DjangoCon US 2024 starts a week from today. Uh, how did that happen so fast?

Anyway, a few years ago, I wrote a list of suggestions for first-timers that has been refreshed for 2023 by Jason Judkins. I thought it would be fun to take it more personal and list what I am packing.

For reference, I’m driving to the conference for three reasons:

• I can bring my own bike without having to pack it up and risk airlines damaging it
• Because I live close to an extremely small airport, the difference in travel time is minimal door-to-door (9-9.5 hours driving vs 7.5 hours of flying/connecting/finding an uber to the hotel/waiting for TSA/etc.)
• My grandmother lives outside Asheville, NC, and it’s about a 20 minute detour to see her and break the return trip up into two days. I did this on both legs last year and it happened to be the last time I saw my grandfather (he died of COVID shortly after Valentine’s Day this year). I’m taking the drive from AL to NC in one day because I need to wait until after my kid’s soccer game Saturday morning to head out and I need to be in Durham Sunday morning for tutorials. This makes me sad that I’m going to miss the BPD Summit though.

I’m going to split this list into a few groups with varying degrees of relevance to you, the theoretical general attendee. My plan is to arrive on Sunday and depart on Thursday.

Tech

Here’s the part that’s probably easiest to translate to a general attendee.

1. Laptop. I’m a terrible note taker and never go back to pen/paper notes. I’m much more likely to follow up something by putting a note in a todo app and using that to know what would be useful to implement in my work. As a result, you won’t find me using a pen and paper to log things during talks.
2. USB-C charger. This can do double-duty for my phone, but I find it’s more convenient to use a wireless charging pad for my phone in my hotel room.
3. An extra USB-C to USB-C cable so I can charge my laptop and phone while only using one outlet at the conference. DCUS tables mercifully have lots of outlets, but not every conference is good about that
4. USB-C to A + HDMI hub so I can use my travel mouse if I need to do serious mouse work. Even Apple’s (admittedly very good) touchpads are a major PITA for me to use, a fact I’m painfully reminded of while trying to type this on my MacBook and getting lots of palm rejection failures.
5. Bluetooth earbuds. I won’t be using them much unless it’s pouring rain and I have to cancel the planned bike rides I have planned for each conference morning, in which case I’ll catch up on a podcast while using the hotel gym.
6. Garmin watch and charger. I could probably get by without even needing to charge during the entire time I’m there, but given how much GPS tracking I do while riding, it’s useful to have the safety blanket
7. Laptop backpack. It holds a ton and is easy for stuffing swag into. The downside is that it’ll sometimes take months for me to find every sticker I jam in there!

Non-tech stuff

1. T-shirts. I am not a formal person. I might bring one polo shirt just in case, but I live in T-shirts 95% of the time and this conference should be no exception. I’ll probably bring about 1.5 shirts for each day to allow for changes between the talks and dinners since I’ll be doing a lot of walking around chasing people as an organizer. The conference center hallway can get a little warm when everyone’s in there, but I don’t remember the ballrooms being particularly warm or cold
2. Shorts. The current forecast has highs in the upper 70s Fahrenheit (mid-to-upper 20s Celsius) and I’m a warm-natured person. I’ll probably bring 3-4 pairs of khaki shorts and another 2-3 pairs of gym shorts.
3. Sunglasses. I live in them.
4. Underwear. Your needs will vary here, for what should be obvious reasons.
5. Toiletries, or my skin care game is absolute trash
   1. Toothbrush/toothpaste/floss
   2. Razor/shaving cream
   3. Hair care
   4. Deodorant
6. Medical stuff, which for me is a CPAP plus distilled water and a little dish soap for cleaning parts
7. Socks
8. Shoes
   1. Sneakers
   2. Strappy sandals
   3. Massaging slides. I know they may look like torture devices, but they’re absolute heaven after a day of soccer or a 2+ hour bike ride.
9. Rain jacket. I plan on doing a bit of walking and the preliminary forecast shows a bit of scattered showers.
10. Refillable water bottle
11. A deck of playing cards just for the hell of it
12. Masks. I still plan on masking in the conference areas themselves because it’s my highest exposure to people from all over the world in the year and I’d rather be balanced about my risk, which is also why I got my updated COVID and flu vaccines on the 5th (about two weeks before traveling).

Snacks/refreshments

1. Snack/granola type bars. I always keep a couple in my bike pack and a couple in my backpack
2. A 12-pack of soft drinks for a hit of caffeine in the afternoon. I’m not a coffee or tea drinker (or any warm beverage generally), so sometimes I just want a little extra caffeine to power through the day
3. Some dried meat products so I can have a little protein before setting off on the 6 AM bike rides (see the link above)

Biking

1. Bikes. Since my bike rack holds two bikes, I might as well bring both my road bike and gravel bike since the American Tobacco Trail has both a paved section and a natural surface section. It’s buttery-smooth, so even if your road bike has 30mm+ tires, you’re probably fine on it.
2. Helmet. I’ve been lucky enough not to take a header in the 4+ years I’ve been riding as an adult, but I’m not taking any chances.
3. Gloves. Riding drop bar bikes means my grips aren’t as padded as on a flat bar bike, so even though most rides won’t be much longer than an hour, I’d rather not get palm blisters.
4. Shoes. I use Shimano pedals because my first road bike came with some old Shimano 105 pedals and Shimano RC3 road shoes since I have absurdly wide feet and they fit me well without having to upsize too badly.
5. Spare parts/tools:
   1. Multitool (hex wrench being the most used)
   2. Chain lube
   3. A spare pair of flat pedals in case of cleat failure
   4. Spare tube for each bike
   5. Tubless sealant for the gravel bike
   6. Tire levers and a frame pump in case of flats on the road
   7. Stand-up pump for inflating before I go
6. Lock in case of riding to get dinner or something
7. Lights and MicroUSB charger. Most of the weekday rides will start before sunrise, so let’s be safe.
8. Sunscreen (not needed for the morning rides)
9. Water pack. I use a lumbar pack because I’ll typically go through about 1.5 liters across a 90 minute ride in the summer and I don’t have enough bottle mounts on my road bike for that much water.
10. 6 sets of clothes: jersey, shorts, and socks. I plan on getting a ride in each day Sunday through Thursday and it can’t hurt to have a spare in case of a surprise outing Sunday or Wednesday evening

Things I thought about bringing but passed on

1. My Sony mirrorless camera and tripod. We have an excellent professional photographer at the conference itself, and my Pixel 7 Pro is honestly good enough for most things. I don’t plan on going anywhere that I would be able to take advantage of the extra zoom or other such niceties from that camera
2. A tablet. My old Pixel Slate’s keyboard is shot, so its main use is TV watching and I won’t have time for that aside from a few minutes of Sunday/Monday Night Football in my hotel room most likely
3. Hiking shoes. If I weren’t making the return trip in two days, I would join the Thursday afternoon hike that’s being organized, but alas.
4. Laundry supplies. Since I’m driving instead of flying, cargo capacity isn’t an issue and I can pack enough clothes rather than having to try to do laundry mid-week.

Wrap-up

What am I missing?