Bryan Rahn – Life in the Blue

Dear readers, I apologize for my silence lately. I have been on a brief 2009 tour. Fresh off a trip to the homestead in Minnesota, I loaded up on trips to Des Moines, Kansas City, St. Louis, some city in the Northwest that we don’t talk about at parties, Key West, and of course, Las Vegas. The future still holds another trip (or two) to sin city, one to Wisconsin, Oklahoma City, and frankly, wherever my blessed little heart will take me.

One might think that I love to go visit different places. Which, I do. However, this last trip was a solo flight to Vegas, part for conference and part to just do whatever it is that I do. But while trolling the streets, I learned something…

Dr Seuss engaged the mind of young readers with his book Oh the Places You’ll Go!. Today is your day! The places of mountains and birds and high fliers…

The book talks about visiting all these exotic places and the sights you will see. And I got to thinking, why would I want to visit Des Moines? Why, for the next 45 years, will grown men travel in 7 seater planes to a far reaching island in the keys? I mean, how many times do we need to get slightly less drunk at the same 3 bars on a 2 mile long island. Are we really going to travel to Stillwater? Would I really travel to the great state of Minnesota if Marga and Curtie weren’t there to host?

The answer lies not in looking at the places, but rather the people you share the trips with. When doing this, trips become not a place you went to, but a period of time enshrined as your history of what makes up who you are.

I found myself turning around and saying “Where is his bag?” or “We need to get Vertical” and “That’s what she said!” But sadly, the words fell silent, lost in a crowd of suits straight off the rack from TJ Max. There was no “And on Thursday,” or watching the sun come up from your cab ride home or people being asked to leave the casino. At 8 pm.

Sure, I hit all the regular spots. Sushi at Ah Sin, Miami Vice’s at the pool and my beloved Studio 54. I caught a streak of good cards, caught a hot roller backscratcher, and Studio didn’t disappoint. Editors Note: The winner was – Off strip or not in a hotel.

But without anyone to make them shared experiences, they were just not the same. There was no one to listen to my jokes, exhausting stories and three pronged examples.

In short, when the trip ended, I couldn’t help but feel, well, incomplete. So, Mr. Seuss, I suggest it is not the places you go, but rather the people you’ll see.

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