With this trip, I\u2019ve now visited Las Vegas at least once per year every year since 1997 (I think). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 90s and 00s, I was going with my dad to all of his industry conferences. I snuck into Comdex, the Venetian Gold Room, and was the king of the Circus Circus midway games (at least in my own mind – but not my parent\u2019s wallet\u2019s). Las Vegas loved kids back then. TI was Treasure Island and had an awesome kid area. MGM had a theme park out back. The Venetian opened with its canal and the Bellagio with its water show. Without a single chip to my name, I fell in love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I got older, it was college trips with friends, bachelor parties, and of course CES. We were so desperate to be 21 and play legally. It\u2019s such a funny milestone when I think back, but as I watch the newly minted 21 year olds now – who look like babies to me – it all makes sense again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last few years has seen Vegas become the site where our family reunites. And that family is my blood, but also dear friends spread across the country and world as well. We have our rituals. And we blend in new and old. And it\u2019s wonderful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On this trip particularly, I saw so many people here experiencing this place in their own unique way, and it makes me wonder how anything this dynamic and magical could exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as I sit here at the airport, way too early because my dad is always worried I\u2019ll miss the flight, I\u2019m realizing it felt different this time. As if we may be coming to the end of this adventure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One January 1 very soon I\u2019m going to wake up and say – well, there goes that streak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as long as these annual visits continue, it gives me a chance to teleport through time – just like when I swoop through NC State\u2019s campus and recall 23 years of memories. Birthday parties. Shows we saw. Places we ate. The first craps table I won at. That time John disappeared for half a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a funny thing to realize you\u2019re outgrowing something or that maybe it\u2019s outgrowing you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet – there we were. Laughing about life over dinner. And it was clear. The finish lines won\u2019t define us. The journey will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until next time Las Vegas. <\/p>\n
With this trip, I\u2019ve now visited Las Vegas at least once per year every year since 1997 (I think). In the 90s and 00s, I was going with my dad to all of his industry conferences. I snuck into Comdex, the Venetian Gold Room, and was the king of the Circus Circus midway games (at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/img_0765-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pQyAq-vR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":753,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2014\/01\/09\/a-love-affair-with-las-vegas\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":0},"title":"A love affair with Las Vegas","date":"January 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I think most folks know how much I love Las Vegas. I don't think anyone really knows why. Here's the history. I first remember coming to Las Vegas when I was 12 years old. We stayed at the San Marino hotel which is right by the airport. If I'm not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "just thinking out loud"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1687,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2016\/01\/08\/viva-las-vegas\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":1},"title":"Viva Las Vegas\u00c2\u00a0","date":"January 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0It's one of my favorite weekends of the year... CES in Las Vegas! Since... 2003 or 2004... Or maybe earlier... We've come yearly. It's a boys only weekend, and the days of Luka and Theo coming are fast approaching. My only hope is that we get all three generations here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Updates"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2014\/01\/10\/las-vegas-scorecard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":2},"title":"Las Vegas scorecard","date":"January 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm posting this the next morning, but this is really Friday's post The final score is in. I lost a little bit of money, I saw a little bit of CES, and the rest of the time was better than it has been in years. We stayed at both the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Updates"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":792,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2014\/01\/18\/aydins-annual-pilgrimage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":3},"title":"Aydin's annual pilgrimage","date":"January 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year since about 2002 (for argument's sake. I can't actually remember), my father, Aydin Yardim, and I have met in Las Vegas during CES to ring in the new year; eat at a steakhouse; and get in a show. It's become the one family tradition which is constant and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Updates"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1348,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2014\/11\/17\/3-days-til-30\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":4},"title":"3 days til 30","date":"November 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I've run out of ideas, and steam. So today's post will be a photo gallery of the last 10 years. Thanks for keeping up with me :-) (Post-looking up all of the photos... holy shit what a great decade)","rel":"","context":"In "just thinking out loud"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":913,"url":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/2014\/02\/11\/applied-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":1975,"position":5},"title":"Applied learning","date":"February 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As I'm in the car a bit more than I was in the past, I've been getting back into the swing of listening to podcasts. One of my favorites is Startups for the rest of us. I went to their conference in Las Vegas back in 2012, and I've worked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entrepreneurism"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onvural.net\/melih\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}