The roads I take...

So, I have been asked a number of times already if I will be at FOSDEM in a little less than two weeks, some even took that for granted, given that I've been there every time since we've had a Mozilla room there - and some people were shocked to hear me saying I won't be there this year.

So, to not needing to explain it in detail to everyone out there, here is why:

Unfortunately, a good friend's 30-year birthday party and the Super Bowl with the first time "my" team (New Orleans Saints) playing in that game (I somehow felt all along that it would happen this time) are the two reasons I already told publicly, but there's more behind it:
At the time when I needed to make the call if I go, I felt very tense and knew I need to get less busy and more rested while still more productive, while the conference does not serve any of that, unfortunately. While meeting all those people and discussing is surely a positive experience by itself, it usually doesn't make me more relaxed and I already felt that with the reduced amount of invitations, the SeaMonkey crowd would significantly decrease and I could get more work for us done when I'm not there.
I'm feeling better right now and can get some things done at the moment, but I still think the decision was for the best, even if it also has its downsides.

I hope there will be other possibilities to meet up with a number of Mozilla people this year (e.g. I heard rumors of another Summit and I'm sure there will be other events in Europe as well), so I hope things work out alright. And next year, I might make it to FOSDEM again as well.