How to go to Providence

[Service announcement: This article is in English and will be updated from time to time. Think of it as a list. If you happen to have suggestions what to visit in New York City or New England, please share them in the comments or via mail!]

After our Moroccan Adventures (which were far less literary than might be assumed from the third part of my travelogue, though still quite intellectual due to the company I was traveling in), of course the question arose: What’s next?

Ever since I met the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft – which might have been around 2005, at least that’s the publication date of my oldest collectibles I didn’t buy pre-loved – I have been fascinated by his mythos, including his geo-mythology. From 2012 to about 2018 I published the blog „Cyclopean Citadels“ about all things cthuloid and Lovecraftian, I’m a member of Deutsche Lovecraft Gesellschaft and the Historical Society, and I spent several months of „real“ time in the „Call of Cthulhu“ RPG setting. I even translated a (now lost) Lovecraftian game app to German, „The Wasted Land“.

I’ll be Providence!

So to say I’d always wanted to visit the hometown of the man who proclaimed „I AM PROVIDENCE“ might be a bit of an understatement. But honestly, I never thought that to be more than a dream (or something for my 70+ retirement phase). Too expensive, too far away, too … daring. Prior to Morocco, I hadn’t boarded a plane in a decade. (I am quite angst driven, not only in imaginary worlds. I don’t fear flying, but the hassle all around – from getting ripped off when booking flights to failing a security check and being sent home.)

But why now? Well, first of all, due to the current political climate (hr-hrm) it’s not that expensive right now. Second, I want to go when there’s a NecronomiCon coming up – which would be the case in 2026 and 2028. Since 2028 is already kind of busy (!), I gladly settled for next year (August 13-16, 2026).

Feeling adventurous (with a little help)

Thankfully, my (life and travel) companion has been to the East Coast (namely NYC) before and isn’t afraid of airport stuff at all. Since she likes

• traveling,
• seafood (not from an Innsmouth tavern, plz),
• US culture („it’s weirdly different, but at the same time super approachable“) and
• „Gilmore Girls“ (set in Connecticut),

she wasn’t that hard to convince.

There’s a little catch: Due to feline reasons, my companion might have to go back to Germany early. So I’d have to spend several days alone in the US, attend a conference, then find my way to the correct NY or Boston airport, board a plane and not lose my mind in the process. Sounds creepy. We’ll see.

Trip planning

Naturally, this trip has to be planned out, but not to the point where there’s no room for spontaneous combustion side adventures. This is a delicate line. So … what is there to see, do, eat, enjoy in New England? And what will it take to get there?

Rough schedule

We’ll be in the US for about 15-20 days. This time will be split among …

• 4-5 nights in NYC
• 2 nights in Phliadelphia, maybe
• 5-8 nights on a New England tour (2-3 locations like Boston, Salem, New Haven)
• 4-5 nights in Providence, including NecronomiCon

Cost

As avid readers of this blog know, I always try to be transparent and realistic about the financial side of things (e.g., I tried to be as precise as possible when planning and reviewing my 2022-24 sabbatical). So here come the first calculations for this very expensive little trip.

In short: I’ll budget away about 7,5k Euros for the journey. This includes about 1200 Euros for the flights, 1500 Euros for accommodation (more for NYC, less for Providence), 100 Euros a day for food (1700), 50 Euros a day for „touristy stuff“ like museums (850), 400 Euros in travel cost, a NecronomiCon Ticket (300), travel cost and some miscellanea. Plus a lot of shopping budget and a fine dining experience. Plus some buffer money. 7-8k sounds like a lot, but I’d prefer thinking I got away cheap in the end — rather than eating only rice and bread for 2 months.

N.B.: Direct flights are more expensive than ones with a stop in e.g. Frankfurt. Sounds strange, but that’s how it is.
N.B.: Booking flights is a scammy nightmare.

Formalities

We’ll need a visa. I’ll update this section as soon as I know more.

Equipment

What am I going to bring, next to my passport, my visa and my HPLHS membership card?

• Some books, or maybe my kindle with digital copies of relevant Lovecraftiana: stories, S.T. Joshi’s biography, ecyclopedias etc. The problem is: I don’t own too many ebooks in this specific area of interest. We’ll see.
• I got a GoPro for Christmas, so I’ll definitely bring it.
• Something to put onto HPL’s tomb. Most likely some Euros and a little statuette.
• [tbc]

Contacts

When researching to „Lovecraftian Music“, I contacted several scholars, journalists and musicians. And also there’s the Deutsche Lovecraft Gesellschaft. So I might reach out to some people. If you want to meet me in NYC or NE: Please drop me a line!

What to see and do?

Of course, there will be a sh** ton to see in the US. So I’ll dedicate two separate articles to a) NYC and b) Lovecraftiana in New England. The only overlap might occur if we should also hunt down Brooklyn spots related to HPL, but that is a problem for future Dennis.

Stay tuned!