Back in Vegas
October 22nd, 2007 by Steve Pavlina
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Erin and I are back in Las Vegas after a wonderful week in New York City. We’ll write a full review of the trip and share some photos later this week.
Saturday’s Manhattan meet-up went very well with 40-50 people attending. We had a lot more RSVPs than that, but I’m sure we lost some people after switching to an AM meeting time. I was glad to see everyone mingling so well, which gave Erin and me the chance to talk to people one-on-one and in small groups. For the last 20 minutes, Erin and I did some Q&A on a variety of topics. One of the attendees brought a video camera, so perhaps he’ll post the video on YouTube or otherwise share it. Most of the attendees came from New York or New Jersey, but others came from Pennsylvania, Maine, and even Canada.
I really enjoyed the energy of New York City. It’s a very active and busy place, and Erin and I had lots to do. The vegan food was absolutely incredible — way better than anything we’ve found in Vegas, L.A., or the San Francisco Bay Area. We did a moderate amount of sight-seeing, hit a couple of the museums, rode the subway many times, and did lots of walking around. The highlight of the trip for me, however, was hooking up with friends and learning more about the city from the locals’ perspective.
To some degree Manhattan reminds me of the Las Vegas Strip, but overall the people seemed busier and more stressed in NYC. The service personnel in Vegas are, as a rule, way more friendly and less uptight. I’m also used to seeing a lot more smiles in Vegas, so it took a while to get used to the more frequent sullen expressions on the streets of NYC. Perhaps NYC just needs some free alcohol to lighten the mood. 
I think what gave me the most personal growth on this trip was observing the contrast between living in Vegas and the glimpse we had of daily life in Manhattan. There were many similarities but also some striking differences, which I’ll explore in detail when I write up my trip review.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:55 pm
[...] I had a really inspiring weekend. An inspiring bus ride down to NYC and back (16 hours in all!), an inspiring time with some of my friends, and an inspiring time meeting Steve and Erin Pavlina along with a bunch of other like-minded souls – which was the ostensible reason for my trip. I think that Steve and Erin’s message actually ends up being very simple: do what you love to do – that which feels like it’s in alignment with your life’s purpose, contribute value to the world, and the world will contribute value back to you. You’d think it would be easy to figure out what you “love to do” and what’s “in alignment with your life’s purpose” – but that isn’t always the case. Maybe it’s because it’s been so long since you felt passionate about what you were doing that you forgot what it even feels like? Maybe it’s because you WERE following your dream, but something came up (like an injury, for instance) that stopped you in your tracks, and now you need a new dream to follow? Whatever the reason, is there a surefire way to figure out what you love, something that’s in alignment with your life’s purpose? You betcha! [...]