The Difference Between ChildFree Men and ChildFree Women

The Difference Between ChildFree Men and ChildFree Women

Has anyone but me ever noticed how different friendships are between men and women? 

My husband will tell me about a coworker or friend or cousin, and I ask him the standard questions, Married? Kids? Frequently, my husband will say he doesn't know. WHY? Because it does not come up and it has no bearing on their friendship status.  

When women meet, even if we have no real friendship interest in the other, we will ask the standard questions, Married? Kids?  The answer to those questions determines quite a bit with women. Some insecure married women do not like to be friends with single women.  

When women are friends, it is pretty much accepted that the children will be part of the friendship. Coffee? Wine? Lunch? Movie? Yeap, the kids will be there for all of it. The only way that activities are not including the kids is when they are in school or maybe at a sport or activity. 

For men, they can be friends for years, hang out, do stuff together, spend lots of time together and never even MEET the other guy's kids. Why? 

Why are men given a kid free pass and women are not?  

The Las Vegas Neon Museum, July 4, 2019

Las Vegas Neon Museum
July 4, 2019

We spent a few days in Vegas for the July 4th weekend. We have been to Vegas on July 4th a few other times. Although, July 4th is a major holiday, its summer which is peak of the Vegas Peak Season, Vegas doesn't really "go all out" for July 4th. Vegas doesn't really do much for New Year's Eve either, but that is a story for another day.

Since moving to California in 2015, we have traveled to Vegas easily 100 times. But in all those trips, we had never gone to the Neon Museum. We've always wanted to, we just never made time. 

Both of us are fans of all of the history of Old Vegas. I definitely was surprised at how small the neon museum is. I guess I just expected to see every possible neon sign that has been retired.

I love that the neon museum has bought the names and logos for several of the old Vegas hotels. You can actually get objects from some of the old Vegas hotels like the old plastic room keys and the old ashtrays. It is really a great way to look at some of the history of old Vegas.

If the Neon Signs could talk, just imagine the crazy stories they could tell. 

Las Vegas

The Vegas Life for ChildFree

If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be handing out advice and recommendations about Las Vegas, I would have said they were nuts. My husband and I visited Las Vegas together for the first time in 2013. My husband had been here about 5 times when he was in high school. In 2013 we stayed at Luxor because my priority in 2013 was to see Cris Angel. In 2015, we moved to Southern California. We arrived in Oceanside, but we had a couple days before we could pick up the keys to our house, so we went to Vegas for a few days. We stayed at Mirage for 2 days and then stayed at Bally's for 2 days. We got settled in, and then quickly came back to Vegas about 4-5 weeks later. 

I had no idea that in 2016, we were going to be visiting Las Vegas at least once to twice a month. My husband and I had points with the Caesars Entertainment group, and got free stays fro his playing, so we made it a goal to stay at all of the properties in Vegas that are part of the Caesar's group. We accomplished that goal. We are now working on staying at all of the MLife Properties. We've stayed at 3 so far, so we have quite a few to go. I can't even count now how many times that I have been to Las Vegas. There are less hotels on the strip where we haven't stayed, than were we have stayed. We have seen tons of shows. We have eaten at tons of restaurants. I feel like the focus of our travel blog could be nothing but Vegas, Vegas, Vegas and I would have a million things to write about. 

I get asked by people what is your number one piece of advice for someone who is visiting Las Vegas for the first time. I would say my number one piece of advice would be, if there is a show, museum, or attraction that is on your "bucket list" check the schedule. Shows have dark weeks and dark days. Museums and attractions have closed days and sometimes will close to upgrade or renovate. Check the schedule! Don't fly to Vegas hoping to see Celine and visit the CSI attraction and get here and realize she is not performing that week and CSI is closed. Sam with the pool schedule. Don't show up in February thinking the pools will be open. My second piece of advice is just as important, DO NOT pay full price for anything. Just about everything has a discount. Hotels, shows, restaurants all have discount codes or coupons. Some shows have BOGO deals, or attend one show, get tickets to the other for free. Some hotels have special deals for guests. Don't pay full price for anything!

We have stayed at a variety of hotels. Everyone has had a different flair and feel. They also all have different restaurants, shows and even the casino games can be different at the different hotels. Some hotels are better for the under 25 crowd, some are better for kids, some are better for the older crowd. They all just vary. Doing your research based on the group you are visiting Vegas with is very important. My husband really likes Caesar's Palace. But when my sister came to Vegas for her first time, we stayed at Planet Hollywood because I really thought she would like that better due to the setup and the location. If my sister was to visit again and bring my niece, we would probably pick another hotel where my niece would have more things to do. 

Las Vegas is like my vacation home now. Even though we have been to Vegas a countless number of times, each time we try to do new things and we always have a good time. I head home from Vegas totally exhausted, but ready to go back for the next adventure!

Forever a Party of Two

Forever .... A Party of Two

We will forever be a Party of Two, but not in the way that most will think that I am referring to. True, we will forever be a party of two at home in that we are never going to have children and we do not have an immediate plans for any pets.  Today, I am tackling the fact that it feels like we will forever be a party of two when we dine, travel etc because friends without children are RARE.

The Childfree over age 35 frequently end up being friends with empty nesters or those who have busy, never home teenagers. Trying to be friends with those who have little kids is just impossible. The interests and schedules are just completely different. Its rare that parents can go out on a School Night. When they can or when they do, it is either something really special or they are done and home early enough to not disrupt the regular night schedule. For a childfree couple, we rarely have a "school night".  Both of us have taken a variety of courses, training, conferences, etc at various points in our careers which made us have to study and do homework on a week night, but normally, a week night doesn't have much difference for us. We can go and do what we want.

At various times we have had a varying number of couples or friends around us in various points of their lives. Some were never married, some were empty nesters, some were trying every day, it was just different for each couple. However, since moving to California, a place I considered to be more progressive than my home of Virginia, I was shocked to find the lack of ChildFree people. I figured anywhere I went, outside of the military community obviously, that I would have no problem finding couple who either didn't or were delaying the whole children thing. I have been shocked to realize that even outside of the military community that every where I look, it is still families, families, families. 

We have pretty much decided that we aren't going to bend, and go out of our way to be friends with people with kids. You can't go out on a Wednesday? Nope we are not rescheduling to when the kids don't have a game. Your problem is not my problem. It gets exhausting trying to work schedules around something I did not choose.  Have I accepted being a party of two? Maybe not 100%. I hope that one day, we meet a couple more interracial, married, childfree couples who enjoy traveling and dining out. Will we? I don't really know. One amazing thing in our marriage is we actually get along, and we actually enjoy spending time together. If we never meet any further childfree couples, we will still travel, we will still enjoy life. 

Our life is on our terms. We don't have to work based on someone else's schedule. Our married life is crazy enough being on active duty military. Whether we are surrounded by friends, or just surrounded by our love, our childfree status isn't changing, and our wonderful life is only going to get better.

Vegas Baby!

Vegas Baby!

I decided to take a solo trip to Vegas at the end of January. I had some freebie days at the Caesars Properties. I decided to stay at Linq. I hadn't stayed at Linq in a long time. My husband and I have stayed there maybe 2-3 times. 

Linq and Cromwell are probably the only Caesars Properties without a Starbucks and with me being a huge Starbucks fan, I probably should have stayed at another property.

I decided to seize the opportunity to see a few shows and go to a few exhibits that my husband would not be remotely interested in. I walked and walked and walked. I swear I got well over 20,000 steps each day. It was at the end of January, so the big conference of January, CES, was already over. But of course, its Vegas, the convention capital, so there still were conventions going on. 

I had a good time, even though I was solo. I enjoyed the weather. It definitely was not too cold or too hot. My husband and I will be back in Vegas together in April.

La Reve - The Dream

La Reve - The Dream

Several years ago, (I think 2014) the season finale of Face Off was held at the Wynn in Las Vegas. The finalists had to create make ups for their final that would be worn in the show La Reve the Dream. Ever since seeing that episode, I was super excited to see the show. La Reve is super popular and sells out every night. It is consistently rated the Best Show in Vegas. Due to its popularity, it is very rare to find any discounts for the show online, or in person, even in the off season. Since moving to California, my husband and I have been visiting Las Vegas frequently, so I knew eventually we would get to see the show. 

My husband was deployed and I got an email offer from the Wynn hotel. It was a package that included 2 nights, 2 buffets, and 2 tickets to La Reve the Dream for about the price of the 2 hotel nights. I got a friend to go with me, and we took Wynn up on their offer. 

The show was every bit of amazing. The theater is in the round, with performers on the stage and in the air. Honestly, there really isn't a bad seat. It is truly a show where there is action every where. We were sitting sort of in the middle and we saw everything without an issue. Those who choose to sit closer to the stage might have an issue.

If you are going to be spending time in Vegas, you definitely need to check out the show. It is an amazing show that takes you through a beautiful journey. The show goes through love, dreams, happiness, challenges and sends the viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions.

The acrobats and performers are extremely talented. The show takes place in and out of the water, and high in the air. Prepare to be thrilled and see the best show of your life.

Heroes and Villains Fan Fest, San Jose, CA

 

Heroes and Villains Fan Fest

San Jose, CA

December 1, 2018

 

 

 

Fan Conventions, or "Comic Con" are super popular these days. I think it is a combination of the fans going to any length to see their favorite celebrity in person and celebrities either trying to stay relevant or trying to reboot a career. Some of the conventions are super small, and some like the notorious Comic Con in San Diego are ridiculously huge.

 

 

After getting a ton of emails, I randomly decided to get tickets to Heroes and Villains. I have always been a huge fan of Arrow and Flash, so I felt like I just HAD to go.  Unfortunately for me, San Jose is a hike, so the cost of the convention was also airfare and hotel. But it was worth it!

 



 

 

 

The Heroes and Villains Convention was also in combination with a Walker Stalker event, which is a fan event for those fans of the Walking Dead. I've watched one episode of the show, so I am definitely not in the fan category for that show. I was there to see everyone from Arrow and Flash.

 

The panels were pretty good. The Flash panel was quite funny with Robbie Amell crashing and joining when his booth time was up. There were some good questions, and some typically bad questions. Overall, it was a good convention.

 

 

 

I feel like for the size of the convention center in San Jose, I figured the convention would actually have been bigger than what it was, especially with the Walker Stalker convention. I was thinking that there was going to be more vendors there. There was a fairly good quantity of vendors, but I guess I was just thinking there would be more.

 





 



MSC Seaside, June 9-16, 2018

MSC Seaside

Miami, Florida

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Nassau, Bahamas

Our First Cruise on MSC was MSC Seaside out of Miami. 

This was our 10th cruise overall. However, the first 9 were on Carnival.

Our cruise journey definitely started out quite interesting. First when booking and checking in, we had to get used to how MSC does it. I actually liked their system better.
Instead of opening your on board account ahead of time, you have until you have been on the ship for 48 hours before your account is "on hold" until you put a credit card down. It can be done from one of their many kiosks, so we definitely did not have to stand in some long line.

We have cruised out of Miami before but MSC was at a different terminal. When we got to the terminal, our Lyft driver pulled right to the luggage cart. He was actually not in a parking space. He was just trying to get us to the pile of luggage as close as he could.
As we get out of the car, I have my husband asking me questions, the Lyft driver talking to me, and the dock worker talking to me asking me questions. Even though the dock workers are unionized, get an $15 an hour, they still expect tips. We had 3 bags that the handlers had to move from the ground to the cart. That was it. We were right by the luggage cart. If we had been further away, I could understand. I opened my wallet while talking to the driver and my husband and THOUGHT I grabbed a $5 for our 3 bags. My standard in the past had been $2-$3 basically $1 per bag. If we are getting on earlier and our room isn't ready, we check more. If our room would be ready, we carry on more.

In this case, our room would be ready. The dock worker took our 3 bags, one spinner suitcase, one regular roller, and a garment bag. I thought I handed him a $5. He looked at what I tipped and gave me the world's dirtiest look. I have gotten worse looks from people when I intentionally did something bad to them. Finally the Lyft driver was satisfied and left, my husband took off towards where we would check in, and took off after him.
Later, I looked in my wallet and realized I must have given him a $1 instead of a $5 based on what was in my wallet. It was an accident. 
We got on the ship, ate, did the safety drill, went to dinner, waited and waited waited. My husband had his luggage. But my suitcase with our toiletries, my medication, ALL of my clothes was never delivered.
Finally at 9:15pm I could not wait any longer and I went to guest services and then was directed to the "no tag: area. Thankfully my suitcase was there, and my luggage tag was easily visible.
I could tell where the tag had been ripped off clearly the dock worker was angry that I had not tipped what he expected. It made the cruise start off on a sour note, but it was not MSC's fault.

Other things about the cruise definitely made up for it. 

Get Over It

We all make our own choices in life. The best thing you can do in life is make the choices that work for you and what you want out of life. We have chosen to not have children so that we can be free to travel and enjoy our free time. We wanted a life without constraints. 

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico

Cabo, or Los Cabos is one of those legendary places where you hear about the amazing views, the wonderful people, the excellent food and of course The Partying. Traveling on both coasts of Mexico, I have learned that the culture is deep, beautiful and proud. 

We took and Land and Sea Tour to get acquainted with the area. Of course the highlight of the water part of the tour is getting as close to the Arch as possible. There is a small beach in the arch area, one side of the beach opens to the Sea of Cortez and the other side opens to the Pacific Ocean. Its one of a few crazy places like this in the world where one beach can swim in two bodies of water.

Part of our tour went to a glass blowing factory, a restaurant, shopping, and a few other places with some amazing views along the coast.  I was totally fascinated by the glass blowing process. It honestly seemed though that it was more of a tourist thing, like the factory only existed just as something to do for tourists until we got to a restaurant for our lunch and tequila tasting. Then I saw how all of their bar ware had come from the place we just left. It was quite an interesting lesson in zero waste. The restaurant and bar sends the glass blowing factory their beer bottles to recycle and the glass blowing factory made them amazing bar ware. 

Los Cabos is one of a few places where the old meets the new in this balanced way. Its truly someplace that I would love to spend a long amount of time. Its also in my dreams for retirement. 

The Child Free Life

The Child Free Life is not "luck". It is a deliberate choice. I hate it when people say we are "lucky". It makes it sound like they regret their choice to have children. We definitely do not regret our choice not to have children. We have enjoyed an amazing life full of fun and travel due to not children to deal with.