Contrary to Alice, I found it easier to attend before I retired. I attended my IOLI conventions in my 40s, then took a very early retirement at 52 and haven't attended since. Looking back, I think the reasons for the difference were: 1. Because the IOLI conventions are held in 5 star hotels, they're expensive. Pre-retirement I had a lot more money than I do now.
Since I never worked full time at all (I was - unwillingly - "retired" at 23, when I came to this country and married), my own financial situation (and availability - or not - of distant lace gatherings) followed a different path altogether. Until '99 I was totally dependent on "pin money" doled out to me by DH. Which was generous by any standards, but which always carried the "gift" stigma, so I didn't spend it easily.
I began to learn lacemaking in '89, when I was 40. Attended my first workshop (in Denver, but I stayed with my stepdaughter in Boulder and got a ride in, daily) in '93 or '94. Attended my second workshop 4 yrs later (Arachne '98, Nottingham, UK). Attended my third one (Ithaca) in '97. My first IOLI Convention was in Bethesda, 1999, and thought it would be the only one, as my reaction to it was "mixed" (to be charitable)
Then, within a few months, my financial situation changed; following the death of my second parent and the closing of the "estate", I came into a "nest egg" - money of my own, which DH insisted shoud *stay* my own, and which I invested. Followed the - mind-bogglingly wonderful - experience of Toender Festival (Denmark) in May of '01, financed by the *interest* on the "nest egg" :) And Colgan's Milanese workshop - very rewarding - in California (October '01). I spent my money "otherwise" (less selfishly <g>) in '02 but, in '03, I was back at it again: IOLI Convention (Hasbrouck Heights) in the summer and Ithaca in the autumn.
By then, Mr B having sent our dollar a-plummeting, I was no longer living off the fat (interest), but dipping into capital. Still, I enjoyed it, if not quite as much as being a "rich capitalist" :) I went back to CA in March (for a Suchanekwire class and a visit with DS), then to my - one and only, I think - OIDFA Congress (Prague. "trimmed edition", because of rotten dollar) in the summer of '04; figured it was my one chance, and the Czech Republic being next door to Poland (and whatever family I still have left) I could kill two birds with one stone. That same year, but in October, I went back to Ithaca; however rotten the dollar was on the international scene, it still held within US.
By '05, the repercussions of the bad fiscal politics at the top have come home... The income from my invested "nest egg" has gone from $2000+ to around $200 (of course, there's a bit less money in the egg, but not much less), while the books, threads, and plane tickets have gone up correspondingly. Unfortunately, by now, I sort-of got the hang of choosing the right course for me, and am on the way to being addicted to attending lace events (though my impulse-spending instincts need Viagra; I have most of what I need, and with access to so much long-distance buying...) So, this year, I'll be going to the CRLG Lace Day (but driving and dossing with a friend), then to CA (Cathy and I need to discuss he future of Rosalibre <g>), then to the IOLI Convention/Denver (If I get the classes I want). And then I'll pause. Probably will not go to Ithaca this year. Hope to go to IOLI/Montreal next year as the last gasp but, after that, I'll hunker down, and wait for the aftereffects of the Bush-endendered misery to die down. If they don't, I'll just follow Voltaire and "tend to my own garden" at home :)
Bev; I think, in addition to finances one needs to figure in personal obligations. Or, perhaps, the two are one in some instances. At 20, you don't have much money, but whatever you have is your own, and you have plenty of free time between the last and the fist semester at the U. At 30, you have neither the time nor the money - it's all directed at your family. At 40, you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel; the money is still scarce (the kids will need to be sent to school) but the time prospect is a bit better - the kids can, by now, wipe their own bottoms, so you can take offf for a week and no harm done. At 50, you have plenty of time, with the kids gone to college, but you're skint, since most of your resources go with them. Around 60 you begin to surface with both time and money to spare - the kids are gone *and* independent (hopefully)... Which is when most people start looking for hobbies, travelling, etc.
I've only been to 2 IOLI Conventions and one OIDFA one but, although I saw people of all ages at both, most had as many "threads" on their faces as on their pillows... :)
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Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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