5 Lessons Vegas Taught Me That Have Nothing to Do With Gambling

Did I go crazy in Vegas? Don’t be silly. I’m not built for crazy. No one who loves show tunes as much as I do is built for crazy. Fabulous, of course darling, but crazy, not my thing. Did I have fun in Vegas? Hell yes! You have to put in a major effort to not have fun. Well of course you had fun. Vegas is built for fun, you say, well, I disagree. Vegas was built on the the mirage of getting rich quick dreams and decadence that wealth provides. I arrived with no allusions about easy money. Nothing’s harder than easy money. Nor was decadence on the bill, although I have a wild hair to go and see the Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity (it’s billboards are totally hot). That will go on the agenda for another time. Aside from fun, Vegas gave me a tiny bit of self-knowledge and a smudge of ambition. This is what I came back with.

Plans are great-if not taken too far: My friend Rene wanted to hit the In N’ Out Burger and the Hover Dam. Mission accomplished. We both wanted to see Love. Check. I wanted to take a gondola ride and to go up in the High Roller Observation deck. Done and done. That accounted for about, what, 20-30% of our time. The rest of it we made up as we went along. So what? Well here’s the thing, I’m a planner. I have a list of possible restaurants, look at lots of amenities and tours. My vacation days are scheduled. This time around, I just let it happen, making it up as I went along. Like there is a Serendipity’s in Vegas and I got one of their famous frozen hot chocolate drinks. We discovered Kiston, a dangerously wonderful shop. I experienced the wonder that is sweet potato fries. Did I mention that we saw a taxi that caught on fire? Yep, lots of unscheduled fun was had.
Work and play can work and play together: Writing is a strange profession. You don’t get PTO. You’re your own boss, so you get to give yourself the day off. The problem is, you can’t be too easy a boss, but it’s very tempting to let yourself off the hook. I decided that I would not take a vacation from my world count. Guess what? I pulled it off. If was lucky to have nice house companions who were supportive of my writing. More, I liked writing on vacation. It relieved my lazy writer’s guilt and I moved forward on the book. Give me a thousand words and I’m good for the day.
If you can take it, you can make it: We walked. Dear God in Heaven did we walk. Twelve to fifteen thousand steps a day. My feet ached. My calves screamed. I walked in high ninety degree weather into freezing air conditioning, through insane malls and smoky casinos. I felt like a sweaty mess at the end of every day. I was forced to faced the unpleasant realization that I’m not as good a shape as I thought I was. Did I complain, even once. No, I did not. Do I need to work now to get in good shape? Yes, I do. Will I complain about that. You bet I will. But for now, I know that if I want to, I can get it done.
I am a VIP, and someday Vegas will know it: One thing became obvious on this trip. While being a VIP is wonderful in most places, there is a special glow about being one in Vegas. They don’t know it yet, but someday they will opened up all their goodies to me. I want to be picked up in a limo, have the best seats at shows and not deal with a line to get into a club. Do I want to go to a club? No, not really, but I want to be able to get into any of them because I’m me. I want to enjoy a bubble, a time in my life where I am pampered beyond all measure. I want people serving me like I’m a celebrity or a whale for a weekend. I want a moment where I think This feels like a movie. And someday, I’m going to have it.
I will survive: I guess you can tell nightclubs aren’t my thing, but you can’t argue with a classic. I went on vacation without a plan or a budget. Again, a first for me. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a planner. I make lists and have back-ups. People thought I was crazy to take this vacation. It was, for many reasons. But here’s the thing, I needed it. It gave me something to look forward to and good memories for a difficult time. Money is tight, but I’ll figure it out. Money is tight, but I have friends and family who support me. Money is tight, but I will survive. And, I’m going to do it with class and style.