Southern California: A great place to wind down

After my recent visit to New York City, I was ready to relax and enjoy some peace and quiet! Having never been to the West Coast before, I wasn’t sure what to expect on my visit to Los Angeles and San Diego, but I was looking forward to it!

I noticed several things in Southern California:

• People are very laid back. I love this! There is just a general relaxed feeling in the area, and people are generally very patient and kind, at least in my experience.
• I was advised by a local that traffic laws and lights are very respected and that jay walkers are ticketed (good to know!).
• Even when driving on busy highways, it wasn’t overly stressful because drivers allow space for you to change lanes or come off of the on ramps. This was a nice change from New York, and even from Toronto.
• In San Diego, when we needed to cross the road to get to the beach access from our resort, cars would always stop and wave us across.
• The subway system in Los Angeles is a little complicated because it is covering such a large area, but there were always people to guide us so we figured it out. As each stop approaches, the loud speaker not only announces the upcoming stop, but also what attractions can be found there.
• The LA subway system is very affordable.
• Union Station was clean and pleasant, even when busy.
• LAX was easy to get around and find where we needed to go, at least from the Air Canada terminals.
• I didn’t see any celebrities, but I have to admit I wasn’t looking either, lol.
• The landscape in the area is beautiful. At one point I was driving with mountains to one side and the ocean to the other…it was breathtaking.
• The flowers are gorgeous, and they are everywhere.
• We saw a wild fire on a hill, and the fire fighters on the hill fighting it. I have never seen anything like this before, and I don’t think I ever really grasped how dangerous this is. I always pictured them far from civilization, but this was right off of the highway I was driving on and it was clearly a dangerous situation for the fire fighters. Kudos to them!
• SoCal is healthy! There are people biking, walking, jogging everywhere and even the restaurants that I would consider more on the fast food spectrum offered healthy choices like fresh fruit and egg whites.
• There are a lot of thin and beautiful people in Southern California. It’s not just a myth.

To learn more about California or to plan a trip, see Visit California.