When we first decided we were going to get rid of everything that tied us down and travel, we both had our worries, but there was never a doubt in our minds that we wouldn’t like the nomadic lifestyle. D is Southern California born and raised, and I’ve lived here for almost 2 decades. After living in one place for so long… well, it can get quite ordinary. And there’s a whole world out there! So many different cultures and ways of life to experience!
Other people were worried for us though. D’s dad, who’s a extensive traveler himself, told us, “You can go all over the world, but you’ll eventually realize that there’s nowhere better than Southern California.”
Hmmm… I think after traveling to other countries, Southern California seems…. kinda boring and less lively in comparison. Not only is it really expensive, there’s no history here, no culture. It makes you wonder why people would choose to live here when you can live somewhere more interesting for a fraction of the cost. It must be because we have nothing but sunshine 98% of the time and celebrities.
Recently, I was back in SoCal for 3 weeks. It’s just enough time to overcome jet lag, get comfortable, and get a routine going again (errr… if you count sleeping in, reading, eating, napping, eating, etc. as a routine. And sorry for the lack of posts lately… apparently it’s really tough doing a whole lot of nothing). It’s also enough time to do a re-assessment of SoCal through a different set of eyes.
I originally started this list a few months ago after returning home to Southern California for a little bit after South America. And now after another 3 months, I have definitely noticed things about my hometown that I’ve never noticed before – some I’ve taken for granted and some I don’t miss.
Let’s start with the bad!
THE BAD
Lack of public transportation. To survive in Southern California, you must own a car. I wanted to see some friends and didn’t want to spend money renting a car, but nope, there’s no easy public transportation to get to them. Everything is so sprawled out that you need a car to get anywhere. And no one ever walks. Need to go to the Starbucks that’s literally around the corner? Yep, get in the car and drive! I don’t particularly think this is a healthy lifestyle.
Horrendous traffic. So I did up renting a car for several days, and I was immediately reminded why rush hour is the bane of everyone’s existence. There was a day I spent literally one hour to go just 10 miles. Here, it’s perfectly normal to spend 1 – 1.5 hour getting to and from work everyday. That’s 3 hours of a day wasted sitting in a car (yep, I’ve been there)! I know there’s traffic in every major city, but perhaps if there’s a better metro system (see above), there will be less cars on the street.
Poor quality food. You really need to go out of your way to search for high quality food here. I feel like while in South America and Europe, you could go to any random place, and the food would be homemade from scratch. Nothing canned or processed. Everything is exploding with flavor. But in SoCal, a lot of places serve really low quality stuff. The first few days back, everything tasted bland. You really need to search for the fresh stuff.
Tax and needing to tip 20%. I really liked how in other countries, if something says $10, it really means $10. Unlike in the States, you have to mentally add sales tax to it to get the accurate number of how much you’ll be spending. And also, it’s mandatory customary to tip 20% for any kind of service (as opposed to 10% in other countries). It’s gotten to be such a standard here that tip is just expected, even if the service is shitty. Since I’m poorer now, I don’t like loosing my cash to tips.
a beautiful SoCal sunset
THE GOOD
Southern California is immaculately clean. Which means, no dog poop on the sidewalks. This was the first thing I noticed when we came back from South America. After three months there, I developed the habit of looking down while walking, in order to play hopscotch around all the dog poop. So upon getting out of the airport, I walked out looking down as usual, when I noticed… the sidewalks are so clean here that you can practically eat off it.
Mix of cultures. I think this is what I like most about Southern California. It’s truly a melting pot of ALL cultures. No one is a minority. You want a Thai massage, followed by lounging in a hookah bar with bellydancers, and then ending the night at a Korean karaoke joint? No problem! Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Little Saigon… you can practically go around the world without stepping foot outside of Los Angeles. I realized how lucky I am to have been exposed to so many different cultures growing up, which shaped my open mind and acceptance.
Which also brings me to:
Abundance of international cuisine. I also feel spoiled in that we have so many different ethnic food choices. Almost everything is really authentic too. The best dumplings I’ve ever had (short of Grandma’s homemade ones)? It’s in SoCal. The best pizza D’s had even though he’s been through Italy? Again, SoCal. Literally there’s an answer for ANYTHING you can possibly want, and all within a few short minutes’ drive.
Polite drivers. My friend won’t agree with this as her guy was recently the victim of a hit and run, but compared to the rest of the world, drivers here are pretty damn polite. Cars actually obey road signs and stop for pedestrians, even if it’s not the person’s right of way. I got so used to constantly dodging cars and trying not to get run over that it was a huge relief to come back and not be on such high alert all the time.
Free water. I love not having to pay $3 or $4 at restaurants for water! And nobody looks at you funny if you just ask for tap water with your meal.
Toilet seat covers. Yes, I know you’re supposed to just hover over the seat in public restrooms. But sometimes, I really like plopping my ass down and relaxing while I do my business, okay?
And lastly – In N Out is really, really delicious. California may be known for the weather and beaches, but really, I think the In N Out burger steals the limelight. Let me make it clear first that I do not like burgers. I have zero cravings for a burger ever. EXCEPT for if it’s from In N Out. At only a little over $2, their normal hamburger is the cheapest AND most delicious burger on the planet, surpassing even gourmet $15 burgers.
So, are you ready to plan your trip to SoCal/California yet? :P
Have you been to SoCal? Where is your hometown? What did you notice about it after traveling to other countries? What do you appreciate about your hometown?
This post is part of #SundayTraveler with Pack Me To and others, and don’t forget to support all the other participating blogs (links at the bottom of post)!
It’s always fascinating to come back to your home area after extended stints away. I never properly appreciated the little town I grew up in until I came back and stayed for awhile after about 10 years away. I had to stay long enough to get over my prejudices about being in my “boring hometown” and start to explore more. Having out of town visitors helps with this too – playing tourist is a great way to see things with a fresh perspective! I’ve only been to LA in SoCal, and only for a long weekend, but I have to agree -the traffic is enough to scare me off even attempting to drive there!
I think after my time away, I do see SoCal as being a little boring, but I do appreciate it more too! Especially after being in other countries or talking to other people who have no idea what some other cultures’ foods are like. I really appreciate that I grew up somewhere so diverse! Playing tourist in your hometown is fun, and I really did want to take advantage of my 3 weeks home to do that. But renting a car for that long was way too expensive… and with the sucky public transport options, I didn’t really go anywhere new. :(
It’s funny how many of your good and bad comments definitely echo my feelings about Toronto! Everyone drives, traffic is horrible, but on the bright side…yes it is a melting pot of cultures here, incredibly multi-cultural, restaurants of every single variety you can think of! We just don’t have the beautiful beaches all year long!
Yeah! After being in other countries with really limited international food options, I definitely realized now lucky I’ve been to have that in SoCal!! Even other really developed capital cities don’t seem to have nearly as much variety. Toronto sounds really cool based on your description, and I’d love to visit it someday!
It is funny to see a place through new eyes. I do enjoy the fact that is your order food in other countries you’re going to just pay the listed price. Its much simpler, tipping has gone up dramatically lately, but I feel like the govt should just raise servers wages, its impossible for a waitress to live off her salary and 10% tips… I’ve tried. I’ve never been to southern California but I would really like to settle down on the west coast at some point. Maybe a bit closer to the north though.
I know! I wish they would just raise minimum wage for waiters too. I think it’s kinda not fair to expect customers to subsidize their income. Or I may just be saying this now since I’m poorer now, lol. But seriously, a lot of the waiters in Europe didn’t even care about tip because they make enough. Closer to the north like San Francisco is nice, with a lot of character, but I hear it’s even more expensive to live there than SoCal!
I’ve been to Los Angeles a couple of times. The first time I tried taking the metro from LAX to Hollywood, that’s the only time I did public transport. Subsequent times, the first thing I did after touchdown is to get a rental car. And yeah, I also did the 1.5 hours drive from Hollywood Blvd to Santa Monica with lots of cursing while in the car.
I didn’t know you have to tip 20% in SoCal! Isn’t it the standard 10-15%? Gosh! No wonder everyone seems to prissy, I thought SoCal people are just unfriendly!
Lol yep, the rental car is necessary. And oh god, the Hollywood region is always a clusterf***. I to my best to avoid it.
And noooo…. if you just do 10%, people will think you’re stingy. Most people usually tip 15% for lunch and 20% for dinner. And around 20% for services like haircuts, etc. I was actually saying the other day that another good thing about SoCal is that the service is generally pretty good and the waiters are friendly because they all want the big tip!
It’s amazing how time away makes you look at your home in a whole different light! Everywhere has good and bad points. I’ve never been to Southern California, but I can imagine the traffic and the lack of fresh homemade food would be the worst things, beaches and sunshine the best!
Exactly… the grass always looks greener on the other side, but sometimes, it’s not too. I think traffic aside… the worst thing about SoCal is that the cost of living is very high. Not only is rent really expensive, you have to have a car and all costs associated with that, and then good, fresh food is expensive too. But don’t let it scare you from visiting!
You are so southern Californian with your In N Out shout-out! I have a few friends from the area and I’ve heard so much about this burger place I want to get on a plane and go, if only for the burgers…and that gorgeous weather would be nice too! I still can’t get over the fact that one of my friends bought a coat for the first time in college when she was going to study abroad in France, because it never got cold enough to meed one in the LA area. I would love to visit one day!
LOL it’s really good!! And it’s a California specialty that I can be proud of! Seriously, the thought of eating burgers make me gag a little, but I love In-n-Out!
If you end up visiting SoCal day, I could give you tons of suggestions for cool places to see!
I hope I can take you up on that one day – would truly love to visit the area. I also feel like I haven’t really experienced Mexican food yet, without a trip to SoCal (or of course Mexico!). So many reasons to go!
Omg yes!! There’s SO much of that in SoCal. Really authentic ones. That is actually something I noticed about other countries… lack of Mexican food, haha!
Love SoCal but understand the negatives. I come from NY so we have some similarities between our cities. The traffic – 1. Needing a car tho , rough! I can survive as long as there is public transportation but if not, then it’s hard to get around.
I’ve never been to NY (would love to visit someday), but I heard it has a really good public transportation system! I wish LA had something like that. I think the problem, though, is that everything is just too sprawled out.
I think traffic is an issue in so many major world cities – I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and have no idea how it managed to take 2.5 hours on a Sunday afternoon to get from West London to East London when the distance wasn’t even that great?! But I agree with you about tips – I can only speak for myself here but I find the almost compulsory tipping thing such a killer when travelling to the US – I know why it’s important and always try and oblige but we’re not quite so used to hefty tips here and it’s almost like we need 2 separate budgets – one for the US trip itself and then another one for all the tips!
Ugh, I was only in London for 3 days, and I got a taste of the awful traffic! You guys have a great public transportation system though!! Though I imagine, you wouldn’t have wanted to take the metro with your wedding attire :).
Seriously… the tipping in US is ridiculous after visiting other countries!! In a lot of countries, I noticed that people didn’t even care! It really does kill your budget in the US!
I love and hate Vancouver for pretty much all the same reasons. Except maybe the sun. I would love to have that much sun and nice weather year round. Instead we get lots and lots of rain which leaves me pulling out my hair in frustrating (aka right now). I also wish I had In-n-Out nearby. Time to go to Calif me thinks!
HAHA sometimes I would rather live in a place with more rain and cloudy weather because I can’t stand hot weather. But I do admit it’s nice to have beach weather like half the year. Oh man, I’m missing In-n-Out now too. I don’t know why it’s just so good!!