During the recent school holidays, my family and I flew across the globe for an unforgettable trip to Las Vegas, Disneyland, Los Angeles and a cruise around Mexico!
Each destination was full of surprise features, all so special in their own way, so it’s hard to pick favourites.
My parents planned and saved for this trip for over five years, and with the expert help from local Katrina Cole and her team at House of Travel Botany, everything went smoothly … well, nearly all smoothly.
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” That’s what my family and I were told by many locals of the chaotic city of Las Vegas.
Though this rule often applied, but I am going to break this rule one time to spill the beans on day one.
After 24 hours of travel and being incredibly tired, we got to our hotel in Vegas and when asked for my mum’s passport to check in, it was MISSING, NO passport.
To cut a long story short, over an hour of panic, calling House of Travel agents, and the New Zealand Consulate, we’d found it.
It had dropped out of my dad’s bag “accidently” at the airport and had been handed in.
Anyway, apart from this terrifying mishap on day one, I’m about to share with you some of the coolest parts of our trip in Vegas!
Lots of things about Vegas surprised me. Firstly, the extreme heat from when we stepped off our plane. It was 35 degrees at 9pm, and during daytime it reached 43 degrees!
Another thing that gave us a taste of how different New Zealand and Vegas really are was when we walked out of our plane and we saw rows of slot machines welcoming us!
Many people were gambling while they waited for their planes, also there were DOGS at the airport. Dogs are allowed to travel in the US – I’d love that for New Zealand.
We stayed at the MGM Grand for four nights, located at the south end of the Strip.
Once we got over the missing passport saga, we went for a stroll down the Strip, marvelling at new sights, the bustling environment, beautiful fountain shows, musicians and crazy people from all walks of life.
During the day we rode the world’s largest operating observation wheel, The High Roller.
From the top you could see things like the Sphere, the STRAT, and a breathtaking panoramic view of the mountains surrounding Vegas.
We also saw shops like M&M world, Coca-Cola world, Hershey’s World, and we were shocked to find out all hotels we visited, including our own, had a shopping mall!
The coolest one was at the Venetian Resort, because inside it portrayed the Grand Canal in Venice – it looked so real!
Along with the Venetian, many places were impersonated around Vegas. One hotel called New York New York, featured miniature versions of the city buildings, including the Empire State Building, and a smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty.
Circling the hotel was a huge rollercoaster that I went on with my family.
There were various places around the world displayed in Vegas, such as the Eiffel Tower from Paris, the Pyramids and Pharaohs from Egypt, the Colosseum from Rome and more!
My rating of Vegas as a 14-year-old was 10/10. I could have stayed an extra few days to see more sites and lap up the Vegas ways, but we had a tight schedule and more to see.
Stay tuned for more stories on my US trip. Next stop, Los Angeles and Mexico.

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