As I am writing this, I am on a bus to Romania, a bus that goes through Vienna and a few other countries first, before heading towards my home, which makes the whole ride somewhere around 18 hours, a thing that gives me enough time to think about everything that happened in Krakow, at SteemFest3, this past week. I met a bunch of fucking people in these few days, I’ve had a shitload of great experiences, and genuine conversations with people so, now, that I have to leave, I kinda feel a bit sad. Sad but, also very happy because this last week made me not just understand at a rational level but to deeply realize the fact that against all the so-called bad stuff that are happening on this platform, we’re still a community, a strong, engaged, and simply fucking amazing community.

We might have a lot of issues on the blockchain, the prices might be completely horrible, some things might still be rigged but, against all that, we can still meet together, in one place, and have a great time together. For me, SteemFest was not a place to “network,” to do business but, to meet a bunch of existing friends, to make a lot more new ones, and just to have an amazing time with all of them. When I went to SteemFest, I didn’t know what to expect; I was hoping to have a lot of fun, but, I ended up getting a lot more than I was ever expecting. Some people were there only for the business aspect of SF, and that’s perfectly fine, kudos to them for making epic projects; I had my fair share of networking as well but, my main goal was to have fun the whole time, and that’s exactly what I did.

I can’t believe that I was considering not attending at some point due to financial reasons and this bloody market but, I am so thankful that I got a free ticket from @smooth because, thanks to that, I probably had the time of my life.

At this moment I don’t give a fuck about that metaphor that Steem might be another Myspace, I don’t give a damn about this shitty market, and the low rewards that we’re getting due to it since, regardless of what happens, I know for sure that we have a community here, and that’s probably the most important thing for a social platform. I will never be able to explain SteemFest to somebody that never attended it, not through stories, not through pictures, not to clips, it’s one of those things that you can only understand by experiencing it, and I’m forever thankful that I attended.

I remember that for the whole week I was saying “God, I love Poland” and “Gotta love Poland” but, what I really meant to say is that I love SteemFest, and more especially the people that attended SteemFest. I am a bit sad that it’s over, I hate breakups, they are never easy but, I suppose that this is just the circle of life; you meet people, you have fun, then you leave, and you meet other people. Maybe you will meet those people again; maybe you will not but, the only thing you can do is to hope and look forward towards the next year, towards the next SteemFest!

This post is becoming a bit melancholic so, I’ll just say thank you to everybody that attended SteemFest, thank you to everybody that decided to have a genuine conversation with me, and more importantly, thank you for making me feel like I am part of something bigger, part of a community family. Also, special thanks to @roelandp, and his team for organizing such a brilliant event, it was just perfect.

You are all amazing, you know who you are, way too many names to drop in here, and I’m really looking forward to meeting you again next year, and hopefully even sooner.

I love you all and don’t forget, don’t fucking die!

P.S: I feel a bit like a soy boy for writing such a dramatic post.

P.S.2: At the moment of publishing this, I have about 14 hours left before I get home but, at least I took the best seats in the whole bus, and I have free wifi, and electricity.

_{Thumbnail picture by @timsaid}