When I found out that Hivefest would be hosted in Croatia, I knew @lordbutterfly's fingerprints would be all over it. My hunch proved to be correct as the fine gentleman was part of the organisers and that was extra motivation for me to attend.
Another motivation to attend Hivefest this year is the fact that just like last year, the event falls on my birthday. Well, technically, only the last day of the event is on my birthday but that still counts.
I have done some preliminary checks about how much it will cost to fly there but the real issue won't be flight fare.
I don't know the regulatory requirements I will have to fulfil before I make the trip. First of all, I'll have to book time off work and considering it's all the way down in September, I will probably get approval. By that point, I reckon I would have gotten a firm grip on my job and a couple days away will not matter.
The real issue is the visa requirement. Being in the UK makes the flight cheaper but I still have a Nigerian passport, so that will be the real issue. I haven't checked to know if there are any visa restrictions that typically come with having this green passport but eventually, I will.
There's a Croatian embassy in London and while that's only 4 hours away, it poses yet another financial burden on me. So, despite being a cheap flight, the real problem lies in whether my visa gets approved. Now I don't know how much the visa fee will be but I reckon it will be substantially higher than the flight and frankly speaking, spending hundreds of pounds on an uncertainty is a risk that might be too much for me.
I will do some digging and come back with my findings. For now, assume I am working towards attending Hivefest this year and meeting up with all the amazing people who have been a part of my journey.
For the past three years, I have been hearing about hivefest and really hope someday I will be able to actually attend. Though still looking forward to that day