California
Oh California, what a state!
📍 Anaheim, Huntington Beach, San Diego, Long Beach, Catalina
🗓️ April 1997
My first visit to California was for a family vacation to go to Disneyland. We flew into Los Angeles and spent a couple days in Anaheim going to the park. Then, we went to Huntington Beach so my mom could spend time with her cousin who lived there. Then down to San Diego to explore the zoo. And finally, back up to Long Beach to catch a cruise ship that was headed for Mexico. We spend a day on Catalina Island as part of the cruise, too.
📍 San Francisco, Sausalito
🗓️ May 2014
My friend Kristin and I traveled to San Francisco for a long weekend in May 2014 to visit a friend we had from Australia. She and I had traveled through Europe for several weeks in the summer of 2009 and made friends with many Australians during that trip. A few years later, one of those friends came to visit us in the US and was traveling with one of his friends. Still with me lol? Kristin and I went to go visit the friend of the friend who had also become our friend. He was working for Google and based in San Francisco. What a weekend we had. We did it all! My favorite memories are riding bikes along the coast over the Golden Gate bridge into Sausalito where we stopped for lunch and did some shopping. We had such a good day. Also all the nights we spent out dancing until the wee hours of the morning. There’s nothing quite like being young, dancing the night away surrounded by friends without a care in the world.
📍 San Francisco, Sausalito, Tiburon, Monterey, Carmel by the Sea, Big Sur, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, Palm Springs, Palm Desert
🗓️ June 2016
This was a big trip — a road trip down the coast — and one where I got to experience so much of the amazingness that is California. It lives rent free in my mind. And it would be impossible to pick a favorite part. I can tell you though for sure, that trying to drive through LA was my least favorite part. So.. much.. traffic.. And like 8 lanes each way? When I’m trying to drive somewhere new that I’m completely unfamiliar with? Yea, no thank you.
📍 Irvine, Dana Point, Laguna Beach
🗓️ September 2016
Back in the mid 2010s I was really into Tone It Up. Two trainers in California who were friends (allegedly lol…IYKYK) started a fitness brand and led workouts geared towards women. I loved their workouts. And for a couple of years they hosted retreats. I went in the fall of 2016 with a friend I made who also loved the brand. It was in Dana Point. There was also an event in Laguna Beach. And we spent time outside of the retreat exploring the area a bit more, too. Because how could I be a teen that grew up on the show Laguna Beach and not do that? I couldn’t.