8 Idiot-Proof Ways to Screw Up your Las Vegas Adventure

"Our Choices Set our Fate in Motion"

Screwing up a Las Vegas Adventure ain't easy. But here's 8 idiot-proof ways guaranteed to do the trick.

If this is your First Time in Las Vegas, these will wear you down. Stress you out. And swear you off another Las Vegas Adventure for as long as you live.

PHOTO: Vegas Vic, courtesy of LV News Bureau / LVCVA

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8 Idiot-Proof Ways at a Glance

Please tell me when you find a broken link.

8. Plan the PERFECT Las Vegas Adventure

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Las Vegas presents almost unlimited choices.

When a brain has too many choices, it becomes less and less happy with every decision (see video).

Instead of trying to find 'the best' or 'what's perfect' in Las Vegas. Reframe your Las Vegas Adventure experiences as:

What would make me (us) feel good right now?

Las Vegas excels at making people feel good right now.

Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice

http://www.ted.com Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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'Paradox of Choice' -- a great book to read before visiting Las Vegas

The author explains some simple concepts that can help make your business more attractive to customers and prospects.

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

by: Barry Schwartz

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $11.69 (as of 07/13/2009)
List Price: $14.99

What Is a Las Vegas Adventure?

Here's what I tell people when they want to know how to get the most out of their trip to Las Vegas.

How to Create a Las Vegas Adventure

Las Vegas Adventure means doing things in and around the Las Vegas Valley that make you feel really alive. That activate all your senses. That burn themselves into your memory. And still make you smile 20 years from now. I'm not talking about doing...

7. Grab Every Special Offer You See

When Is Enough Enough?

'$15 hotel room.' '$3 all-you-can-eat buffet.' Gone.

But there's still a lot of Las Vegas Adventure deals, discounts and comps, if you know where to look.

But when do you cross the line? When does a Las Vegas Adventure stop being about doing things for passion and fun? And start being about doing stuff, because it's FREE or cheap?

Stay in control of YOUR Las Vegas Adventure. Budget for the full price of the Las Vegas Adventure YOU want. Then find discounts, deals and FREE-bies that reduce your costs.

How Do I Save Money in Vegas?
Links and suggestions for findings coupons, discounts, freebies, etc. Updated whenever I find something worthwhile to pass along.

6. Assume 'Desert' Means 'Big Sandy Beach'

They Called It a DESERT for a Reason!

Las Vegas has four seasons, too:

Kinda Cool
Summer
Hell on a Table Top
Summer

Check out Seasonal Temps and Rainfall.

Obvious: June-September, outdoor temps of 100+ degrees Fahrenheit can cause heat-related illnesses.

Less obvious: If outdoor temp is 110 degrees. And the AC inside is 70 degrees. That's a 40-degree temp change. Some sensitive people like a light jacket or sweater to ease the transition.

Brush up on heat-related tips for your summer Las Vegas Adventure. Because...

dehydration and desert heat can be deadly !!!

How Do I Cope with Hot Temperatures in the Desert?
Links to info on dehydration, heat illnesses, sun and sunscreen. PLUS: an inside look at Vegas paramedics dealing with more than 200,000 tourists every 24 hours, who are doing their best to party harder than everyone else. (video by MSNBC)

Are You Chronically Dehydrated?

I noticed in my life that feeling hungry and tired was often related directly to a need for more water. The author's research points to the same conclusions. A dry mouth is not a reliable indicator of your body's water needs. The book helps you understand how you can 'fix' yourself with water.

Your Body's Many Cries for Water

by: F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.

According to the author, chronic dehydration can lead to conditions like asthma, allergies, raised cholesterol levels, chronic fatigue, MS, pains (heartburn, back pain, migraine headaches) and even diabetes in the elderly. He supports his claims with extensive clinical and scientific research.

Avg. Customer Rating:

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/13/2009)
List Price: $14.95

5. Act like Las Vegas Is a Disneyland for Adults

It's a Fantasyland. But NOT Fenced Off like the Magic Kingdom.

Cameras watch virtually everything on The Strip. And they keep a Las Vegas Adventure pretty safe.

But wander too far from The Strip, and you're instantly back in the real world of big-city life.

Las Vegas Police (LVMPD) numbers I hope you never have to use.

Emergency Service: 911
Road Conditions: 511
Non-Emergency Service: 311 or (702) 828.3111
Tourist Safety Unit: (702) 828-3204

Tourist Safety Video Hosted by Magician Lance Burton
See how quick PROFESSIONAL crooks -- pick pocket, room burglar, purse snatcher -- can take your stuff. A real eye-opener. (LVMPD)

A List of Safety Tips
Common mistakes, tricks and scams. Brush up on your street smarts, just to be sure. (LVMPD)

Everything Traffic in Real-Time
Road conditions and gas prices across the entire Las Vegas Valley. (several sources)

Weather Conditions & Forecast
More than you could possibly want to know about Las Vegas weather at McCarran International Airport, south end of Las Vegas Blvd (The Strip). (Weather Underground)

4. Hear "...next door." Think "Let's walk."

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

Everything on The Las Vegas Strip is BIG. VERY BIG.

Walking one block may take 15 minutes. In some cases, 20-25 minutes to walk to an adjacent resort.

Bring comfortable shoes. No...2 pairs of comfortable shoes. And if you're not used to walking, consider catching a cab, the monorail or double-decker bus - The Deuce.

Let your feet have a Las Vegas Adventure, too.

3. Share your Las Vegas Adventure with Hoards of Conventioneers

Is this Line Moving at All?!!?

All it takes is 1 or 2 big conventions to

fill up the hotels.
send prices through the roof.
turn streets into parking lots.
guarantee long lines and wait times for everything.

LVCVA Convention Calendar
Ideally, check here before you book your Las Vegas Adventure.

But if you do find yourself sharing your Las Vegas Adventure with swarms of uninhibited fugitives from The Office, adopt a strategy that:

allows twice as much time to do anything.
budgets significantly more money for everything.
includes packs & pockets of food bars and extra water.
schedules your activities opposite to convention activities.

2. Insist on Finding the BEST Restaurant

It's this One. No, this One. No, this One. No,...

Just about every fine-dining restaurant at one of the newer Strip hotels ranks above average or better.

Instead, try something do-able. Reframe the question as:

What's the best restaurant for me (us) right now?

Here's two simple strategies:

Ask your Concierge. They know what's hot and what's a little off.
Before you leave for a Las Vegas Adventure, make a list of about 10-15 Las Vegas restaurants you'd really like to try. Prioritize them with the best on top. Once you get to town, ignore your original rankings, and prioritize them again. Ask your Concierge to make reservations based on your new preferences.

Why? Once you're in this unusual dry-desert and high-energy environment, you're more likely to match your restaurant reservations with how you feel and what you crave.

Google Local - Restaurant Search
My favorite service. Fast, Easy to Use. Reviews from all the major restaurant review sites, if available. Step-by-step instructions for using Google Local.

TIP: Averaging 5-7 restaurant reviews provides a fairly accurate prediction of what to expect of a restaurant.

1. Measure your Happiness by the Wrong Yardstick

Do You Know What REALLY Makes You Happy?

Dan Gilbert says most of us have no idea what really makes us happy.

So we make ourselves miserable instead.

The video explains...

Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? Why aren't we happy?

http://www.ted.com Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that well be miserable if we dont get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things dont go as planned. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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