LTX '23 Out-of-country visitors

[astrazoa]

Hey all, I'm planning to travel solo from Florida to attend and figured I'd make a thread for all the other out-of country attendees! 

 

Hopefully this thread can be used for other international travelers to help plan to meet up or for our Canadian friends if they wanna meet up or give us advice on what to do in Vancouver. 

 

I personally am traveling solo for this expo at the moment so I'd love to have other folks to meet up and hang out with!

[theRadFazzle]

Hello! I'm really hoping to make it to LTX this year from Seattle (long journey, I know). I would definitely be interest in meeting up with some of you good folks. I've been to Vancouver a handful of times but not enough to have good recommendations for where to stay, where to eat, etc.

[iEimis]

Hi! I am thinking about potentially making the trip from UK as well, solo as it stands so dropping my name here too.

[dizmo]

Maybe you could make a Discord, and ask to have this pinned to the top? Then everyone would have a way to communicate a lot more easily.

I'd also suggest that anyone who's coming, make sure you're eligible for entry into Canada before you do any planning.

 

Welcome to the forum

[theRadFazzle]

My Discord info is theRadFazzle #2052. If someone wants to start up a convo on there I'm totally there.

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

On 1/5/2023 at 1:08 PM, dizmo said:

Maybe you could make a Discord, and ask to have this pinned to the top? Then everyone would have a way to communicate a lot more easily.

I'd also suggest that anyone who's coming, make sure you're eligible for entry into Canada before you do any planning.

 

Welcome to the forum

Easy enough to check:

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1056&top=16

 

But yeah, I think I'm going to skip until I'm living in Europe again, flying to Vancouver from Japan is a surprisingly expensive and long flight.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, ImorallySourcedElectrons said:

Easy enough to check:

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1056&top=16

 

But yeah, I think I'm going to skip until I'm living in Europe again, flying to Vancouver from Japan is a surprisingly expensive and long flight.

It's not just visas. US citizens don't need a visa, however things like having a DUI conviction will make you inadmissible. 

[Livin]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:47 PM, astrazoa said:

Hey all, I'm planning to travel solo from Florida to attend and figured I'd make a thread for all the other out-of country attendees! 

 

Hopefully this thread can be used for other international travelers to help plan to meet up or for our Canadian friends if they wanna meet up or give us advice on what to do in Vancouver. 

 

I personally am traveling solo for this expo at the moment so I'd love to have other folks to meet up and hang out with!

There's another thread where I posted some general travel tips (in and around Vancouver) as well as places to eat, things to do, etc.  Feel free to check it out here:
 

 

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

On 1/8/2023 at 2:48 PM, dizmo said:

It's not just visas. US citizens don't need a visa, however things like having a DUI conviction will make you inadmissible. 

Hence why I linked the official government website that goes into excruciating detail once you go through the quick select menu.

[SirobLeRoi]

On 1/8/2023 at 3:48 AM, theRadFazzle said:

My Discord info is theRadFazzle #2052. If someone wants to start up a convo on there I'm totally there.

I am travelling from the UK, tried to add on discord but no luck. Let me know if you are still thinking of going. We have flights booked

[RoyalSpud]

Hi guys! I'm travelling in from The Netherlands. It would be awesome to attend the BYOC LAN but obviously I can't bring my entire setup on the plane. Unfortunately I don't have a spare gaming laptop lying around and I'd like to avoid spending another 2 grand just for 1 LAN party. I do have a work laptop but without Thunderbolt 3. That rules uit eGPU's. Do you guys have any ideas? Thanks!

[Thesp33dy905]

On 1/31/2023 at 4:36 PM, RoyalSpud said:

Hi guys! I'm travelling in from The Netherlands. It would be awesome to attend the BYOC LAN but obviously I can't bring my entire setup on the plane. Unfortunately I don't have a spare gaming laptop lying around and I'd like to avoid spending another 2 grand just for 1 LAN party. I do have a work laptop but without Thunderbolt 3. That rules uit eGPU's. Do you guys have any ideas? Thanks!

well,  you could grab yourself a steam deck, but that's if you have some spare moolah. that's what i plan to do on the byoc lan party anyway.

[RoyalSpud]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:17 PM, Thesp33dy905 said:

well,  you could grab yourself a steam deck, but that's if you have some spare moolah. that's what i plan to do on the byoc lan party anyway.

I've thought about that. I'm hesitant to go that route since I've only ever played games with keyboard + mouse and can't play with a controller to save my life

[tbeau123]

@royalspud. we have a bunch of low end games we're bringing preloaded on flash drives to pass around at the lan party. most of the games run on hardware from like 20 years ago but are still awesome games.

[Chock-RJ]

On 1/27/2023 at 8:49 PM, SirobLeRoi said:

I am travelling from the UK, tried to add on discord but no luck. Let me know if you are still thinking of going. We have flights booked

I'm also coming from the UK, looking at booking flight right now, probably flying from LGW, wbu?

[Esemes16]

On 2/4/2023 at 11:19 AM, RoyalSpud said:

I've thought about that. I'm hesitant to go that route since I've only ever played games with keyboard + mouse and can't play with a controller to save my life

I'm going this route, I am just going to buy a USB hub to plug a mouse, keyboard, and ethernet cable into. I'm debating on a portable monitor as well.

[LisaMiza]

Gonna jump on this thread too

Joining from Denmark, on the thursday before, and leaving the monday after to get back to work Wednesday - It's gonna be a sleep deprived nightmare, but hopefully a fun one!

 

I've been looking for a place to stay on the cheap, and do need something for myself as much as possible. But waow hotels are expensive, even outside of Downtown. There was some alrightish "hotel", but saw that it's in the area @Livin thread was about, so, thank you for the warning

 

Has anyone like a listicle or better for red flags for AirBnB's? Never used anything like it before.

[AnomalyDesign]

17 hours ago, LisaMiza said:

Gonna jump on this thread too

Joining from Denmark, on the thursday before, and leaving the monday after to get back to work Wednesday - It's gonna be a sleep deprived nightmare, but hopefully a fun one!

 

I've been looking for a place to stay on the cheap, and do need something for myself as much as possible. But waow hotels are expensive, even outside of Downtown. There was some alrightish "hotel", but saw that it's in the area @Livin thread was about, so, thank you for the warning

 

Has anyone like a listicle or better for red flags for AirBnB's? Never used anything like it before.

The biggest thing to look out for with airbnb is "hosts" canceling on you at the last second. Richmond BC is a great option to stay (walkable, safe, GREAT restaurants, and the sky train runs every 6 minutes or so to the convention center) but the vast majority of affordable Airbnb rentals there are from a handful of real estate developers who at the time of check in will move you to a completely different property, or cancel outright with made up excuses, especially water leaks.

 

There are some affordable hotel options in that area though. River Rock Resort/Casino is not the cheapest, but the hotel directly connects to a skytrain station that takes you to the waterfront every 3 minutes or directly to/from the airport terminals every 6 with no transfers needed.

 

Edit: that hotel is also right next to the Richmond Night Market, well worth visiting on the Friday night: https://richmondnightmarket.com

[LisaMiza]

4 minutes ago, AnomalyDesign said:

"hosts" canceling on you at the last second

Oof.. Are there no repercussions for them? Not signed up yet so i'm hoping there's at least a chat so I can see if they care before booking..

I've been looking at Coquitlam, am fine with the hour transit, but did see quite a bit in RBC too, so I'll have a look there again (especially since you say it's safe and walkable (I wonder if that's connected /j))

 

Honestly, 2k dkk extra (US$250) could be worth it if it means less chance of getting dumped last second

[LienusLateTips]

On 4/22/2023 at 10:20 AM, LisaMiza said:

Oof.. Are there no repercussions for them? Not signed up yet so i'm hoping there's at least a chat so I can see if they care before booking..

I've been looking at Coquitlam, am fine with the hour transit, but did see quite a bit in RBC too, so I'll have a look there again (especially since you say it's safe and walkable (I wonder if that's connected /j))

 

Honestly, 2k dkk extra (US$250) could be worth it if it means less chance of getting dumped last second

If you're in Coquitlam make sure to book next to the metro. Hills are steep and you really don't want to be walking too far.

 

With the metro it's long ride but only one transfer (M -> E), and the E Line will bring you in front of LTX.

[LisaMiza]

4 hours ago, LienusLateTips said:

If you're in Coquitlam make sure to book next to the metro. Hills are steep and you really don't want to be walking too far.

 

With the metro it's long ride but only one transfer (M -> E), and the E Line will bring you in front of LTX.

I ended up going for a hotel pretty much in the backyard of the airport. Will need to walk a few blocks, or take the bus, to get to the skytrain, but that's fine. It was like 1k for 4 nights. Not a fantastic price, but means I don't have to both go to the Americas alone for the first time and deal with sketchy motel or AirBnB that could dump me.

[LienusLateTips]

12 hours ago, LisaMiza said:

I ended up going for a hotel pretty much in the backyard of the airport. Will need to walk a few blocks, or take the bus, to get to the skytrain, but that's fine. It was like 1k for 4 nights. Not a fantastic price, but means I don't have to both go to the Americas alone for the first time and deal with sketchy motel or AirBnB that could dump me.

If you don't mind me asking, which did you book?

[LisaMiza]

17 hours ago, LienusLateTips said:

If you don't mind me asking, which did you book?

Accent Inns I think from looking at the map

[sodapone]

On 5/1/2023 at 10:45 AM, LisaMiza said:

Accent Inns I think from looking at the map

Looking at Google Maps--it seems nice, but you'll need to catch one or more buses to reach Bridgeport Station. Some of the suggested routes from Google seem like they'd involve a lot of walking through not-pedestrian-friendly areas, too. I'd recommend catching a cab from your hotel to Bridgeport Station, and then riding the Canada Line all the way down to Waterfront.

[RedstoneRelic]

If anyone wants to fly into either Portland OR or Seattle WA, I'll be taking the Amtrak Cascades train into Vancouver.