The REAL expense of Gatherings

[Gunny]

Sitting here musing about all the fun I had during the recent MR3/C4 Gathering and also looking at the damage to my credit card. Actually, I had enough travel points on one card to pay my hotel expenses so my out-of-pocket expenses were primarily food & fuel ... and since I was on a restricted diet for the whole trip my food/drink costs were quite a bit less than normal (and a big thanks to all of you pretending to be sympathetic that I couldn't have a cold one). So the week long vacation was financially quite reasonable ... or was it?

I'm now adding up the costs of several mods I would like to do on the 90 and that's a big ouch. I've also analyzed my photos and determined that I could improve the pics a lot if I picked up some newer, more advanced camera gear. After adding up the wish list I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I can't afford to continue traveling to these events ... nah, I'll keep on going since I would certainly miss seeing everyone each year.

So ... was your trip this year affordable? or are you also having to add up the hidden costs?