Your low-impact Dragon Con 2013 packing guide

So, you've secured a place to crash and possibly even preregistered for Dragon Con 2013. What now?

A serious amount of thought into packing, that's what. Maybe you're one of those folks that has the cash to pay $80 to $100 for parking at some fancy downtown Atlanta hotel. The rest of us get the cheapest parking we can and huff it to wherever we're staying.

We don't care what Neil Gaiman says. Time Lords cannot regenerate into cats.

That means you want to get as much of your junk into the least number of suitcases, or trash bags if you go the Angelina "Jersey Shore" route. We prefer suitcases. It'll be a lot easier when you're parking at some Marta station and taking a train in. Trust us.

Get your biggest suitcase, one with wheels, preferably. Clothes on one side, food on the other. You'll buy some food while at Dcon, but not every meal. Bring some bread, jelly, whatever. Bring mac and cheese, if your place has a kitchen.

We recommend toting in your food and avoiding the dreaded food court for the most part. Get some Tupperware that will fit in your suitcase. Put anything that'll get squashed in there. Your Pringles are OK next to the clothes. The Wonder Bread ... not so much.

You won't need as many clothes as you think you do. This is pretty much just like vacation. You always bring too many T-shirts. You're going to be there for four or so days, and you know you're only going to wear one pair of jeans the whole time. Don't lie to us.

Once the suitcase is filled, think about your backpack. You'll likely carry your backpack as you wander the con, filling it with random swag or books and the smaller games you buy.

Fill it with the stuff you want handy at a moments notice. Maybe your checkbook. People still use those, right? Stick the toiletries in there because you'd already filled up the suitcase. You probably have some pain medication tucked away as well. We know.

The, hopefully, final item you'll be bringing is a garment bag. This is really for those who intend to wear a costume at some point. There's fancy clothes you want looking nice, and you don't want them all crumpled in your suitcase. Solution: garment bag. Stuff a few things in there you know you'll need later, or that didn't make the suitcase/backpack cut.

That's it. Now for a quick list of things you'll likely need and wish you had brought:

Scissors
Duct tape
Emergen-c (it's all about prevention, people)
Booze (you don't want to pay con prices)
A hand-truck (load your junk on it, wheel it to the hotel)
Aspirin
Cash (Have you seen the fees these ATMs charge?)

That's about it for now. Check back for more essential information. Or don't. We still get paid.