Leaving Las Vegas

After 17 years of living in and loving Las Vegas, I have decided that it might be time to exit. While this is a transient town with people arriving and going daily, leaving Las Vegas is something that I didn’t really expect to happen to me.

I love this city and the community. It’s been good to me. From freelance gigs with well-respected local publications to getting invited to all the glamorous venue and show openings, to being featured on television as a lifestyle or trend expert with advice to share on what to buy and what to wear, I’ve been given the VIP treatment. Well, except when it comes to dating.

Oddly, Las Vegas is often listed as one of the best cities to live for singles, but that hasn’t been the case for me, not at all. In fact, the Sin City single scene has been awful, and I see no hope for improvement in the future.

Men in Las Vegas just don’t date. Oh sure, they’ll “hang out” with women, but not date us, even when we make the plans and pay our own way. It’s as though they just don’t want to leave the comfort of their couch and put a pause on swiping.

I’m not speaking of all men, of course, but for the most part, based on my personal experience, it seems like men just want to hook up, not date, not have a conversation, not get to know me. Now, there are nice guys in Vegas who are well-mannered gentlemen and treat women with respect and dignity. They are few and far between. All I seem to attract are the gross ones who send me “Hi, gorgeous” messages at 2 a.m. And let’s face it, any man who sees fit to send a message to a woman at two in the morning is up to no good.

But I’m a proactive woman. When something in my life isn’t going the way I want it to go, I make a change. I don’t sit around and complain. I take action. And that’s what I’m doing today.

Between now and May 2019, I will be researching certain selected cities where I think there is potential for a robust, fun, and exciting dating scene by visiting them and dating while there. I have closed down all of my online dating profiles, but they will be reactivated for this research and experiment. My hope is to find a new city with great dating potential and a pool of high-quality men who are respectful of women, actually go out on dates, and are interested in getting to know me as a human being and not just trying to use me for their pleasure. Once upon a time, this type of dating scene existed in abundance. Surely, this notion is not completely dead, is it?

I won’t be limiting my research to online dating, either. Per usual, I plan to go out alone, as I always do, and interact with men in person. I do that now in Las Vegas, but again, men here find a lot of comfort on their couch swiping endlessly on their phones. There are very few single men when I go out. And, I go out everywhere.

If worse comes to worse and I fail to find this Utopia within a year’s time, then I’ll just stay in Vegas a little longer until I do. Overall, I have hope. My optimism never wanes.

Aside from traveling, I think the real fun part is that I will be sharing with you my findings. Number one on my list currently is San Marcos, Texas. Its location would bring me closer to my family. That’s important to me. Its cost of living is lower than Vegas (and lower than Austin, which seems to be creeping higher each day). It’s a college town, and professors are hot, right? And because it’s not a metropolitan area, my guess (and hope) is that the douchebag level will be relatively low, with the number of nice guys weighing out the bad.

While my efforts are based on self-preservation, I do hope to inspire all single women who are fed up with their own experiences to take action now. What can you do to improve your life as a single woman? Do you need to alter the bio on your dating profiles? Maybe you need to go out alone more often. Maybe you should travel more frequently. Or, maybe you just need to set your standards higher so that you’re no longer bothered by the scrubs of society. It can get better. There is always hope for improving your situation. I have to believe that.

Leaving Las Vegas makes me sad. Some of the most amazing people I have ever known in my entire lifetime I met here. I will miss them. I will miss the heat. I will miss the food, glamour, and all the thrilling experiences that this beautiful city has to offer. I will hold dear all the memories and lessons learned.

Thank you, Las Vegas, for all that you have given me. I am better, more confident and capable because of you. I may not be of Las Vegas, but I will always be Vegas Strong. Everyone, wish me luck! I need it.