San Diego Comic Con is an event that everyone wants to go to, but a relatively tiny amount of people actually do. If anyone really puts their mind to it, it’s probably actually very possible, but sometimes the difficulty seems more than it’s worth. It used to be fairly simple to feel the SDCC experience from home, just by leaving the TV on G4 all weekend and watching coverage, pretending you’re there. In a cruel twist of life, G4 is no longer a television station, and getting that displaced SDCC feeling is a little bit harder. But it’s not impossible.

COVERAGE

There are a few places online to find video coverage of the convention, including what’s trying to fill G4’s empty spot, Nerdist.com. The video clips posted throughout the day are fairly short and sparse, but honestly, G4 didn’t have all that much coverage either. It was mostly reruns of the same thirty minute spot. The Nerdist videos are set up to look like they’re live, and the format looks a little less sincere than fake live coverage did on TV. But it still works, and since it’s coming from people who are loving being there, it’s much better than nothing.

Other websites have some live coverage scheduled, especially IGN.com, which used to only have live text chats but has stepped up its game to video. But it may just be easiest to fill up your twitter and instagram feeds with SDCC attendees, as the photos, videos, and updates will come completely in real time and are come from within the convention halls and on the floor.

OFFSITE

More and more of the San Diego nerd festivities are happening outside of the convention halls. Zachary Levi’s Nerd HQ is back thanks to an Indiegogo campaign, and while it’s not technically a part of SDCC, it takes advantage of the number of nerd celebrities already gathered in one place. Full videos of the event go up on YouTube afterwards.

Geek & Sundry has an offsite event lounge full of gaming (both video and tabletop), panels, and those nerd parties that comic conventions are secretly so famous for. Nerdist has an offsite laser tag game and an after-convention hours podcast. Even Thrilling Adventure Hour and Welcome to Night Vale are in San Diego with a crossover live show. It will be a while, but you can relive the convention through podcasts as soon as they finally go up.

THE MERCH

To really emulate that comic con feeling at home, you’re going to have to buy some stuff. That’s the number one thing that happens at conventions, and to really feel authentic, you need to spend more money than you were intending to. You could do this anywhere – your own town’s comic book store, the mall, a fast food drive thru – it’s all the same effect. But it is possible to get your merch from the con itself. I have some SDCC exclusive Funko Pops making their way to me through the mail right now, thanks to the internet. It’s almost like I’m there – I ended up with three new Funko Pops, when the number I actually need is zero.

It wouldn’t feel like summer without trying to vicariously attend San Diego Comic Con. Maybe it’s possible to experience it even better from home, since home doesn’t have the 4:00 am wakeup times and 10 minute lines to the bathroom? Yeah, of course that’s not true, but thinking that way makes the weekend way less bitter and way more fun.