It was one week before Ethereum DevCon 2, in the summer of 2016, and I needed a visa to China, fast. I made an appointment at the consulate in San Francisco, paying a premium for rush delivery. I was able to book an AirBnB in the Shanghai Bund neighborhood, walking distance to the Conference venue for only 75 bucks a night, less than a week before I would arrive. Not bad. The flight was another story. Two days beforehand, I booked my first ever flight to Asia: 2 1/2 hours from SF to Vancouver...