A year after graduating college, my friend group (the “Peaches”) planned a reunion trip to Las Vegas. We crammed ourselves into two hotel rooms at the Excalibur and got the strongest/cheapest drinks we could find to maximize our limited budgets. We carried on late into the night and slept in most of the day. As I recall, hangovers are much less debilitating when you are 24.
Ten years later, I returned to the strip as a tag-a-long with Aaron on a company trip. I ended up registering for the CES conference as well, and spent most of the days away from the group while I checked out the marketing and content creation segments.
So, what’s changed in the last ten years?
what i wore
Then: First and foremost, in 2014 we had matching branded tank tops. No one ever wants to get matching shirts for conferences for some reason?
We really didn’t do much besides sleep in and “go out,” so what I wore was primarily “going out” outfits. Notable trends in my wardrobe were short skirts and dresses, multi-color prints and costume jewelry and heels (on night one, resulting in sandals for nights two and three). Not to mention, my eye makeup was almost 4x what I wear these days.
Now: Packing in 2024 may have actually been more difficult, because unlike my post-college years, most of my closet consists of leggings and casual crop tops. Additionally, Aaron only ever wears jeans and t-shirts, so I can’t dress over him too much.
My conference outfits may have been a little on the casual side, but as I was not representing any company besides myself – I think it worked out just fine. I definitely don’t regret opting for sneakers, since the walk from The Palazzo to ARIA was a cool 45 minutes.
In the evenings, I joined Aaron’s co-workers for dinner, so I wanted to bring a little Vegas flavor to my outfits. The vision for these outfits were shiny/silky or fitted. My color choices were much more muted than in 2014, and black leather shoes/purse will always be my default. But the one outfit I just kept coming back to was the robe. It’s quite the fit.
how I Spent the Days
Then: While it’s true that we slept in a lot in 2014, we did have a pool day and we went skydiving! It is the only time I’ve ever been skydiving, and I to say, it’s a great area with amazing views to do it! Another thing I did during the day in 2014 that I somehow managed to avoid in 2024 was gambling. On my first trip, I sat down to play the slots on the first day we arrived. I won $73.41 and then I never played again.
Now: On this trip, I’ve spent the days listening to conference speakers and exploring the tech exhibits. On the last morning of trip, I enjoyed a massage at the Wynn Spa (thanks for the rec, Emilie!). To be fair, if it weren’t January, I would probably have spent a day by the pool as well.
how i spent the nights
Then: According to my blog in 2014, “We gambled, we ate overpriced meals, we took plenty of pictures, we waited in hour-long lines for clubs, we paid $20 for drinks, we accidentally stayed out till 5:30 a.m….”
Now: I have discovered the perfect afternoon/evening (notice I didn’t even bother calling it a “night”) routine…
- 3:00 pm (or earlier) Leave conference
- 3:30 pm Return to room (put on robe/slippers)
- 4:00 pm Relax (start this blog post, journal, stretch, gaze out at the mountains, watch TV, nap)
- 6:00 pm Dinner with Aaron’s co-workers
- 8:00 pm Split off and return to room
- 8:30 pm Soak in jacuzzi (read)
- 10:00 pm Get ready for bed
- 10:30 pm Sleep
a balanced meal
One thing that certainly hasn’t change though…coming back from Vegas is exhausting. We traveled around for two weeks for the holidays, came home to repack and flew on to Las Vegas within 24 hours. Now that I’m finally back home and (somewhat) settled, I am looking forward to a lot of laying low and doing boring life things.