Since I skipped my introduction and went straight into ranting about the hardship of life, I will take this opportunity to share a piece of my life and that is the story of the city of Angels and my love & hate relationship with it, but no matter how much I sh*t on LA, it will always be a huge part of me as I consider it more home than my real hometown.
Los Angeles is the type of city where you can have multiple different experiences in one day; you can meet the sunrise at the beach and hit the slopes in the sunset, or start your morning with a hike in the Angel Forrest and end a night with a drink overlooking the city. It is so spread out that the possibilities are endless if you get bored with it you just hope on the 5 freeway and it’ll take you to the never sleeping Vegas or nerdy San Francisco. But anyone who knows a bit about US geography knows this, absolutely nothing to be amazed about.
Not everyone who lives in Los Angeles wants to be an actor, yet everyone who lives in Hollywood is inevitably dipped into a box with glitter, but not all that glitter that shines. You will encounter a mass of people that are in the constant chase for more followers, more glamour, or whatever it is that fuels their inner hedonist. They will refuse to invest in the future but will invest in a faster car and bigger boobs.
But don’t be discouraged, LA is not only Hollywood, we have beautiful landscapes and obviously, the bloody ocean where you can run away to reconnect with nature and find your inner zen, which is a great thing to do after spending few hours in a traffic :)
This same city can make you feel as you’ve aged in days, but could also bring out your inner child and make you feel pure again. It can be a roller coaster of emotions or a devious abyss of numbness. At the end of a day, it doesn’t matter what city you go to it is about who you bring along, and usually, one person you can’t ever escape is yourself.
Not a secret that living in the city can be exhausting; we often lose the connection with inner self, we get swamped off our feet with ambitions and/or are simply overwhelmed by trying to compete with others. Maybe none of the above applies to you and you are happy and content with yourself. Whatever the case might be, a big plus of living in Los Angeles is access to nature amid other activities. I am the type of person who will give up 2 hours of a comfortable plane flight for 8 hours of a road trip, even if it is spent in silence. There is something about watching the change of the scenery that I find incredibly relaxing.
When I lived in Los Angeles, I’d often hop in a car with a friend and our conversation would go something like this,
“Just drive up north on PCH until the sun sets and play my music”
A few hours later we’d find ourselves in some sketchy and dark town between Santa Barbara and Ventura, or in the Big Bear Mountains watching the sky full of stars. On some days when I’d feel more adventurous I’d find myself in the Indian Reservation Casino playing poker against several men with bloodshot eyes after 40 hours of gambling.
I can write endlessly about the city, the views, nightlife, people, lifestyle but it won’t be anything you haven’t heard or read about, but at the end of a day, beauty is in the eye of a beholder.
