We packed into the car, wheelies stuffed. One freeway turned into another as the mountains became the dessert. Yes, we were going to Vegas. And I had almost zero idea what to expect.
Ears popping like candy, we finally pulled into Las Vegas itself, and, finally, the famous ‘strip.’
We’d made it to Vegas. And it felt like a milestone. Like something I’d love to tick off my bucket list, if only for the reason I could say I did it.
At the best of times, I am sensitive to bright lights and loud music. I was prepared for it, but only just.
The first thing I noticed about Vegas, upon waking up early after a restless night’s sleep was the hotel wasn’t in fact a hotel; it was an airport. Or, at least it felt like one. It even had those flat, moving walkways to help you navigate oversized corridors that transported you from one section of the hotel to another. Human treadmills.
The second thing I noticed is that people in Vegas wake up early, or at least a good percentage of them. At 7:30am, the hotel cafe downstairs was buzzing with people getting their caffeine fix, and the huge convention for all 7/11 staff was already in progress. (I know because I asked one of the staff for directions and she told me she didn’t actually work there.)
The third thing I noticed is that the hotel shops and food court area seems to wake up a bit later than the cafe. At 9:15am on the dot, doors started opening, lights were flicked on, and staff were ready to greet you.
But, that was only inside our hotel. And our hotel was one of the few in Vegas without an actual casino attached to it.
As the day progressed, I began to learn more and more about what this Vegas place was really about. But that’s a story for another time.
Instead, I decided to compile a list of 3 unexpected things our trip to Vegas taught me. Here they are:
Money can create more problems than it can solve
Believe it or not, money doesn’t always solve problems. And in the case of Vegas and the gambling world within it, money can actually become toxic; an enemy. Sure, a little bit of extra money never hurt anyone. But, like everything in Vegas, the concept of money is staring you in the face. Whether you have money or not is almost irrelevant. Because everything in Vegas is created for you to FEEL as if you do.
The music playing loudly in the hotel corridors was carefully selected to represent all that Vegas stands for. Think: opulence, extravagance, and endless choice. True story: as I was paying for a small gift for a friend that first morning in one of the hotel shops, the music playing too loudly to ignore over the sound system had lyrics along the lines of “Money, money, money.” I can’t tell you which song it was because I was too busy trying to part with some of my own cash to focus on it.
You can’t escape it, though. Even the music playing loudly in the hotel corridors have lyrics about wealth, status, fame and escape.
And then there are the casinos, which are a category all within themselves. Gambling has always been a problem for many; in Vegas it’s considered the norm.
Life goes on — regardless
It’s true: life does go on, regardless of anything else that may be happening in the world or in your personal life.
The clock will still tick, day will still turn to night, and night will turn back to day, even in this world of pure narcissistic escape and superficiality.
What do I mean? It’s simple: the world does exist beyond the Vegas ‘strip’. There is so much more to life than a series of over the top hotels with themes that seem almost comedic in their extravagance.
So, while there is a model of the Eiffel Tower on one side of the strip, and an entire hotel built to look and feel like a street in Venice, complete with gondola rides, beyond all the glitz, there is a world that exists in its true form. And you don’t need to venture far to find it.
There’s a life that refuses to stop, a world that is waiting for you, begging for you, to be an active participant in it. Basically, the real world needs you. And you have a responsibility to show up for it.
Everyone is in search of a wholesome life; some of us just get lost along the way
If there is anything visiting Vegas taught me it’s that we are all wanting to find that elusive ‘wholesome life’. It’s easy to get distracted in a place like Vegas, easy to think you came there for something you don’t actually want or need.
And that’s ok. It’s actually normal; natural; it happens in everyday situations, not just in Vegas.
But a wholesome life isn’t built from extravagance; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Sometimes the less we have, the more we realise how much we don’t actually need to be happy or to live a beautiful life.
Sometimes the happiest people are the ones wth very little physical possessions to their name. In other words, material wealth doesn’t equal happiness, and it most definitely doesn’t contribute to that elusive dream of living a pure and wholesome life.
A wholesome life is built from hard work. It’s built from inner satisfaction and quality connections with people who matter to you.
So, the big question is: would I visit Vegas again?
The answer is no, unless I needed to, for whatever reason. I’ve seen it once, and I feel like I’ve seen enough of it to realise it doesn’t align with my personal values. And that’s ok. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Vegas.
A wholesome life isn’t built in a day either. It’s a work in progress and I’m not there yet either. But that won’t stop me from trying.
