Does anyone have any stories how difficult it is to travel to USA from europe? I have heard that the custom, security checks etc can be real pain in the ass. I would love to attend but I don't like traveling/flying that much, especially long waiting times in some custom queues...
It always has. But I've visited the States a few times in the past, and the Customs/Immigration bureaucracy, while onerous, is tolerable for those qualifying for the visa-waiver program (or if you can somehow otherwise swing a visa).
The real problem now is the TSA when flying
out of a US airport. I would love to try to attend this but I don't plan on visiting the US without an overland plan to travel onto Canada and fly out from there, thus hopefully bypassing the TSA. That will be more onerous, time-consuming and costly.