The Art of the Write-cation

I've learned something about myself and vacations the past couple of days. I'm on my third week of vacation in less than two months (I won't get another until October and then the next will be March 2019 so don't be too jealous) which gives me a unique perspective on both of us (meaning me and vacations). And here's the thing - I don't take them. Not like a normal person anyway.

My sister, for example, is in Hawaii this week and thus far she has hung out at a cool resort, been on a boat excursion of some kind, and now today she's snorkeling. That's a vacation. She's not grading papers (she's a university professor) and I don't think she's gone to a Body Pump or Body Combat class (her preferred workouts) since leaving the mainland on Tuesday. Pam is normal.

What have I done with my Las Vegas vacation thus far? Let me explain it this way - Right now I'm sitting in a coffee shop writing this. Ok, so the material is about vacationing and I'm not at Lola Savannah in downtown Lakeway, but still... I'm in Vegas. Shouldn't I be - I dunno - doing Vegas? I mean if not strippers, black jack, and booze (or hookers and coke as one friend suggested), maybe the Mob Museum, the shark exhibit at the Mandalay Bay, or the High Roller? I suppose I could, but......Meh. I have only moderate interest. Coffee shops. That's apparently where it's at for me.

I've been here four days. Guess how many coffee shops I've been to? Yep. Four. One each day.

Tuesday - I started off slow and predictable at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (10834 W. Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV). I had a little time to kill and a book borrowed from my sister's vast collection so I got a chai latte and sat awhile. The girl at the counter called me "Sweetie" and didn't look at me funny when I ordered the chai "as skinny as she could make it" (Being skinny ordering a skinny drink can draw unwelcome smirks). Points there. I managed to get a super comfy chair......that ended up bathed in too much sunlight too soon. When I finished my latte, I left and went to Barnes & Noble.

Wednesday - A Google search led me to MadHouse Coffee (8470 W. Desert Inn Road, Las Vegas, NV) , a quirky little place with a blacklit restroom and crappy wifi. The coffee, a bitter pour-over of Peruvian-something was pricey (I felt like I was back in Scandinavia) and not quite worth the expense. The A/C kinda sucked too. In their defense, I was sitting near the window and it was a warmish day out. Anywho, I wrote a kickass little fiction piece, so the afternoon wasn't a total loss.

Thursday - Another Google search later, I decided to venture out to the swankier part of Summerlin to Sambalatte (750 S. Rampart Blvd, Las Vegas, NV) The wifi was sucky but the house blend brewed coffee was pretty good and reasonably priced. The decor was upscale Italianesque, arty coffee house chic and the clientele  yoga-mom select. I continued with the fiction piece from the day before. The setting? A coffee shop.

Friday - When I was at MadHouse on Wednesday the barista told me about a really good coffee place on Fremont Street, the trendy, Deep Ellum-ish (if you've been to DFW) part of town, called PublicUs (1126 Fremont Street, Las Vegas, NV). There's a bookstore the woman at the post office told me about just down the street so I figured worst case, one would end up cool and worth the twenty minute drive. After being at PublicUs, the bookstore can suck. Seriously. In the rack and stack of coffee places I've been to in Vegas and throughout Scandinavia, this one is hands-down my fave. The vibe is chill but not too chill and the decor is reminiscent of a downtown loft space. The chairs aren't comfortable (at least not where I'm sitting) but the wifi connected easily and hasn't suddenly disconnected on me. Before I hit the door, I was all about saving money and calories. A brewed coffee. That's what I was going to trade for the use of a table and wifi. Then I saw the pastry/dessert case. I could have had one of everything but decided on the zucchini bread (Bread = my downfall and a serious road to my heart...and my waistline). The top was crispy and the inside perfectly moist. And I got a free refill of really good coffee. Boom. Fave. I'll probably be back here before I leave next week, if not tomorrow.

Four days. Four coffee places. I promise you, it's not Las Vegas's fault. My Scandinavian vacation was frightening similar. Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, and Bergen were also a series of coffee shops and blog posts. Why? Why? Why? There is so much else I could do while on vacation and yet I spend my time exactly like I spend my days off at home.

  1. Sleep past 2AM.
  2. Run, if the weather agrees (i.e. isn't too hot). 
  3. Write.
  4. Update/create content for website.
It may seem un-exciting to everyone out there reading this, but I enjoy it. To have a nearly unlimited amount of time to write is an absolute luxury. Maybe someday writing will be my career - my bs-filled full time job - and I'll spend my vacations snorkeling and taking boat tours or rock climbing and hiking. For now, though, I'm living the dream and loving my write-cations.


*** Stay tuned for "When the Write-cation Meets the Run-cation", a review of some cool places to run in and around Las Vegas. Stop back by in October when I'll do the same for Reykjavik.*** 

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