### Hello Hello Hello!
First things first! I want to thank @anomadsoul for inspiring us to write in the weeks previous to HiveFest, as he always does. By the way, he was once "the crazy mexican guy that is hitchhiking here". That's what I thought during HiveFest 2 in Lisbon ๐
### HiveFest 1
I missed the first HiveFest in Amsterdam. I was already a regular user but was not motivated enough to participate. Today, I know it was a huge mistake.
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### HiveFest 2
The second Fest was in Lisbon, and since I'm a portuguese living in Portugal... I gave it a try. AND IT WAS GREAT! I didn't know what to expect but I'm sure it was better than I expected. I knew the places, I knew the food, but everything was so well organized, I loved it!
Unfortunately, I missed the last day because I had to attend another event in Barcelona. Hiveians were partying like crazy and I had to go to bed and try to sleep 3 or 4 hours before my flight... ๐
Check [THIS POST](https://peakd.com/hwyd/@rmach/6bfreo-thursday-at-steemfest-knowing-steemians-learning-and-having-fun) for more photos!
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### HiveFest 3
I usually have a busy schedule in November and was kinda worried because I didn't want to leave an event before its very end like in the previous year! I was lucky! I actually had to go to Salzburg for a few days but flew right to Krรกkow to participate in the superb HiveFest 3.
Here is my post announcing [I'M GOING TO ...FEST 3!](https://ecency.com/post/@rmach/i-m-going-to-steemfest-3)
What can I say? First of all... it was cold! But I didn't mind because Hiveians always warm up the environment. The venues were great, the presentations were interesting and the social moments were really fun. And to prove we're not just a bunch of young naive party people trying to misbehave away from home, some of us used some of our free time to visit Auschwitz. As I once said: it's not for everyone but everyone should experience it.
This was the HiveFest where I met most people. We were many and the event was rich in social gatherings.
<center><sub>@roelandp and the portuguese participants @rmach, @tixinhacapitinha, @prc and @liliana.duarte</sub></center>
<center><sub>@sorin.cristescu delivering an interesting talk</sub></center>
Top moment? **Gotta be that freakin' dinner in the salt mine!**
Take a look at this short post about the Wieliczka Salt Mine: [Random information #45 - The Wieliczka Salt Mine](https://ecency.com/post/@rmach/random-information-45-the-wieliczka-salt-mine).
And please please please don't miss this video by @for91days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uulA96YhX60
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### HiveFest 4
Secretly I always hope the next location is far away so that I can meet different places and cultures. But actually... I was too busy with work, had travelled to Milan for a conference, and had recently arrived from 2 weeks in Japan. I thought... "I could use a nearby HiveFest this year, otherwise, I'm not coming." And then the most awaited e-mail of the year came and the location was... Bangkok, Thailand ๐ต
Obviously, I went anyway. ๐คทโโ And that was the right call!
Exactly what I was craving! Different culture, new people, new horizons. The Fest was awesome as always with a perfect mix of conferences, visits and fun. Hiveians that already knew the place started to organize some extra days in the islands and I was one of the smart ones to embrace the idea.
Bangkok is one of those cities that never sleeps. It's interesting, intriguing, full of contrasts, welcoming and historically and culturally rich. I enjoyed sharing the speedboats with fellow Hiveians that were also going to the conference venues. And what about the Tuk Tuks?! After trying the original Tuk-Tuks in Bangkok, you're never going to respect fake ones anywhere else.
Well... one of the goals of this kind of post is to create FOMO, so we need photos. Get ready!
<center><sub>@stoodkev, @anomadsoul and myself.</sub></center>
Yep, this last photo was our final dinner on a cruise.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rmach/hzftpixi
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rmach/prcpilqw
Not only Bangkok was a blast, but also Koh Chang was paradise.
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### HiveFests 5 and 6
Useful to test a different format. The VR events worked well enough for me. I liked it a lot and think it's a good alternative when IRL is not possible. The conferences were particularly relevant because so many things were happening behind the scenes, it was hard to keep up. We, users, sometimes imagine devs at home working like crazy and with lockdowns happening around the world I guess they had even more time to do their geeky stuff ๐ The truth is that many projects and ideas started flourishing and making our Hive ecosystem even stronger.
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### HiveFest 7
**Hotel**: booked!
**Flights**: not yet because there's a chance I go to another place first. To be confirmed.
**Ticket**: not yet because for the first time I'll use Hive to pay for it. Gotta wait for the power down. Going to HiveFest is one the most natural, acceptable, and understandable reason for one to power down but it still hurts my soul!
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### For those who never went to a HiveFest and need to be convinced...
- First of all, you only need to be convinced because you never experienced the top-quality organization skills by @roelandp. I'd book him to organize my funeral!
- You'll get access to brand new information about your favourite projects.
- You'll enjoy interesting and entertaining talks and presentations (I don't care if you are a regular user, professional blogger, developer, gamer, mega-blockchain-geek-wizard... there will be something for you.)
- You'll meet people you've seen online, people whose content you like, and other users you've interacted with.
- And you'll meet people you don't know existed, take a photo of their badge or use a super cool app for that et voilร ... you're now following each other.
- You'll probably eat a lot of delicious food...
- and have fun at social side events... I must highlight the #beersaturday night organized by @detlev ๐ป
- or just randomly with a group of Hiveians.
- You'll be in Amsterdam! That should be enough to have a good time.
I can't promise to keep the tradition to bring Portuguese wine for the opening drinks ceremony because, as I mentioned before, there's a chance I'll go somewhere first for some time and only then fly to Amsterdam. Logistics...
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Cheers!
RMach
hiveblocks