Flights should not be that bad yet- I am driving 5 hours from Philly. Oh yes it is so worth going. My 3 rd year ( my last maybe because of costs) . It has been an interesting time between Mayo and other sights about termioogy - whether you say hearing impaired ( I do) or hearing challenged, etc. folks as a rule are not patient so I would isolate myself. I do interact with folks on the street - saying hi, giving direction, etc bit no real friends. I am moderate to severe hearing loss( born though not correctly diagnosed till 16. The things I learned is the hard work HLAA is doing in loops/ captions, accessible access by docs( text rather than phone calls, ) we have a long way to go still and we must speak up with our docs by ourself/ chapter. We can do subchslyers in homes or coffee shop ( what i will be doing! Because in groups we have a better voice. There are books out here by Bouton (Shout,/Nd other book-very good) El Deafo-an award winning Gralhicnovel and Deaf Sense by Lodge a true novel about a hearing and hearing impaired spouse. I am trying to write a book about my life. Finances are in my way . Go if you can , at least once. Maybe find other folks from your area. I learned so much. One main thing is that I ambit really alone ; others like me and Thst is important in itself.