I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of the month for AWS re:Invent as part of a work trip. I've never had much interest in Vegas, tech bro culture makes me puke, and as a simple lefty hippie kind of dork with a very different taste for lifestyle and entertainment, I'm not sure how best to appreciate the city and the experience.
First off I have no interest in gambling. I've got a skoolie to pay off so I have no desire to go throwing away piles of money, and I only enjoy games like Texas Hold'em if the stakes don't involve cash. I'd actually like to see how little money I can get away with spending when I'm there.
I'm also not big for tourist attractions. Last few times I travelled I much more appreciated staying with locals and immersing myself in their routine life, and to my knowledge that's not a possibility on this trip. Is there anything you'd really recommend seeing or doing even for someone like me? I'm down to try some different foods while I'm there. I'll be limited somewhat in that respect because :im-vegan:
Substances could be fun, but I'm off coffee, weed, and booze for the month. I probably won't have time for any psychedelics unless I pull a :matt-jokerfied: and take a tab of acid during the day when I'm at the conference.
My two ideas right now are a) to get out to some natural settings, hiking trails, or scenic desert spots (is that possible in an evening?), and b) take enough detailed notes to write an ethnography on re:Invent from an outsider's perspective.
Any advice is appreciated. It's far too late to back out now so I need help from people like y'all who get where I'm coming from.
two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. :hst-gun:
I apologize but I have no non-joke advice for you
Probably the best advice. Gonna tell anyone who sees me bugging out at the conference that I have a heart condition.
Fallout: New Vegas Tourism. Go see the Old Mormon Fort, Goodsprings and Sloan are only 45 minutes away.
I've heard there's cool nature stuff around red rock canyon
I have literally no idea how feasible going there for an evening is though
Seconding this, there is some cool shit in the desert around Vegas and the weather will be fine for hiking now.
You should be able to get out to the mountains if you make some effort. Might be a cool place to wander around this time of year.
This is my go-to thing to check before I travel anywhere: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/all-places-in-the-atlas-on-one-map
Usually some cool art installations and stuff that you can find.
I've always enjoyed collecting the porn ad cards they hand out on the strip. It's such a ridiculous advertising mechanism that only exists in Vegas.
Otherwise, if you don't like gambling that much but you want to gamble, normally after like 9:00 most places have 5$ blackjack, which not only has the best odds to win, but you can play for like two or three hours without going -100 if you just play simple (don't hit past 16).
Otherwise, idk. Talk to the fundie guys? Go visit the various museums?
Red Rock Canyon, the rollercoaster at New York, New York, and the Taco Bell on the strip.
Red Rock is pretty and hiking is great, the coaster isn’t great, but it’s still a lot of fun and a cool credit, and the Taco Bell has boozy baja blast freezes.
