The Glories of a Resort Vacation

It's the only way to really get away.

Greetings from Las Vegas! Yes, I am here again. I am always here. Unlike the great Anthony Bourdain, I love the glitz and middle-of-the-road glamour of The Strip. Sometimes all you need is a pretend getaway.

Last week I did not send a newsletter because I was having a real getaway- a resort vacay in very beautiful, unbearably humid Mexico. I discovered the mind altering wonders of a resort vacation after the 2017 elections when I ran away to Maui to try to recover from the incredibly challenging first year of Spread The Vote. I knew I needed a vacation but not a make an itinerary, get up early in the morning, soak up as much culture as possible, walk all over town, end each day exhausted, need a vacation from your vacation kind of vacation. I needed to go somewhere where I could, eat, drink, read, and forget about time. So I booked a week in a Maui resort and at the end of those 5 days I finally understood why these places exist.

On a resort vacation, time does not exist. News does not exist. The people outside of the tiny bubble of the resort do not exist. It’s like White Lotus except usually nobody dies. You get up when you feel like it, eat when you’re hungry, alternate between reading and swimming, shake things up by moving from pool to beach to different pool, and frequently visit that all-important feature of the resort: the swim up bar.

There are no phones, no email, no calendars. The biggest drama is listening in on other people’s marital squabbles and being shocked and appalled at the tiniest of inconveniences. It’s like being in Narnia, without the witch and the lion and Mister Tumnus. Resort vacations are the truest way to get away.

And, since my biggest role in life is to convince other people to take as many vacations as possible, when my dear friend was stressed and anxious and overly burdened with life I declared that she needed a resort vacay so off we packed to Puerto Vallarta. It was wonderful. I highly recommend it. PS. Those little hotel room safes are perfect for holding on to your phones for the duration of your stay.

In other news, I am now the official holder of a motorcycle license so please drive carefully. But not for me, I will be an early morning parking lot rider until I am no longer terrified. Probably in 5-10 years.

Watch:

Dr. Death (Peacock)- Peacock finally did something right! First of all, if you are reading this and you haven’t listened to the Dr. Death podcast stop everything and push play right now. Then, watch this show. It is very very well done and I would say will make you never trust doctors again but who still trusts doctors?

The Olympics (NBC, USA, Peacock, NBC Sports, YouTube)- IT’S THE OLYMPICS!! It’s a weird one for sure BUT STILL!! What’s better than the Olympics? Nothing, that’s what.

This tiktok about Moose (Mooses? Meese?)

Listen:

The Shrink Next Door (podcast)- It has come to my attention that I may have not recommended this yet. Possibly because as a pro-therapy newsletter (how else will we all become as chill as LeVar Burton?) I didn’t want to scare you away from shrinks. BUT YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF THIS ONE. Also, there’s a time limit on this. Apple TV has the show coming out in November so you have to finish the pod by then.

Jury Duty: The Robert Durst Trial (podcast)- I listened to this on the 4 hour drive from Vegas and if you, like me, have watched The Jinx multiple times you are really going to want to listen to the trial. This guy…

Read:

I went on a Stephen King bender in PVR (and brought his Mr. Mercedes trilogy to Vegas) and I can confirm that he is still a very good writer but that nothing will ever be as terrifying as The Shining. You think the movie is scary? You have not yet experienced fear. Last week I read The Outsider, which is a super interesting take on a Mexican urban legend and also an HBO show with the marvelous Cynthia Erivo (have you watched Bad Times at the El Royale yet??) that I can now watch. I also read Salem’s Lot and now have to do some research into the modern history of vampire lit because I have a feeling that Stephen King was at the beginning of the vampire craze that we have been in for the last several decades (he published Salem’s Lot in 75 and Ann Rice published Interview with the Vampire, which you should also read, in 76 so I’m pretty sure I’m right).