I’ve been busy lately. In addition to my day job and my writing, I’ve been working on a new website that combines Vegas, travel, and the incredible amount of time I’ve spent surrounded by little kids and little kid stuff in the past few years.
The site is called Viva Tot Vegas. It’s a guide to bringing small children to Las Vegas, supplemented with book, show, toy, and clothing reviews.
You might have seen a few mentions on my Facebook page—I did a very soft launch about two week ago–and I’ve now gained enough critical mass that I’m ready to officially roll the site out.
A few things contributed to my wanting to do this site. First of all, I get a lot of questions about what to do with little kids in Vegas. Instead of typing pages of email replies to every request, I figured I’d just create a site. Second, I’ve been saying for while that niche travel is the future of the business. What better way to test out my theory than by jumping in and getting involved with a niche that I’ve come to know a lot about. I’m not at a stage where I can creditably write about Vegas nightlife, fine-dining, or (adult) shows, but sharing the pros and cons of stroller vs. Bjorn in a casino? That I can do.
Thanks to Hunter Hillegas, fellow Vegas Gangster and majordomo of Vegas Media Group, I’ve got a nice sandbox where I can develop Viva Tot Vegas. Right now, I’m still developing the site, but the score of travel tips and reviews I’ve got are a good guide to where I plan to take it.
This site’s also a lot of fun because I get to work with my wife Suni, who’s going to be offering her own perspectives and reviews, making this a real family affair.
For all of you “kids don’t belong in Vegas, ever” people, I know where your coming from. In fact, I’ve stickied one of my first post, which gives you seven great reasons NOT to bring kids to Vegas. The point of the site isn’t to encourage people to bring toddlers to Vegas. It’s to help people who, because of a family gathering or other circumstances, find themselves having to bring their small kids to Vegas.
And, you’ll be happy to learn, the site has two main purposes:
- Shield your young children from the worst of Las Vegas
- Shield Las Vegas from the worst of your young children
In other words, people who come to Vegas to have an adult good time shouldn’t be subjected to your (or my) kids any more than they have to be, and vice versa.
Like with any new venture, I’ll see where this takes me. If you want to get involved, you can follow my site’s Twitter feed @vivatotvegas, subscribe to the RSS feed, or just plain bookmark it.
Thanks for checking it out, and look for more content (almost) daily. I’ll be answering the question of, “How friendly is hipster-heaven Cosmopolitan to little kids” next week. That should be worth the price of admission alone.