recommend going to them}

Back to that convention I went to, are you ready to hear this?

I went all by myself.

Yes, you read that right.  Jeff took a day off of work, so I could go all by myself.  I learned a few things, even if the convention I went to was itty bitty.  This time I’m going to the homeschool event of the year {affiliate link}

General Tips for going to a homeschool convention

1. Plan ahead, there are lots of speakers, and lots of choices to make.  Know what you speakers you want to hear and WHERE THEY MEET (I accidentally went to the wrong one because I misread the room).
2. Bring layers.  The place the convention was at was an old 50’s building, some rooms the air conditioning was on overload, and other rooms I was burning up, now Great Homeschool Conventions is a bit bigger scale, so the building is top dog, but I still get cold. Having now been to two GHC conventions, I’m usually cold.
3. Know what things you’re shopping for (I’m actually gonna talk about that in a post next month).
4. Plan time to go shopping, plan to miss one of the speaking sessions to give yourself extra time to look around.  There will be a lot of great deals at the convention, don’t miss out on them.
5. Pack snacks and a water bottle.  You’ll remember all of the great tips better if your blood sugar hasn’t dropped.
6. Bring a backpack to carry your awesome swag.  Most speakers will have papers for you to take notes on, some will have door prizes, and you will get catalogs and business cards galore.  You need a place to carry it all. While rolling carts are all the rage right now, make sure the rules of the convention, because some conventions don’t allow them.

Special tips for going to a convention all by yourself

1. Skip the first session Saturday morning and SLEEP IN.  Because we never get enough sleep.
2. Bring bubble bath, and take a nice long hot bubble bath without any kids knocking to tell you they spilled something.
3. Bring a book to read, OR watch a movie YOU chose with no animated characters (though, if a Muppet Movie is on, you should watch that).
4. I brought all of my curriculum for the next year and got a head start on planning for the next year (then my hotel didn’t have internet connection, so that fell apart).
5. Sneak out for a lunch where you get to eat hot food, and not cut someone else’s food for them.

Some of this advice is tongue in cheek, but I very much enjoyed taking a couple of days on my own.  I drove the 2 hour drive down to San Antonio listening to all the music I don’t listen to with kids, while singing at the top of my lungs, and accidentally chose a hotel in not the best part of town.  I got horribly lost when I missed a turn, but it was a lot of fun.

I got some great ideas to implement, and I listened to some great speakers without worrying about anyone else.  I highly recommend driving off to a homeschool convention if you can.

See some other tips for going to a homeschool convention here.