Please fasten your seat belts and turn off all electronics… next stop, Las Vegas!
My job comes with perks, and one of them is traveling to exciting locations, for instance, this particular work trip was to Las Vegas, Nevada. We were there shooting a couple of episodes for the show I helped create each week, and Lowe’s sponsored us at the Kobalt Tools 400.
Jimmie Johnson in the #48 car in Las Vegas.
Being at the track, hearing the loud roar of the engines, meeting rabid fans who camp out for days hoping to watch their favorite driver get the checkered flag is a really fun experience. So is staying at the Venetian Hotel and playing pai gow poker till late in the night. Even when I’m down $80 bucks and say…
“I’m going back to my room to think.”
But it was on this particular trip I again began to struggle reconciling what I do with feeling unfulfilled. I say “again” because it’s not the first time a wave of dissatisfaction came over me. The first time was actually in Vietnam with my sister and brother-in-law. They were adopting a little girl (more on that here), and I went along to capture the story on video. When I was asked by the adoption team in Hanoi what I do for work, the more I explained, the more trivial it seemed. They’re saving kids from a lifetime of poverty and I’m, well, I’m not.
Now in Las Vegas, those feelings wash over me again. I’m in a sour mood (not because of the $80 bucks), wishing I was doing something else entirely, but not having a clue what that could be. In the meantime, more pai gow poker, black jack, and casino war!
-Out of the Wilderness
