The snow storm is coming in town soon. I had tried to cancel my hotel, but the credit card company who made my booking never did really cancel it and not even notify me. I have been trying to cancel the flight too, but the airline told me to wait for the announcement if the weather really got worse. On the Friday before long weekend, the weather was still calm and peaceful after work. “Let’s pack and go,” I said. P and I landed in Las Vegas right before midnight.

The original plan was to just spend the weekend in Las Vegas. During these 3 days, the snow storm overwhelmed Portland. Strong gust brought down trees and damaged power line. The entire city was snowed in and half of the city lost power and heat. The night before our return flight, I decided to change the flight and stay in Las Vegas for 3 more days.

I brought my work laptop with me and it was a great decision. If I had to go back in Portland, I would have to stay in a hotel anyway because there was no heat, no electricity, and no internet at home.

It felt a little bit unreal to work remotely while staying in a casino. Every morning I would go down, grab coffee and breakfast, walk across the bustling casino lobby, and return to my quiet room. I stayed in the room all day, working on my laptop. When I got off work it was dark outside. P and I took long walk before and after dinner in the Las Vegas Strip. Ironically, my watch registered a way higher number of steps than normal during my week spent in the Strip.

Then a second snow storm hit Portland, and the city was still icy, my home still has no internet. We decided to go to somewhere with nice weather too. P rented an Airbnb in Santa Monica and off we went. We even worked in the LAS airport lounge while waiting for our flight to LAX. We ended up staying 3 more days in LA and returned to PDX after 9 days of “work from the road”.

Since I took this job, I have never imagined that I could work from the road - just like a “digital nomad”. The pandemic had indeed changed the way I live and work significantly.

Food in Las Vegas

• Istanbul Mediterranean Restaurant
• Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
• Mott 32
• Dominique Ansel
• La Creperie at Paris Las Vegas
• PublicUs
• Taco El Gordo

Food in Los Angeles

• Surawon
• Cafe De Mama
• Kaminari Gyoza Bar
• Yoboseyo Superette
• Sweet Maple & U