Traveling to WWDC 2012

When prepping for my travel to and from San Francisco I made some very important decisions that cost me a little more upfront but totally worth it to make my flight out much more enjoyable. Last time I went to the WWDC, my then employer, made all the travel arrangements and I had to fly to Utah, have a two hour layover and then puddle jump over SFO. I vowed that no matter what it would cost I would take a direct flight next time. Traveling domestically in the US is a pain the ass so getting on and off plans and hanging around airports as less possibly is ideal. Even with the two hour travel from Chattanooga to Atlanta was worth it just to have a direct flight. There are plenty of car and shuttle services that run between the Scenic City and Atlanta that are reasonably priced. The MegaBus even offers decent wifi. I opted for a private car. I had to leave by 5am to give myself plenty of travel and security time. The second amenity that I opted in for was paying for Gogoair wifi. It was 12 bucks for a 24 hour pass (I got one for going out and returning….I am writing this blog at 40k feet). All in all I’m pretty satisfied with the service. It was spotted at times, but what do you expect being on a plane. Lastly, I called the hotel I am staying at to check on which Bart station I should get off on walk to the hotel. I prefer to stay about a mile away from Moscone for a few reasons. Mainly I enjoy walking around San Francisco in the morning time, but also there are lots of activities surrounding the conference and sometimes I just need a break to decompress.

The only real downside to traveling thus far has been the plane and traveling from the SFO and the hotel. I attempted, for the first hour or so, to work on a project, but there just isn’t a lot of room to maneuver my arms due to the tight quarters and because of the graphics and compiling that I am dealing with my battery ran low without a charger. Taking the BART is by far the cheapest mode of transportation, but one of the trains was running 15 minutes behind schedule on top of an already 30 – 35 minute ride to my station. Depending on how long you have been traveling it might be worth taking a taxi, but it is much more expensive.

All the amenities, retail and nutrition are within a 10 minute walk…which is probably true for most hotels near Mascone.

Though I have been going since 4:45a.m. EST it has been a great travel experience and I can’t wait for the festivities to kick off tomorrow.