Why I’m Not Probably Not Going to the Renaissance Festival This Year

Hi everyone! It’s that time of the year when I used to go to the Arizona Renaissance Festival. I used to really enjoy going and would have a fun time eating, watching the shows, and photographing what I saw there.

During these years, things changed in my life and I began to favor other priorities. Some of them include my health, work, taking care of my relatives, and more. I already was prioritizing them, but I was still able to attend the fair at the same time. I was also able to attend pop culture conventions as well.

Ever since 2016, things in my life have really began to shift. Some of the things that happend was one of my relatives passed away, discoveries about my health problems became answers I was looking for, and renewed need to moving away from the area where I currently live due to health problems. Because of these life changes, I began to pull back on doing “fun” things. Attending the Arizona Renaissance Festival is one of them.

This year, I feel the urge to get outside my comfort zone and start trying to do fun things. Yet, I really don’t feel like doing everything I used to do anymore.

At first, I wondered if my feelings are associated with depression. After all, I went through a very serious and trying time in my life with the loss of a relative and health problems. Yet, I couldn’t say it really was depression. That’s when I realized there were things that changed in my life: My expectations and my understanding of my allergies.

The Arizona Renaissance Festival has a lot of food options, and they taste really good! Sadly, for the past five to six years I’ve been struggling to figure out what kinds of food allergies I have. Going to the festival, traveling, or eating out in general has become a major struggle as I learned what my food allergies are and how serious my allergies are to them. I really don’t want to go somewhere to have fun, eat some good food, and then suffer from an allergic reaction. So, I decided to avoid the festival until I understood my allergies better.

Although the festival does make accommodations for people with food allergies, I knew there were food allergies I didn’t know I have. This is even more of a drive to stay home and work on figuring out what my food allergies are.

The thing is, food allergies isn’t the only problem. I can go for a walk in a park and not have a problem with my food allergies. I can go for hikes and pack my own food without my allergens in them. So, why do I want to stay home? Is it my vehicle, which I’ve had problems with since 2021? Is it the money it costs to buy a ticket or other things for an event? Or is it something else?

The more I thought about going places and doing things, the more I began to say to myself “Actually, I don’t want to go because the traffic is so horrible” or “I didn’t really have that much fun there last year”. This isn’t confined to the Renaissance Festival, which became even more popular as people began to move into Arizona. It was everywhere. I felt off going to my old favorite places. To the mall. To a parade in my town. Just walking up and down Main Street in my town has become an experience I do not want to have “for fun”.

To be honest, things in the area where I live have changed. People change. Events change. And my own expectations change too. This is why I felt different about traveling and doing certain things. I now expect (And need) something different from the places I go than I used to. This is why I prefer to stay home instead of going somewhere I used to enjoy.

This year, I’m not planning on going to the Arizona Renaissance Festival unless I go with friends. (They’re normally busy with an inconsistent schedule so a trip with them will be pretty spontaneous) Despite this, I am looking for things to get myself out of my house that will allow me to bring my own food and are closer to where I live. I’m disappointed I won’t be going this year, but then again I know I wouldn’t enjoy it as much alone… or constantly worrying about food allergies.

 

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!