My trip in April to Las Vegas was my first alone. I don’t vacation much alone, bu I decided that this trip was meant to be – friends or not. As it turned out, my buddy bailed on me.
It wasn’t until last year where I realized that solo travel was a “thing”. I met Gray from Solo Friendly and now vegassolo on twitter and have slowly learned about it. Gray and I even contributed our solo experiences to each others blog.
My solo trip to Atlantic City
Prepping for a Vegas Adventure
I learned a few things on this trip to Las Vegas alone. First and foremost, Las Vegas is a great place to travel alone. I figured that I wouldn’t have a shortage of things to do and i didn’t. I gambled, napped, ate, laptopped, drank and gambled whenever I wanted.
Sleeping, Gambling & Drinking
Since I don’t sleep much, I’m used to gambling alone to start the day. However, things got a little more sketchy as the day went on and as the drinks flowed. I had a pretty awful run at 3 card poker at Planet Hollywood one afternoon, but it didn’t bother me too much as I proceeded to have way too many Grey Goose & Soda’s. This lead to a “nap” from about 6-9pm. I wouldn’t normally have done this if I was with friends as we probably would have had dinner planned in that time frame. Traveling alone made this not a big deal. I didn’t have to be anywhere and had nobody waiting on me. That was kind of freeing.
On a related note, Earl of Sandwich is an excellent spot to get a quick bite to eat at Planet Hollywood. It reminded me of Quizno’s. Not bad, but not the best sandwiches on the earth. I’m a New Yorker and nothing beats a New York deli sandwich. I’m a bit of a snob about that.
Eating
I’ve mentioned in previous trip reports that I like to share excellent meals with friends, but when I’m alone I really don’t worry about what I eat and where I eat. This solo trip proved that as I ate at Grand Lux a lot since it was in the hotel I was staying. The only trip I made for food was to Burger Bar, where I ate at the bar. The other meals I had were overpriced fast food. Never again will I allow myself to fall prey to the $15 hot dog combo at Nathan’s at the Venetian. Which leads me to…
Planning
I was stoked to have nobody with me which lead to me not planning anything. I’m not an over planner, but I do like to make sure I maximize a trip. For example, my trip in December had a night planned at Wynn. My friends and I planned a night at the casino based around dinner at SW. Simple plans like this allowed me to get to specific casinos. I realize that without a plan it’s much easier to be lazy about leaving home base. For future solo trips I’ll make sure to plan things out a little. I’m not best left to my own devices. 🙂
If you follow me on twitter you know that I love to tweet. I found twitter to be an asset for traveling alone. I shared tales of where I was visiting or checked out special events at the casinos, stayed in touch with people I had met on twitter that lived in Las Vegas and more. It also provided me with a fun way to walk the strip. I stopped at every casino between Palazzo and Planet Hollywood and tweeted. It was a good excuse to stop and take in the sites.
Overall
Overall, I had a blast solo tripping to Las Vegas and it’s something I see myself doing again. I’ve learned a little on how to maximize my stay without adding stress. If you need some time away from the world Vegas is a great place to explore and have a good time alone – whether you gamble or don’t. Feel free to comment or email or tweet with any questions. I only grazed over the trip here.
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I’m so glad you liked your solo trip! I totally agree on the planning thing. I’m not good at winging it, either. I end up not maximizing my time. The thing about Twitter, too, is I will tweet if I’m alone, but if I’m with other people, I forget to do it. Same with taking notes so I remember things for my blog posts.
($15 hot dogs and hamburgers are all too frequent an occurrence in Vegas. Boo.)
You know I love the solo trip. Is it August 29 yet? 🙂
Eric, I need it to be August 8th first. 🙂
Gray, $15 burgers are ok, but hot dogs are ridiculous. No more! Of course, I’ll pay $5 for a large cup of coffee 5 times a fay. Priorities! Haha.