Between Bangkok and a Hard Place

Warning: this is a bitch post.

So I was thrilled when a friend told me about the Bangkok 100 Rock Festival two months ago. So I was psyched up when he said he would arrange for his family to get tickets for us when we they went up to the Thai capital in December. So I was bummed when for some reason, he only got tickets for his girlfriend and himself. So I was ecstatic when another friend of mine holidaying in Bangkok helped me buy the most expensive ticket at the drop of an SMS. So I was annoyed when the first friend went ahead and made all the flight and accommodation arrangements for his girlfriend and himself, leaving me out of the picture probably assuming:

1. That I would stay in a different hotel / hostel and somehow be able to find him among 100,000 revellers during the gigs,
2. That I would be able to return to an empty room each night after the performances and not feel like an absolute retard (NB: highs must always be shared...think about the difference between drinking with friends and drinking alone)

So I tried knocking on every door, begging and pleading with my Poptart Posse to make the trip with me. Along the way, I was floored by the revelation that the weeks before and after the Festival will be mega crunch time at my workplace (due to the nature of our work). Faced with the prospect of flying out on Friday night and back into Singapore on Sunday, I tried to pitch the experience as a hit-and-run adventure; as a chance to take a rock n' roll holiday over the weekend and show the metaphorical finger to our employers in the process. I told my friends exactly what I was thinking: What will you remember of 2006 on 31 December? That you spent every weekend catching up with work, or that you got away with being part of a Glasto-style festival near home?

No-one's bitten yet.

Now I could go into a much deeper rant about how jealous I am of other people who have regular travel companions who would literally go to the ends of the earth with them. I could rant about how I've hardly travelled in my whole life, and now that I have the spending power to, I'm foiled by friends who are overwhelmed by work--friends who can sacrifice this travel experience because they've had so many already. But I'll come across as a self-consumed ass if I do, so I won't.

I'll just say this: time is running out. Either I scalp my ticket before everyone who intends to go gets one; or I find a travel buddy and book flights and accomodation before they're all snapped up.

Damned if I do, damned if I don't. So what should I do?