If this year was a Friends episode, it would be called, “The One With All The Vegases.”

I’ve discovered airplane wifi, and am currently on my way to Las Vegas to see the Eagles at the Sphere.

Again.

These will be my 4th and 5th shows; after waiting all year for availability and prices to drop, I’ve scored fantastic seats for the October 31st and November 1st shows. I have had a song-lyric-inspired costume idea for probably 20 years, and I couldn’t pass up a show on Halloween!

Mr Coyote and I took an absolute dream trip in January, staying 4 nights in Las Vegas and spending 20 hours a day exploring and having an absolute blast, culminating in my first show of the year on Friday the 17th.

The day we got back, I unexpectedly lost my job. It was an underhanded, illegal, but not entirely unwelcome mess, and due to the paperwork they made me sign, that’s about all I can say about that. But it left me with time and money to reinvent myself, so I took another trip in February with a very specific purpose—more on that soon. (I got another full-time job right away, so on that front, I’m thankful that I’m doing just fine.)

This trip is a return to form, and a likely almost-end to an era. My third show was on September 5th and I was a mess…hopefully a “pretty mess,” a la Don Henley’s “You Don’t Know Me At All,” but a mess. I framed that trip as a mistake from day one—at first, Mr Coyote was going to come with me, but then there was also a chance a friend of mine may have come along so he stepped aside. In the end, I went alone, and explained the repeat trip away to new coworkers and skeptical family members by saying “well this trip was an accident…” repeatedly.

Until I believed it too.

I cried when I arrived because I was alone. I called Mr Coyote repeatedly, for hours, just to talk about the things we’d be talking about if we were both there. I was lonely.

I’m usually never lonely on these trips. They have always been for me, and if someone else comes along, that’s a bonus.

I was also trying to explain away the expense, the logic of seeing the same show, the same band, over and over again.

I am as frugal as I can be on these trips, and I haven’t done a thing I couldn’t afford to. But bottom line, this is what I do. I see the same band as many times as I can, because it’s what I love! (Also the setlist has been different at each of my shows, for the record!)

But framing that trip as something I wouldn’t have done alone, something I accidentally booked and got stuck with, messed with my mindset.

I wound up not being happy with my outfit, didn’t like my hair, and, thanks to somebody’s water from down the way, had to sit stock-still squishing my VIP duffel bag between my knees for the duration of the show to keep it from ruin on the wet floor.

For the first time, I couldn’t actually relax. I left the show mad at myself for being so down the whole time, and fully distracted from the absolutely amazing performance. My energy sucked, and instead of disappearing into the show, I remained weirdly separated from it, focused on all the wrong things.

And it’s too darn close to the end for this crazy tour world I’ve lived in for 29 years to be feeling like that. My faves are in their late 70’s, and time waits for no one.

So this one is for me. This is my unapologetic return to my world, seeing two shows, on my own. This trip is only mine, and that is okay! I am on my own, and that means my time is my freedom.

I am frugal, but I am not compromising. I paid for these trips with my time, my mental wellbeing, and my physical health, for years at my old job, and I will use what I earned there to regain my happiness.

I am scared—I’m writing this part at takeoff—but I’m alright. Doing it scared is better than not doing it at all.

I am aware of the tensions surrounding Canada-US travel at the moment, and I’m not blind to the issues in the world. This is my small rebellion: to continue to do what I love, and not let the bad guys win.

I am very knowledgeable about travel, and I’ve used everything I know to piece together this crazy trip. I’ll be writing more about that, because Mr Coyote has pointed out that I have a lot of tips and tricks that are second nature to me after 21 years of planes-trains-and-automobiles-ing my way to shows, but that others may not know.

At the September 5th show, Don Henley addressed the uncertainty and insanity in the world, noting that we all have our cares and worries right now, but he reminded the audience that “we also have an obligation to joy.”

I LOVE that. Because we do. We can’t live in darkness all the time. We need joy to survive. So this is my explanation, my only necessary justification.

I am a Kooky Coyote, and concert trips are my joy.