I lived in Salem for a year, less than a mile from the city center. If I could take the entire month of October to live anywhere else, I’d love it there.

Yes. This is a cult indoctrination tactic that the Mormons use too. The gist of it is that once you have people sufficiently bought-in that they’re unlikely to just go rogue, you send them out into a world generally hostile to them. If they manage to get converts, great, but the main point is to teach the initiates that “everyone out there hates you, the cult is your only family. We love you. We support you. There’s nothing for you out there.”

When Mormons and JWs used to come to our door when I was growing up we’d invite them in for some water, let them sit down for a bit, and let them know emphatically we’re not interested in their religion but they can chill for a while. As satisfying as it is, meeting them with open hostility just makes the cult tactics more effective.

For PAX Unplugged my group would take the train from Boston to Philly. It’s the best. If your wallet can take it (the price points are weirdly high, and absurdly high compared to the Bargain Busses that occasionally catch fire) but for that you get legroom, a smooth ride, room to set up your laptop, and (pre-covid, at least) a snack car.

For PAX we’d set up in the snack car and play board games the whole way down. Can’t do that on a bus.

Pretty sure ‘not liking… facts’ is why OP is a registered Republican.

We’d love to have you. Come on up.

We have a couple but they’re pretty pathetic, generally. Mostly they bus folks in from New Hampshire, the ones who live here are loud but not very powerful. They’ll bring have a dozen people to harass a childrens hospital and be met by 200+ people telling them to fuck off, or else they’ll show up somewhere in secret, film themselves for 20 minutes, declare victory, and scamper before anyone knows they’ve been there. The ones that aren’t idiots are cowards and vice versa, but most of them are both.