Some of my favorite memories from Las Vegas haven’t come from things I actually planned to do.
Yes, there are the big attractions. The shows, dining, gambling, fountains and everything else people come to Las Vegas to experience at least once.
But some of the best memories happen outside of those plans.
It could be a view that you stumbled upon. Someone challenging you to try something you’d normally never do. Or maybe it was just Las Vegas looking a little different for a moment.
These things aren’t easy to plan for.
Which is probably why they tend to become some of our favorite memories from a trip.
Get a Different View of Las Vegas
Maybe it’s on your way back from a meal. Walking through a casino you weren’t planning on visiting. Or you could even find yourself standing somewhere above street level with your friends.
Either way, suddenly you get a completely different view of the Strip. You watch the Sphere transform into an eye, then a planet, and eventually smile back at everyone in Las Vegas.
Everyone stops for a moment to appreciate the view.
There’s going to be someone in your group who’s getting married the next day. Maybe someone had already decided they were going to bed early. The conversation starts drifting toward the night’s events, jobs, family and what you all thought you’d be doing by this point in your lives.
It’s nothing crazy, but that’s usually what makes these memories so good.
Las Vegas has plenty of amazing sights to offer. Some of the best memories I’ve made there came from moments nobody planned.
Do Something You Wouldn’t Do at Home
Maybe it’s renewing your vows with no special occasion in mind. Trying karaoke for the first time at the drop of a hat. Or hearing about a show from your bartender and, forty minutes later, finding yourself sitting in the audience with no idea what you’re about to see.
An activity such as Gun Blast Vegas can also give you the chance to try something you probably wouldn’t do at home.
Las Vegas has a way of making those decisions feel completely normal.
Back home, we spend most of our time dealing with things that need to get done. Calendars filled with events, meetings, school runs and everything else that keeps life moving. When you travel, some of those spaces suddenly open up.
Use them.
You don’t need to do anything ridiculous. Just allow yourself to try something you normally wouldn’t. Buy that silly shirt. Join in on the activity. Say yes once in a while instead of automatically saying no.
Trips tend to become more memorable when you leave room for something unexpected.
Experience Las Vegas at Different Times of the Day
Most people experience Las Vegas at night.
Everything is moving and there are lights everywhere. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, it can be easy to forget that the city sits in the middle of a huge Nevada landscape.
Stay up late enough and you’ll start seeing one version of Las Vegas leave as another arrives. Casino employees change shifts. People who have been out all night pass people carrying their first coffee of the morning.
There will probably be someone running at this point.
Why? Who knows.
Then the sun starts to rise.
The mountains come back into view around the city and the colors of the desert return. The signs are still flashing, but they look completely different in daylight.
Las Vegas has a lot of personalities depending on the time of day.
You don’t really have to plan for this one. Sometimes you just have to stay up long enough to notice it.
Allow Yourself Some Time Away From the Strip
After a few days in Las Vegas, you may start wanting a little time away from the busiest parts of the city.
Drive out for a while, find somewhere appropriate to stop and turn off the car. The music disappears. So do the car horns and the constant sounds coming from the casinos.
You might hear a little wind moving through the landscape, or almost nothing at all.
That’s when you start getting a sense of how big Southern Nevada really is. The mountains that looked like a backdrop from your hotel are suddenly all around you, with open valleys and rocky scenery stretching between them.
The fun part is coming back.
After spending some time outside the city, Las Vegas somehow looks even more vibrant than before. Exploring what surrounds the Strip can make returning to it just as enjoyable.
One Last Thing Before You Go
There’s always one person in the group who likes to squeeze one last thing into the day.
You’ve had dinner. You’re tired and ready to head back to your room.
Then somebody says:
“What if we did one last thing?”
I’m pretty sure a lot of great Las Vegas memories have started with some version of that sentence.
One last thing can mean almost anything. Another casino. A late-night diner. Walking the Strip again. Exploring a hotel you’ve never been inside. Or realizing everyone is hungry again and ending up with a slice of pizza much later than planned.
The memory doesn’t have to come from something big either.
Maybe it’s just hanging out with your friends longer than expected, listening to somebody tell the same story they told yesterday.
Some meals will simply be remembered as a great meal you had. Others will be remembered because of the pizza you ate afterward.
There’s room for both.
Take Pictures You Won’t Be Proud Of
Not every travel photo needs to be a good one.
Take the picture of your group where nobody is standing straight. Take the photo with the funny sign. Take one before the wedding and another after it.
Take the one at two in the morning when everyone looks tired.
Years from now, nobody will care that the lighting was bad or that the photo wasn’t perfect. Someone will send it to the group chat and, for a second, everyone will remember exactly where they were.
That’s what most travel pictures are really for.
Plan for Things, But Not Everything
There are things you should absolutely plan while you’re in Las Vegas.
Book that restaurant you’ve been wanting to try. Buy tickets for the show you’ve been dying to see. Do some of the famous tourist things. There’s a reason people keep coming back to them.
Just don’t plan every minute.
Give yourself time to see a different side of Las Vegas. Get outside and explore some of what Nevada has to offer. Have the conversation you didn’t know you wanted to have. Leave room for something that wasn’t on the schedule at all.
When the trip is over, you’ll probably remember plenty of the things you planned.
But you’ll also remember the thing you tried for the first time. The view you didn’t expect to find. The afternoon you spent away from the Strip. The friend who convinced everyone to do one last thing.
You’ll remember your story.
