The Jeff Does Vegas Podcast

Fun fact: The average lifespan of a podcast is roughly 174 days - or just shy of 6 months.  Most podcasters quit before they reach their eighth episode, and it's believed that of all the podcasts currently available, roughly half of those podcasts have 3 or fewer episodes.

By contrast, this podcast has lasted over 5 years and 180 official episodes, not including bonus & special episodes (if you count those, it's over 220 episodes).

I've been giving it a lot of thought lately and I've reached the conclusion that it's time for me to put a lid on Jeff Does Vegas.

But before I go, I felt I owed all of you - the listeners who've kept this thing running for the last 5+ years - an explanation on why now is the time to wrap it all up.

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Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

5 years into my Vegas podcasting journey, I've completed over 200 episodes - including bonus & special episodes.  Way back in the early days of the podcast, I had some pretty cool conversations & covered some great topics that are now buried deep in the archives where anyone new to the show is unlikely to find them.

So, to save people the effort of going on the hunt for them, I'm doing the digging for you with a feature I'm calling, "From The Vault", where I re-share some of the best episodes from the early days of the podcast.

This time around, we're hitting the road...solo.

I do A LOT of solo traveling, particularly to Las Vegas - but I've also done solo trips to other cities including Seattle, Toronto and Los Angeles.

People often ask me what the appeal is of traveling solo. 

Don't I get bored?  Do I worry about my safety?  What does my wife think about me traveling solo?  (The answers to those questions are, in order: no, no and she's fine with it since I'm usually doing stuff she doesn't like)

A lot of folks won't take the jump and book a solo vacation, but I'm hoping my guest for this episode of the podcast might help change a few minds.

Janice Waugh is the founder of Solo Traveler World, a website & online community devoted to people who love to travel solo.

Janice & I talked about the inspiration behind her creating Solo Traveler, the best ways to plan a solo trip, the mistakes to avoid while traveling solo and how to stay safe & out of trouble when you're on your own in a strange city.

If you'd like to connect with Janice & the Solo Traveler community, visit their website at SoloTravelerWorld.com, follow them on Twitter & Instagram, or join the Solo Travel Society on Facebook.

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Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

I'm now 5+ years into this podcast journey now with over 200 episodes available - including bonus & special episodes.  There's a ton of great topics I've covered on the show over the years and a lot of those episodes are now buried deep in the archives.

So, I thought that to save you searching all over the place for those episodes, I'd go ahead and do the digging for you with a feature I like to call, "From The Vault", where I re-share some of the best conversations from the run of the podcast.

This time around, I'd like to share one of my all-time favorite quotes:

"I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious." - Michael Scott, The Office

Whether we like to admit it or not, i think everyone is a little bit superstitious to some degree.  And i don’t think there’s anywhere in the world where that superstitious nature is on display more than in Las Vegas.

Whether it’s a lucky shirt that you always wear when playing blackjack, tapping the buttons in a certain order when playing video poker, or not using $50 bills in slot machines.

And these are just a few examples of things i’ve seen on my many trips to Vegas.

But is there any science behind superstition? To answer that question, i decided to bring in a professional.

Stuart Vyse is a behavioral scientist, a teacher and a writer.  He’s also an expert on superstition & irrational behaviour. 

I wanted to get his take on the world of superstitions.

We discussed some of the most common superstitions & their origins, we chatted about whether or not certain cultures are more superstitious than others and we talked about some famous superstitions in the world of sports, music and theater.

If you'd like to learn more about Stuart and the world of superstitions & irrational behaviour, be sure to visit his website.

Stuart's books, "Believing In Magic: The Science of Superstition" and "Superstition: A Very Short Introduction" are both available via his website or from your favourite book seller. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

I’m now a little over 5 years into my vegas podcasting adventure, and in that time, i’ve completed well over 200 episodes – including bonus & special episodes.  Back in the early days of the show, i covered some pretty interesting topics and had conversations with some pretty incredible guests.  Unfortunately, a lot of those episodes are now buried deep in the podcast archives and the chances of new listeners discovering them are pretty low.

So, in order to save you from having to go digging for them, i’ve put together a feature i’m calling “From The Vault”, where I re-share what I consider to be some of the best content from the early days of the podcast.

And this time around, we’re going to talk about the science of smell…

If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas, you’re well aware of the unique scents of the various casinos & hotels up and down the strip.  In fact, if you ask people what one of their favorite parts of going to Vegas is, they’ll often tell you, “it’s the smell inside the casinos” – and it seems everyone has their preferred casino scent.  So much so that there are literally thousands of posts online from people asking how to either purchase or replicate their favorite casino scent.

But what’s the big deal about smell?  Why is the “scent” of a casino so important that the companies that own them spend - literally - millions of dollars on the development and distribution of these so-called “signature scents”.

To get the answer, i turned to an expert…

Dr. Rachel Herz is a cognitive neuroscientist, a Ted-X speaker, published author, and a world-renowned expert on the psychological science of smell.

In addition, Dr. Herz has worked as a consultant for multiple international corporations on the development of fragrances & flavors – including the company first responsible for installing scent vaporizer systems in The Mirage back in 1991.

Dr. Herz and I discussed how the sense of smell works, the connection between scents and emotions & memory, how businesses use scent to affect customer behavior, and much more.

To learn more about the science and psychology of scent, visit Dr. Herz's website or follow her on Twitter.  You can also pick up one of her books:

• "The Scent Of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense Of Smell"

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

5 years into my Vegas podcasting journey, I've completed over 200 episodes - including bonus & special episodes.  Way back in the early days of the podcast, I had some pretty cool conversations & covered some great topics that are now buried deep in the archives where anyone new to the show is unlikely to find them.

So, to save people the effort of going on the hunt for them, I'm doing the digging for you with a feature I'm calling, "From The Vault", where I re-share some of the best episodes from the early days of the podcast.

This time, I've got inside info that could keep you from making a HUGE mistake on your next Las Vegas trip...

Imagine this situation: You're walking down the strip with your significant other, minding your business, when all of the sudden someone jumps out in front of you and says, "What a lovely couple...how would you like some free tickets to a show?"

First-timers & newbies are thinking, "Sure...where do I sign up?"  Meanwhile, the Vegas veterans are saying, "RUN!  RUN AS FAST YOU CAN...AND RUN FAR AWAY!!!"

As anyone can tell you, nothing in Las Vegas is "free"...and the price of those "free tickets" is having to sit through a Timeshare Presentation.

For this edition of "From The Vault", we're going back to my conversation with Lisa Ann Schreier - aka "The Timeshare Crusader".  Lisa spent over 20 years working in the Timeshare industry and has since moved on to become a consumer advocate, author, and blogger helping to keep people informed of some of the shady practices going on in the business.

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

Many consider it to be the ultimate Las Vegas movie…a film that not only re-defined comedy but helped to put Vegas back on the map as the ultimate playground for adventure and mis-adventure:

It's “The Hangover” – and 2024 marks a major milestone as the film celebrates its 15th Anniversary!

It was all the way back on June 5, 2009 when the world was introduced to "The Wolfpack” and we were all brought along for the ride as they tried to retrace their steps and solve several mysteries from the previous nights’ shenanigans.

Joining me for this episode of the show is David Rosen, the host of “Piecing It Together”, a movie podcast with a twist. 

David and I went in-depth on “The Hangover” as we discussed our first viewing; how it helped to launch the careers of several of the film's stars, the impact it’s had on Vegas tourism, and much more!

Be sure to check out my chat with David Rosen on Piecing It Together as we talked about films related to & inspired by The Hangover, and take a listen to David's conversation with Dayvid Rosen on CityCast Las Vegas and their discussion about the relevance of The Hangover in today's Las Vegas. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

The Hangover - which could be described as the ULTIMATE Vegas movie - is marking it's 15th Anniversary this year.

As part of my own personal celebrations for this milestone, I decided to gather some of my Vegas podcaster friends/past guests for a Hangover watch-along episode!

Joining me is David Rosen, the host of Piecing It Together, a movie podcast with a twist and Dayvid Figler, the host of CityCast Las Vegas, a daily podcast that keeps you updated on the goings-on in Las Vegas.

So here's how this works:

For copyright reasons, I can't play the audio of the movie on the podcast BUT what I can do is invite you to cue up your own copy of The Hangover (whether it's on DVD/Blu-Ray or on your favorite streaming service) and when I give the signal, you press "play" and watch along with us.

Or, you can sit & listen to us laugh & talk our way through the entire film...it's totally up to you!

This is something completely different from anything I've ever tried on the podcast before, so hopefully you enjoy it!

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

Something you may have noticed when traveling, specificially when you travel to Las Vegas, is that people behave in very different ways on vacation than they do when they’re at home.  That might mean drinking more and eating less healthy, taking risks they might not other wise take, or straight-up dropping all their inhibitions and becoming a totally different person…buy why?

Joining me to answer that question – and many more – is Dr. Michael Brein, aka “the Travel Psychologist”.  Michael is an author, lecturer, adventurer, and publisher of numerous travel books and guides.

We went in-depth on the reasoning behind peoples changes in behavior & attitude when they travel, the types of personalities people adopt when they’re on vacation, and whether or not it’s healthy for people to “blow off steam” when they’re away from home.

We also talked about bad tourists and the role social media plays in causing their poor behavior.

If you want to learn more about Travel Psychology and check out some of Michael's books & articles, be sure to visit his website.

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

Now that I'm 5+ years into doing this podcast, with over 200 episodes under my belt, I've realized that early on in podcast, I covered a lot of cool topics that people might not be aware of.  Most of those episodes are now buried deep in the archives and the chances of new listeners finding them are almost nil.

So, to save everyone having to search for them, I thought I'd go ahead and do the digging for you with a feature I'm calling "From The Vault", where I re-share some of the best content from the early days of the show.

This time around, it's sage advice for the Vegas rookies...

Las Vegas attracts tens of millions of people from all over the world every year, and a good number of those people are making their first ever trip to the city.  With so much to offer, Vegas is one of those places that can be extremely overwhelming for a first-timer - but don't worry...your friends will help you out with suggestions on hotels, restaurants, shows, and attractions.

What they likely WON'T tell you is all the things they did WRONG on their Vegas trips...mistakes than can literally make or break your Vegas vacation.

For this edition of "From The Vault", we're heading back to my conversation with David Demontmollin, a 20-year gaming industry veteran who's worked at both on and off-strip properties in Las Vegas.  David is also the author of the book, "Classic Vegas Mistakes", in which he runs down the biggest errors Vegas visitors make and how to avoid them.

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!

We're headed into another Las Vegas pool season!

As the weather heats up and resorts start opening their pools, I've been seeing a lot of questions online about the pool scene in Vegas, specifically about Day Clubs & Pool Parties.

People want to know about prices, dress codes, etiquette, and everything in between.  So, in an attempt to help you out, I've enlisted an expert to assist!

Christalle Dalstead is a Las Vegas Promoter and the creator/owner of Vegas Free Guest Lists.  For the last decade, Christalle has been working with Vegas visitors to make sure they have amazing experiences during their time in Sin City - and she was kind enough to come on the podcast to share her vast knowledge with us.

We discussed what to wear, how to act, and what to bring.  We also talked about Cabanas & Daybeds (are they worth it?) and Christalle gave us an idea of what you can expect to spend for a day at at a Pool Party/Day Club.

If you're headed to Las Vegas and want to book an unforgettable day or night out, reach out to Christalle via DM on Facebook or Instagram.  You can also send her a text message at 303-589-9407

__________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Does Vegas is an official Vegas.com affiliate! 

Help support the podcast & get exclusive deals by booking your hotel stays, shows, attractions, tours, clubs and even complete vacation packages (including air & hotel) with our special link!