TIFFYAMA

Another road trip that happened this summer was at the beginning of August when my family, MR.MR. and I drove to Las Vegas for my sister's annual basketball tournament. I always remembered Vegas being a fun place as kid where arcades would scream out to your inner child so that you could have a chance to win the big ticket jackpot that could be redeemed for the biggest teddy bear ever! Who knew all of those stuffed animal prizes would have prepared you for slot machines and card game tables. Pai Gao, anyone?

All games aside, one aspect that I really enjoy while visiting the city that never sleeps is how Vegas gives you the Cliff Notes version of some of the world's most popular sites such as the Eiffel Tower, the Venice canals, and so much more.

But the highlight of this trip was when we stumbled upon Shake Shack, located right next to New York, New York. I always look forward to eating their cheesy fries and their burgers every time I happen to come across a location, and this time was nothing short of tasty. Now that I look back at this trip, all we did was really eat on this trip. Not complaining though!

We ordered the Smoke Stack, the Shack Burger, the Shack-cago Dog, and of course, cheesy fries, a strawberry shake, and a black and white shake (vanilla + chocolate). Food for days!

New York, New York also has a huge Hershey's Chocolate World for visitors to explore. Every chocolate lovers' dream! Even after that massive lunch of ours, we...may or may not have left this store with a chocholate cupcake. #sorrynotsorry

What are your favorite places to visit in Las Vegas, Nevada?

The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world - John Steinbeck

Incase you missed it, here are my previous Summer series posts:
Part 1: Cruisin' Together
Part 2: Sedona, Arizona

Road trips have always been a favorite past time of mine during all seasons of the year. Whether it be to Arizona to visit family (my mom was born and raised in Tucson), or to San Diego for a quick day trip, to Vegas for my sister's basketball tournament, or even to NorCal just because it was more cost efficient, road trips have always given me a sense of family and togetherness.

You sit in the same car with your enthusiastic parent(s), annoying siblings or cousins, and your ever so patient friend or s.o. for hours. You switch off drivers to lessen the amount of driving fatigue. You try to find the best music to play for your road trip, but find out that T-Mobile's data service really does suck and you are left to play the songs you downloaded onto your phone. Pitch Perfect OST for the 3rd time? Heck yeah! And you start playing the name game, having you start of with the letter "A' for a boy's name. "Aladdin!"

But there's that special feeling when driving and/or riding in a car with people you love, from point A to point B - towards that final destination you all had been waiting for. These are the same type of people who are your best supporters in life, sticking by your side through all of your highs and lows of life. Looking out the window makes you see life in a different perspective and all of the opportunities that await. Feeling overwhelmed and need to take a break and fill up that motivation or creativity tank? No problem. Take a class. Join a club. Volunteer. Start a blog (heh heh). But most importantly, surround yourself with the people who love and support you. As long as you keep your goals alive and actively seek to pursue them, you can do no wrong. That's where I am today, and I'm loving every bit of this journey.

It's been about two years since I last left on a plane to travel, but road tripping and spending time with family and friends during these past few months has definitely filled my void of traveling and inspiration in more ways than one. But even after all of the fun and traveling, there's nothing like that feeling of coming home to your own bed. You know it's true.