Las Vegas

Las Vegas is quite the city.  Even ignoring the Strip, it stretches for miles in an arid landscape.  At night, the lights spread across the valley.  Tile roofs and highways interconnect on this stop between Arizona and California.

As one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country over the past few years, Las Vegas has sprawled far and wide.  Its citizens cover the gamut of rich and poor, with ethnic representation from around the world.  Their dwelling range from trailers in the desert to mansions and condominiums in the heart of town.  All of them brought in for glamour and wealth that gambling has brought to this otherwise plan city.

Well, not quite.  A lot of the residents of Las Vegas are not there for the gambling.  Nevada is a very attractive state for companies to locate in due to their pro-corporate laws.  Many of the residents of the area do not make their living from the gaming and hotel industries.  Still, without the glitz, Las Vegas would not be anywhere near the town it is today.

The Allure

Just narrowing the focus to the many hotels, resorts, and casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard, it is difficult to resist the allure.  Those companies have done their homework well.  They know what attracts our attention.  They do not waste our attention either.

Everything is oriented towards helping you decide to spend or gamble your money away.  Slot machines make lots of noise, especially when they are paying out money.  Alcohol flows freely on the floor to help lower inhibitions and cloud judgement.  A lack of clocks and windows make it possible to gamble for hours without realizing how much time has passed.  Scents and oxygen levels can also be manipulated to help subconsciously encourage you to continue to wager.

Even when you get off the gambling floor, the presentation is still geared towards getting you to think rich.  Marble and intricate mosaic floorings, rich carpets, large fountains and artwork, lavish shows, expensive boutique shops, and calorie-busting buffets and restaurants all combine to present a facade of wealth that is open to anybody with money in their pocket to participate in.

The Responsibility

The hardest part of visiting Las Vegas is to be able to enjoy the opulence without succumbing to the many temptations and  spending what you should not.  There is a lot of money in Vegas after all.  Those casinos did not build themselves.  The reason for all of thos slot machines and table games is to bring in the money to pay for those multi-billion dollar buildings and the large service staffs that keep them operating.

I am not going to condemn gambling however.  It is a vice, and needs to be treated with caution.  However, it is possible gamble and not damage your financial well being.  That is where the responsibility comes in.

I just had a fun trip to Las Vegas myself.  It was a return to Sin City for me, and my wife’s first trip ever.  We both enjoyed roaming the Strip and seeing the many casinos.  Taking it as a mid-week trip instead of a weekend one made it a lot easier to get around and helped keep the cost of the trip down.  The airfare and the hotel rooms were a lot cheaper, plus it was easy to get into the restaurants we wanted to visit when we wanted to go.

The funniest part was that we did not gamble anything for the first 2 days that we were there.  It wasn’t that we do not gamble.  We were just busy enough seeing everything else and roaming around that the urge to splurge did not cause us to stop and wager anything.  All told, we lost a little bit of money, but it was less than $100 between the two of us.  Well within what we had budgeted for the trip.

From experience, I can point out that it is entirely possible to do the ‘wrong’ thing - such as take a trip to Las Vegas - and enjoy it responsibly.  Focus on setting a budget, staying within that budget, and like any other activity you undertake, you can enjoy yourself and still meet your financial goals.

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