Las Vegas 2022 (1/5) – Our First Post-Pandemic Vacation

Note: I didn’t write about this vacation earlier because immediate after we came home, I was squeezed between work and preparing for our upcoming Andalucia trip. Looking back at it, though, I still wanted to memorialize what a milestone this spring break was.

For spring break this year, we went to Las Vegas. We spent a whole week there hanging out with family, hopping hotels, filling with our bellies, and watching shows. It was a blast. Half way into the week, it dawned on me… wow, the pandemic was now behind us!

Well, of course, I realized that COVID was still a thing. The 735th wave of infections was on the rise and we’d soon have more virus variants than Greek letters. However, the past two years were so damaging to the world partially because everyone was forced to get in an altered mental state. Taking this trip helped to resurrect feelings from the past, and it was a big lift to our spirit.

First of all, we were able to pick a destination that we wanted. Although our family never entirely stopped traveling, those road trips in 2020 and weekend getaways in 2021 were constrained by what was logistically feasible – driving to avoid public transit, sticking to liberal cities to avoid COVID deniers, etc.. We did have fun, but “staying safe” was top of mind and it frankly wasn’t the most relaxing mindset. This time around, we just looked at the map and picked a city (more on that later). Never mind that Vegas had a bad reputation of having large anti-mask or anti-vaxx crowds. It was no longer a serious concern.

Secondly, we kind of had no option but to chill out. That crowd in Vegas was just different from our Californian neighbors, and nobody was wearing a mask indoors or outdoors. With only 1% of tourists still having face covering on, our risk of contracting something shitty was pretty independent of what we chose to do. Further ironically, our masks did not shield us from the smoke in the air (cigarette indoors and weed outdoors), which at this point was probably more harmful to our lungs than the possibility of getting COVID. Thus, after a few hours of trying to do the right thing, we just threw our hands up in the air and put those masks in the pockets. While it may not have been the most optimal public health behavior, it was in fact… liberating to see everyone’s nose and lips again.

Right after landing at the Las Vegas airport, the last time we seriously wore those masks during spring break

Finally, we walked everywhere and it was great. While I enjoy the thrill of driving, it’s a really isolated activity with the driver separated from his passengers and each car on its own against the rest of traffic. Walking afforded us so much more interaction – holding hands with loved ones, taking turns dictating pace and direction, negotiating space with other pedestrians, counting the peacock girls we passed by along the way, or pausing to see something neat. With everyone fully vaccinated, it no longer felt life threatening to be walking with or through crowds again.

Not everyone would agree with our risk assessment and decisions, and that’s totally fine. Ultimately what mattered was that our family was able to let loose to a point where we felt free again to enjoy life similarly to the good old days. To me, that shift in mental state was the best part of the entire trip.