ASM 2023

Well, I'm back again with another post-event writeup. This year, I decided to make the plunge and trek Down Under™ to ASM and added in a bunch of sightseeing along the way. Without a doubt, it was one of the coolest and most fun weeks I have had in quite a long time. Between seeing some of the coolest things Australia has to offer, seeing some old friends for the first time in ages, and meeting a ton of new people, this is definitely one of my all-time favorite adventures.

Before the event, I took some time to wander around Sydney to see the Harbor Bridge, Opera House, and other assorted cool things. Big shoutouts to Nase for meeting up with me and giving me a tour of the city - I almost certainly would not have seen as much as I did if I was just going at it alone. After Sydney, I went up to Cairns and did some snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, which was quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever done. The views were breathtaking and even after being out there swimming for 3 hours, I wanted to keep going to see more.

After the classic tourist stuff came ASM itself, and holy moly what an event. I'm so glad I got the chance to meet so many people for the first time and to see some old friends for the first time in ages. I had only met 4-5 people here at prior events over the years, a handful I had known for a long time but never met, and others still I had never met or heard of. Hanging out with all of you throughout the week was an absolute blast and I'm really glad to have made so many new friends.

I was fortunate enough to do 2 runs throughout the week and commentary on a 3rd. Pac-Man World was pretty standard (sorry Rex for not letting you say anything lol), and I'm really happy that Omega Boost went well. I didn't have much time to prep Hard Mode for the event and I'm really glad I was able to pull off a deathless run live. I had only done that 1 time prior, including in practice, so I can't ask for much better than that. Commentary for Crash 2 was a ton of fun, and the run itself was truly legendary, featuring one of the Diggin' Its of all time.

Shoutouts to everyone for being extremely welcoming all week and in general making the experience so memorable. I can't thank everyone specifically, but there are a handful of people I want to shout out in particular:

Nase: Thanks again for taking the time to show me around Sydney and for organizing a bunch of group activities - karaoke in particular. That was one of my favorite nights of the event and I'm really glad I decided to join. 70s and 80s music goes especially hard with 40 people singing along. Hopefully I can return the favor someday by showing you around Buffalo.

Mart/Dact: Fellas, it had been way too long since we first (and last) met - 6.5 years to be exact - and I'm super glad we were able to catch up again. Even though a lot has changed in that time, I don't think we missed a beat and it was a pleasure chilling with you guys once again. Hopefully it's not nearly that long until the next time we hang lol

Rab: One of the people I was looking forward to meeting the most. So glad I finally got to meet you after all these years! I will forever cherish the fact that I was the first speednerd to meet you IRL. I'm glad we hung out as much as we did last week and I really hope to see you again at a future event.

The rest of the Nivea™ Gang Gang: I've been hanging around with you guys on Discord a little bit over the past few years but didn't know most of you particularly well. Thanks for welcoming me into the fold and overall being a great group of people to hang out with, whether it be at a bar, chilling in the practice room, or being terrible at cricket (Sidenote: next time, I will learn to play properly lol). Y'all are definitely friends for life and I'll definitely be around more often from now on :)

Finally, I have to give super special shoutouts to my fellow Kururin squad pals. I ended up hanging with you guys more than anyone else at the event, and grinding those ILs (well, mostly just one lol) was incredibly addicting and easily one of the most fun activities I've been a part of at any event.

Dan: Really happy we got to meet finally and really happy we were able to chat so much throughout the week about a ton of stuff. Thanks for helping me on Omega Boost commentary and thanks for Kururin-pilling all of us - here's to the legendary 4-way race at a future ASM :)

Damo: We honestly hadn't chatted all that much prior to ASM but I'm really happy we ended up hanging out so much during the week. Congrats on your (soon to be short-lived) reign on top, I'm coming for it when my copy eventually arrives B)

Werster: Extremely happy I got the chance to meet and hang with you. Your stream was the first one I ever watched on Twitch and I'm really happy we hit it off and ended up chatting so much during the week. Can't wait to see ya again next time I'm back in Australia :)

To everyone else I spent time with last week, thanks for making my first trip to Australia such a memorable one. This was the hardest event for me to leave since my very first one (AGDQ '17) because of how awesome you all were and how fun the week was. As I was planning this trip, I told myself that this would definitely be a one-off thing and I would almost certainly never make it back down there again. After last week, though, I can say without hesitation that I will be back someday. It probably won't be next year, but y'all will see me again at ASM one day, mark my words. Until then, keep going fast, keep driving on the wrong side of the road, and always zigzag more.

PacAttack <3

-Joe