Chapter 1. Travel
Exploring Los Angeles County, Solitary Travelling
Hey. Thanks for visiting. I do happen to write a lot actually, every now and then, but this is the first time I decided to furnish something online. I’ll put up my earlier pieces as well, and yes, bug you when I do. Please read on, and since you made it here, read it entirely? Your choice :) Sincerely though, thanks for visiting.
So, Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines travelling as……. hahaha. No, not doing that. Chill. I have actually visited L.A twice before, with different groups of people. I never managed to get myself to like the city, but I still kept trying. It’s supposed to be the crowning gem of the West Coast. And I couldn’t help wondering, why the fuck? Well, I decided to try again, and alone this time. So these are the two things I am going to talk about. Exploring L.A in a way that you actually enjoy it (minus the one entire day in Disneyland and Universal Studios, and since I have a day more, why not visit Seaworld in San Diego as well. No, that’s not exploration. Still a vacation though. To each his own) and understanding the nuances of solo travel that you don’t get bogged down or overwhelmed. Hmm… so here goes. (P.S all the pictures here were taken by me)
Now, as far as I know, there are not many people around me who enjoy or have tried travelling alone. Alone means give yourself atleast 2–3 days away from home, in a location that’s atleast 5–6 hours away, so that you can’t run back home the moment you feel uncomfortable, haha. I gave myself 3 days in L.A county, some 6–8 hours away, depending on the joy that the traffic gods want to bestow upon you that evening. A common misnomer people place with this is that you have to be outgoing and extroverted, to be able to make friends easily, to talk to people at the drop of a hat. No, you don’t have to be. If you don’t know or don’t want to break the ice, its okay. More often than not people will come by themselves to speak to you. If you go around enough that is. And even if they don’t and you don’t want to speak with anyone on your own, don’t fret. Here’s what you need to do.
Simply fill your day and times, wherever you are, with pre-researched things to do. As long as you are constantly chasing something, whether it’s an activity, a pub, a view or a restaurant, there will not be a single dull moment. Trust me.
It’s just that simple. Fill your day! Now, you might say what if I dont want to get bored while I enjoy that once-in-a-lifetime view, during my systematic dismantling of the amazing salmon in the best seaside gastropub in Malibu, enroute to that amazing hot air balloon experience, which I have to walk to because all they have is sidewalks. Well, think about it. If you want to enjoy your own company and not entertain the wild thoughts (wa-wa-waa, stop it Rihanna) that constantly probe our quiet self, then you need to look at what you enjoy doing alone. Grab your favorite books! Save your favorite music offline! Get amazing headphones! Buy an iPad! (Can’t say this enough, I got mine recently, and it’s my favorite travel buddy. Grab one if you can) Save those awesome shows on Netflix offline! And then watch your day unfold like a motherfucking hyena. You’ll crush those hours and leave yourself wanting for more. I swear, it’ll happen.
But then again, this was all about how you can enjoy a day to the fullest without anyone or anything bothering you. But, that’s not the point of societal existence at all. Christopher McCandless (Into The Wild) said:
and so it turned out only a life similar to the life of those around just,merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an un-shared happiness is not happiness
Un-shared happiness in not happiness. That’s very very true. While I was constantly going around doing my own thing, talking to people, keeping busy, I would keep posting my images to Instagram, because I wanted to share what I was doing with those close to me (not for attention as some of you might think). I was also constantly on the phone with one of my closest, because you want to feel that warmth of someone your own, every now and then. So, yes, even if it makes you uncomfortable, talk to people. You only learn when you go out of your comfort zone. And learn you will, a lot. The locals will share interesting places to visit, the tourists will maybe join you, share your loneliness and steal it from you, the dogs will bark away your sadness, and so on. You will make new friends, and open up avenues you wouldn’t have thought of.
But very importantly, you mustn’t forget why you’re doing this. The solitary mind is a gift you give yourself, so don’t let others steal it from you. Keep to yourself when need be. Write, think, explore, ponder, wonder, be amazed, laugh, cry, all by yourself. I did all of these and more. The idle mind is a canvas that fills itself. With thoughts and ideas you could never imagine. And it happened to me as well. With nothing and no one to accompany me but my car and my music, my mind thought up so many things. And writing this piece was one of them. And boy am I glad it did! So yes, let yourself breath and enjoy your own company. For no one, absolutely no one, understands you better.
All kinds of artists use this. To get ideas, to obtain a muse from the smallest hint of an influence. Some get stoned while they’re at it. But not everyone has to. To each his own. Anyway, that’s all I have about how you can travel alone. And it’s for everyone. Introverts, extroverts, ambiverts, atheletes and sex offenders. Everyone has a self they don’t know fully about that they can find. But I will come back to this later with some more ideas. Now, I will talk to you about what I did.
Day 1. Photography 101: Exploring West Hollywood
I spent my first day in L.A with these two lovely ladies, one of them a concept photographer from Milan, and another an aspiring film professional who was studying Filming from Drexel University, Philadelphia. Even though I love clicking pictures and believe I have a decent eye, ( you can ask my subjects haha, they’ll approve. Hopefully. :/ ) I have never done a formal education or reading on it. So this was a refreshing experience, and it inspired me to get myself a half decent Single-Lens-Reflex, some day. Anyway, we started out at the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), learning about lines and composition. Giorgia (who I kept calling Gloria the entire day btw) taught me how to go small, clean the canvas that is an image, and concentrate on the composition, especially the lines. I learnt so much.
We then headed over to an art exhibition on the slavery movement in the South-east in a gallery called Fahey Klein. It was stunning. We learnt about the styles of different contemporary photographers, portrait photography, the rule of thirds, negative spaces, etc. I was barely able to keep up, because I wanted to retain everything.
Our final stop was a the historic Farmer’s Market of L.A. By this time, the heat had gotten the better of me and I was exhausted. By word, it was a hundred and fifteen in L.A because of the heat wave and I had slept five hours last night. So I threw all her rules out the window (if you’re reading Gloria, I already apologized for this :P), and simply did what was asked. Fuck composition man, I need some fucking juice. But it was still nice exploring that setting. I did a concept series of images called Directions, and clicked all directional boards in that area.
I would talk about my evening on Friday as well, but it was a dull experience. I was with a friend, exploring downtown Fullerton and drinking, but both of us were mentally and physically exhausted to the point that I do not and do not want to remember what went down. Moving on…
Day 2. Solo Exploration: Venice
I had been telling my friend the day before, I just want to leave and go home. I was that tired, it was decapitating. But I gave myself a good 10 hours of sleep and the energy I had the next day surprised even me. So I went ahead and left for Venice, to beat the heat, and to explore by far the most interesting area in L.A county (in my opinion anyway).
The entire town is super-duper-chill. There are weird and artsy murals and graffiti pieces splattered throughout the tapered walls of this beach-town. And I kept clicking. Like a moron. It was a tapestry of beautiful imagery and I was failing to help myself.
I headed over to this street called Abbot-Kinney, parked my car, and went ahead with nothing on my mind. The first thing I found was this amazing nature boutique called Saje. They sell natural ingredient based diffusers and skin products. And boy did I indulge. Like a badass.
I also had my mind on working for a while, and for that I found the coolest cafe in Venice to chill in. A donut and an iced coffee in hand, I went for it, people watching and keyboard tapping, I was solo-dancing like it was nobody’s business. I spoke to a bunch of cool people, but didn’t let anyone interfere in my stride for more than fifteen minutes. I had my own things to do after all. And I think Americans truly excel at this, and we should learn from them.
Finally, I moved on from this awesome coffee drinking splendor and decided to walk the walk while I explored. And my solitary walk, earphone in ear and phone in pocket, led me to serendipity like I’d not experienced in a while. I chanced upon the famed Venice Canals, all by mistake. It’s basically a grid of canals in a residential area with tiny cute bridges and patios with kayaks that open up to a tender waterfront. It’s gorgeous. If you have seen Californication, Hank Moody has most of his amazing father-daughter conversations with his super-mature and ahead of her years offspring in this very location. I was amazed, and couldn’t contain my joy.
I kept walking and finally led myself to an obvious destination, the pier. By now, my energy level was so high, and the music in my ears so upbeat, I couldn’t be stopped. So I went about cheerily, clicking away and sand in my feet. No fucks given.
Finally I ended up at the Venice Whaler, a gorgeous pier-overlooking pub that was pumping like crazy. And an interesting thing happened here. An annoying, drunk, probably racist white dude started bugging me. I had simply asked him if the seat next to him was empty, which I knew it was, but courtesy. He slurred back so I simply laughed and said I’ll take that as a yes. The dude had something else in mind. He asked me to buy him a drink. I laughed it off saying don’t even bother. He persisted, poking me and saying I want the drink that you are having (best margarita I’ve had btw). I didn’t pay attention. But finally, when he started touching my iPad, I lost my shit. I told him if he touches me or my stuff again I will hit him. But a sweet couple next to me came to my aid, shooing him away. Even the most inebriated fucker will not say no to a pretty girl apparently. How kind. He fell off his chair soon afterward. Anyway, then and there I made two new friends. The guy looked like Will Arnett haha. But he was disappointed I didn’t call him Brad Pitt :/
I ended my night with a quiet pizza and an old fashioned in a simple pub in Downtown Venice and headed home. Btw, all of this accounted for 8–9 hours of my day. Ridiculous right? Everything was unplanned.
Day 3. Malibu. Kitesurfing. Pacific Coastal Highway
I started my 3rd day with only one thing in mind apart from my agenda. I want to go home tonight. The heat was killing me and my bed was screaming for me, I could hear it through the interstate, and I was helpless. So I went about, a grande Starbucks in my cup-holder and an awesome playlist to give me company, I was gonna drive the entire Pacific Coastal Highway (CA-1) back home. Many of you might have done this route on some stretch or the other, most probably Monterey to Big Sur, but the whole thing is a structural engineering piece of art. Most people who live in California underestimate it’s significance but it’s easily one of the most breathtaking drives in the whole wide world..
Annoying Sidebar: Since we are speaking of the best drives in the world, the best one is probably in this small Nordic country in Europe called Norway. It’s called the Atlantic Road. And it will blow you the fuck away.
Anyway, that is definitely on my agenda. If I have to die in the next five years, might as well fall of the cliff on some stretch of this piece of art.
Moving on, I had a ball driving on PCH to a small beach in North Malibu, with no expectations from an extreme sport I knew I would suck at. Anyway, who cares. I just drove.
I reached soon enough, and met some of the craziest hipsters I’ve ever met. And no, they were not hermits. They had houses. They wore clothes. They were smart and educated. But they had expanded their horizons to the point that anything was cool with them. As long as they don’t die. And I have recently started to embrace that attitude as well, bit by bit.
Ryan Bradley, my instructor, is a professional cameraman for the kitesurfing world tour. And a kitesurfing lesson on an average costs a stellar $150 an hour, it’s so niche. Hence the reason why he put up his experience on AirBnB (for fucking $60 for 7 hours, by god). Which brings me to another sidebar. AirBnB experiences. If you are ever travelling alone and you are short of ideas, just look it up. It’ll blow your mind (been saying that a lot haven’t I). Seriously. AirBnB is an amazing company full of chill people and they are doing some amazing things. Its basically Uber for people, but way more awesome, and human. Yay you guys, free marketing.
Ryan was crazy. We spoke of the weather, the heat, the hurricane in Texas, some famous kitesurfers, PCH, food, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, hitchhiking, being chill, my god the conversations filled me up entirely.
But sadly, my experience was not to be. The wind was too bad to kitesurf, non existent actually. So we called it quits at 3 PM. But he promised me he would hook me up the next time I visited. Or when he came to San Fran. And he also patched me through to one of the execs at AirBnB incase I was running short of cool things to do somewhere. The network of crazy travelers these guys have built, its ridiculous.
Anyway, so that ended my day and I headed back home, exploring a bit of Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara on the way. I took 9 hours for a 6 hour drive, my own sweet time for me and my ridiculous desires. It’s so liberating when every now and then, you are accountable to no one. And my weekend ended, beautifully.
Finally. Ideas
So there you have it. The perks and quirks of travelling alone. But every now and then, regardless of whether you are married, a father, a mother, a son or a daughter, you should do it. Because it’s very easy to forget who we are. Especially in today’s day and age. Here are some ideas you can explore to solo-travel.
- Camping: Well, duh. Car-camping. This is easy to do as long as a night in the wilderness does not deter you. I have not done this yet but I want to. As long as it’s not bear country, anything goes
- Glamping: Glamarous Camping. Music festivals, someone’s backyard, your own living room. Who gives a fuck?
- Hitchhiking: This is the hardest of them all. For this requires others to trust you as well. Wait on this before you give this a try. God knows I have time, haha
- Backpacking: Hiking + backcountry camping. This. This is legit scary. And it’s not my cup of tea to do this alone. But I will definitely do this with a companion some day. A part of the Appalachian trail maybe? Or the Pacific Coastal Trail. The world’s your oyster.
Anyway, that is all from me. Please do give this a try some day. And decide for yourself, if you learnt anything, whether its for you, did you grow as a person? New experiences after all are at the core of human existence. I keep saying that to myself and those close to me. Everyday. Everyone should have their Queen moment once in their lives, so go!, find your poison. Are you with me?