San Francisco

Came back couple days ago from a long planned but improvised visit and road trip to California, it has been the best holiday I’ve had in years!

Initially I planned to go early 2020 but then COVID hit, then I switched countries, then I had no time for holidays or traveling. But few months ago I got tickets to go and slowly started to put things together. To be honest after getting tickets I was a bit reluctant to go, but after reading couple travel blogs I started including few stops and routes here/there and the whole trip started to take shape. I’m sharing this in case you are on a similar situation, where the idea of traveling far or beyond comfort zone may be preventing you to have a good experience. Just go for it!

San Francisco

The starting point was San Francisco, mainly because I do not like (I hate) Los Angeles airport. LAX is so busy, people is rude, not a good start if you are just into enjoying your days over there.

San Francisco, on the other hand, feels like a small airport compared to LAX, easy to move around, also there is a fast train directly from airport to downtown. It’s just about installing the BART app (Bay Area Rapid Transport), loading some money in and traveling. BART allows to use fast trains to the airport and local transport downtown San Francisco.

I arrived 8 AM then after paperwork and commute I was at Embarcadero (a nice place to stop by the ocean) by 10 AM, enjoying a breakfast and walking the area and the local farmer’s market. What I enjoyed most was the vibe of that setup, relaxed, friendly, safe, welcoming.

One thing I keep forgetting is that while visiting California a large fraction of the population is Spanish-speaking, that surprises or shocks initially: the hotel check-in was in Spanish, almost everywhere in the city also had someone speaking Spanish.

Another thing that caught my attention were some TV commercials from UCSF Health, one below, I don’t remember any TV commercial like that except during COVID while in New Zealand (love, kindness, compassion, hope) watch below to have an idea:

I spent couple days in the city, and I loved it!

I even had a chance to try Waymo, a self-driving taxi!

Scary experience but worth checking out if you visit. View the video below to have an idea of how Waymo taxis drive.

San Francisco to Los Angeles

Couple blogs recommended the road trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles by S1 Pacific Highway (driving by the shore), so I planned for that and did not booked anything in advance because I was not sure where to stop on the road.

First problem I had were issues with was the car or navigation system of the car, bad, really bad, I got lost in the middle of nowhere after couple hours, that killed part of the plans, had to skip few stops I wanted to visit and had to book accommodation at the next town down the road.

I think it was faulty sensors as from time to time the navigation lost bearing and location, so then I started using Android Auto connected to the car. For that to work, a good tip is to rent a car that is more or less modern, or to check if it supports Android Auto. Also critical is to have unlimited data package and I was glad I had that covered with an USA/T-Mobile card I got in Melbourne.

Driving down while watching the sea is so relaxing. What I enjoy most while driving long distances is the need to be on the road, on the moment, no distractions so that is a very personal time to think, to reflect and I got plenty of it.

Unfortunately, did not took many photos (because I was driving) but I liked couple nice towns or areas like Santa Barbara: they had an Old Spanish Days fiesta early August every year and it was nice to see something from Spain and Mexico there.

Los Angeles

I had to stop in Los Angeles, wanted to visit several things, ended up visiting Hollywood, a bit downtown and Santa Monica. The only thing with Los Angeles is noise and crime, I stayed there only one night but it felt like being in the middle of some action movie as during the night police cars were chasing someone, even police helicopter was flying right over the place I was staying!

Orange County

Next day I drove one hour down from Los Angeles to Costa Mesa/Orange County, it’s a nice area I like to visit from time to time. Irvine, Dana Point, San Clemente are really nice residential areas, however it seems is getting warmer every time or maybe I visited during a heatwave, as it’s hot and humid, not my kind of place to be.

Lake Tahoe

This was one of the main places I wanted to visit, I always wondered if driving up from San Francisco there was an easy trip, but as I was planning to drive down to Los Angeles it seemed better to take a short flight from Los Angeles to Reno (Nevada) – I used Southwestern Airlines and I enjoyed their service and friendliness.

Reno is a casino kind of city so did not explore much of it, the road from Reno to Lake Tahoe was simple but the views were beautiful, really nice trip!

The lake itself is gorgeous, crystal-clear water, wonderful views and so much to do, however I got altitude sickness: first night could not sleep well, hard to breathe, got an annoying headache and I was feeling tired and thirsty all times, so instead of mountain bike or long hikes, I explored by car and did short walks, simple hikes.

Lake Tahoe to San Francisco

Initially I planned to stay 3 or more days in Lake Tahoe, but I was not feeling well, and things weren’t improving so I cancelled one booking and drove back directly to Sacramento.

The road starts at about 7000 feet (2100m) in altitude; while driving down I started to feel more or less OK at 5000 feet (1500m) and I was feeling great at 1500 feet (500m). I guess I’m just not made for high altitude areas. For reference, altitude in Santiago/Chile is 500m, Salt Lake City/Utah altitude is 1300m (4300 feet) and even while I visit there, I feel like I’m not 100% (I feel my mind works a bit slower)

I wanted to visit Sacramento but headed to San Francisco instead, as the area did not look great.

San Francisco

I headed from Sacramento to the Computer History Museum, to stop there, it was the best decision of that morning. The museum itself is fine, but driving there goes next to Tesla factory, NASA research centers, many big tech company offices etc. – it was so cool!

Recap

This trip was amazing, I’m really glad I had the chance to visit, and that somehow different things worked together for it.

It made also think about something: I got asked the exact type of question at different places after visiting San Francisco: “Did you like it?” “Is it not a dumpster?”

How could you NOT like it? City is modern, great vibe, clean comparing it to Los Angeles, easy to move around, great places to visit, etc. Of course, is not perfect: it has homeless people, and people smoking marijuana here/there, and smells bad in certain areas, like any downtown.

But it seems like some people only gets whatever the media or propaganda says about that city, I guess if someone watches too much Fox media or similar right-wing channels in USA it will get the idea that San Francisco is a dumpster that smells like toilet.