Hooray! The past whirlwind of back-to-back conferences is almost behind me. I'm sitting in a small club room at the Las Vegas airport waiting to go back to the Midwest and took this as a nice, quiet opportunity to catch up with this blog. Yesterday, two colleagues and I presented a panel session at a conference. I won't say that things are going to calm down for me now that the presentation is over. Now that THAT presentation is done, I hopefully can focus on playing big time catch-up at the office and try to get back into a more regular posting routine here.
Out of all the cities that I've ever presented seminars or attended conferences, Las Vegas is by far my favorite. In fact, I can honestly say that I had very little trigger experiences while at my Vegas conference compared to the nearly constant bombardment I experienced at my Philly conference a couple of years ago. I know some people can take it or leave it when it comes to Vegas but as a lighting designer, it is a truly inspiring and creative city.
The one consistent thing about Vegas that is tough for me, because it is one of my smell triggers, is the prevalence of smoking in casinos. Years ago I heard that there had been an attempt to have a smoke-free casino but from what I understand, it was a total flop. So, I try to minimize my exposure to cigarette smoke by staying at one of the few hotels on the strip that doesn't have a casino called TheHotel. (Yes, that is it's name.) Out of all the hotels I've stayed at while in Vegas (which is a lot), TheHotel is, in my opinion, is the best hotel for someone like me with misophonia. It's a fairly quiet hotel (no noises from the slot machines since there is no casino in the hotel), the rooms are all suites (so the bedroom is separated from the public corridor by the outside door and the door between the living room and the bedroom), the architectural finishes are pretty dark and soothing, and the staff pretty much makes sure that your stay is very relaxing. I also try to get what's called the "V" style suite, which is at the ends of the corridors, so since my room was next to the stairwell, I only had one neighboring guestroom. Didn't hear a sound! I did have to switch rooms once when I first arrived because they put me on a smoking floor but once that issue was resolved, I had a very relaxing stay there.
Outside of the conference, I don't go to Vegas to gamble. If I want to lose money, I'd rather spend a couple of hundred dollars to for a relaxing day at a spa instead of losing it all in 5-10 minutes at a gaming table. For me, the spa is a place where I can truly put the stresses of work and city life behind me and bathe myself in relaxing sensory stimulation: The smell of lavender or other soothing scents, the sounds of harps and other lyrical instruments, the sensual fabrics and other luxurious tactile sensations, the calming dim lighting and even the refreshing drinks of cucumber water or, in this one spa I visited a couple of days ago, a pineapple/cranberry drink. Typically, I don't experience misophonia triggers when I'm in the spa because of how quiet the rooms are, except in some lounge areas that have water cascading down the walls - but even that to me is soothing. Kind of like the sounds of babbling brooks or waterfalls when I would hike back east. I did have an interesting trigger experience a couple of days ago while at the spa...
I just finished a manicure/pedicure (so I'd look my best for yesterday's presentation) and knowing that I'm notorious for messing up my nails shortly after having them done, I decided to go back to one of the lounges to relax for about an hour while they dry more fully. I was casually talking to one of the attendants when out of nowhere, another attendant walked behind me and at right when she was directly behind me, she started whistling a tune. She whistled it less than a foot or two from my ear so instinctively, I immediately put my fingers in my ears and the attendant with whom I was talking looked at me kind of funny. I explained to her about my misophonia and how whistling is one of my worst triggers. The attendant said to me that there's another attendant in the spa who has the same difficulty with whistling and other sounds. She even said that her significant other also has issues with some sounds. Since I had my purse on me, I was able to pull out a couple of "business" cards I put together for this website. I figured if I could help those two people, an perhaps be able to inform others about misophonia, it makes this website and blog all the more worthwhile to me.
Out of all the cities that I've ever presented seminars or attended conferences, Las Vegas is by far my favorite. In fact, I can honestly say that I had very little trigger experiences while at my Vegas conference compared to the nearly constant bombardment I experienced at my Philly conference a couple of years ago. I know some people can take it or leave it when it comes to Vegas but as a lighting designer, it is a truly inspiring and creative city.
The one consistent thing about Vegas that is tough for me, because it is one of my smell triggers, is the prevalence of smoking in casinos. Years ago I heard that there had been an attempt to have a smoke-free casino but from what I understand, it was a total flop. So, I try to minimize my exposure to cigarette smoke by staying at one of the few hotels on the strip that doesn't have a casino called TheHotel. (Yes, that is it's name.) Out of all the hotels I've stayed at while in Vegas (which is a lot), TheHotel is, in my opinion, is the best hotel for someone like me with misophonia. It's a fairly quiet hotel (no noises from the slot machines since there is no casino in the hotel), the rooms are all suites (so the bedroom is separated from the public corridor by the outside door and the door between the living room and the bedroom), the architectural finishes are pretty dark and soothing, and the staff pretty much makes sure that your stay is very relaxing. I also try to get what's called the "V" style suite, which is at the ends of the corridors, so since my room was next to the stairwell, I only had one neighboring guestroom. Didn't hear a sound! I did have to switch rooms once when I first arrived because they put me on a smoking floor but once that issue was resolved, I had a very relaxing stay there.
Outside of the conference, I don't go to Vegas to gamble. If I want to lose money, I'd rather spend a couple of hundred dollars to for a relaxing day at a spa instead of losing it all in 5-10 minutes at a gaming table. For me, the spa is a place where I can truly put the stresses of work and city life behind me and bathe myself in relaxing sensory stimulation: The smell of lavender or other soothing scents, the sounds of harps and other lyrical instruments, the sensual fabrics and other luxurious tactile sensations, the calming dim lighting and even the refreshing drinks of cucumber water or, in this one spa I visited a couple of days ago, a pineapple/cranberry drink. Typically, I don't experience misophonia triggers when I'm in the spa because of how quiet the rooms are, except in some lounge areas that have water cascading down the walls - but even that to me is soothing. Kind of like the sounds of babbling brooks or waterfalls when I would hike back east. I did have an interesting trigger experience a couple of days ago while at the spa...
I just finished a manicure/pedicure (so I'd look my best for yesterday's presentation) and knowing that I'm notorious for messing up my nails shortly after having them done, I decided to go back to one of the lounges to relax for about an hour while they dry more fully. I was casually talking to one of the attendants when out of nowhere, another attendant walked behind me and at right when she was directly behind me, she started whistling a tune. She whistled it less than a foot or two from my ear so instinctively, I immediately put my fingers in my ears and the attendant with whom I was talking looked at me kind of funny. I explained to her about my misophonia and how whistling is one of my worst triggers. The attendant said to me that there's another attendant in the spa who has the same difficulty with whistling and other sounds. She even said that her significant other also has issues with some sounds. Since I had my purse on me, I was able to pull out a couple of "business" cards I put together for this website. I figured if I could help those two people, an perhaps be able to inform others about misophonia, it makes this website and blog all the more worthwhile to me.
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