LA — remind again why it is special?
I visited LA in August 2023, buzzing to be in such an iconic city. The narrative is that it’s the home of movies and it’s completely different to where anyone has ever been before, but I didn’t quite feel the same.
For a bit of context, we had arranged to stay with someone that we had known at camp, which was great as it meant we could see them again and get a bit of help from locals (and of course free of charge). It was me my girlfriend, Erin, and another friend who would stay at this house in Glendale. Me and Erin stayed in the garage on a blow-up mattress and our friend would just stay in their sofa room.
Me and Erin flew in from Miami early in the morning and got to the house early afternoon and met Mum inside, where our friend was already there. The 2 daughters were at camp when we were there and the dad worked at camp for a bit, which is great to already know them and see them again. After we unpacked our bags, we went to meet the youngest daughter from school as it was a surprise, and she was so happy to see us, which felt amazing. We went and got ice cream after just to catch up, and then went back after. Erin started to get a cough so we just had dinner with everyone after Dad and Eldest got back and just had an early night
this is where the issue was…
Mum had said that COVID!!!! was going around had asked if we could do a test, which was fine, and I think you could guess what the outcome was…
They were very accommodating and said that we could stay in the garage but minimise the amount that we came into the house as they really didn’t want to catch it. They bought food out to us and gave us suggestions for what to do but the whole ordeal didn’t help our experience of LA.
It was a real shame that we couldn’t really talk to and spend time with the family, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles. We did suffer with ‘bad cold’ symptoms which did really hinder us but we were determined not be be beaten by the virus, but we did have a couple of rest days out of the 6 nights we did stay.
But onto the city, yeah, really not that impressed.
One of the big things which I knew was an issue but didn’t realise how big was the transportation. It took us 2 hours to get to Santa Monica by bus, which is so painfully slow due to the traffic and just sitting on a hot bus in the middle of summer with masks on. America as a whole requires a car but it feels especially bad in LA, as EVERYONE else has a car. There is a metro system that we didn’t use in fairness just because there isn’t a stop close to the house but would have been good to use it.
Another obvious point that goes alongside this is how spread out the whole place is and doesn’t help the transport aspect. Even if you didn’t have a car in most cities you would be able to walk around to some parts of the city. For example, when we left to get our flight out of LA, it was a really early flight so we left at like 3:30, and even then it took about 40 minutes to get to the airport with no traffic. We were able to walk to a couple of small gardens in fairness, and it was nice to walk somewhere but it was not commonly done. The vast distance of the city also kinda destroys the budget with paying for transport, as sometimes you need to get a taxi and because of the distance and as a couple of teens, we didn’t want to spend much money.
This brings me to my next point which is the price of LA. We did save loads of money by not paying for accommodation and getting a bit of food from the family, which did go a long way. I had no idea that places like Erewhon exist and thankfully I didn’t go in but I have seen some of the prices there and it does make me sick. But that’s not the problem for tourists, what is that anything that you want to do that costs money costs $20 and for people operating on a budget, that is an issue. We did go and pay for activities like a UCLA match which was really fun and worth it, but again, why does a bottle of water cost $6??? I’d rather die of thirst. That's generally why we spent our days doing the sightseeing which is fine for a tourist for a few days which was great, but doesn’t reflect great in the eyes of the city.
There is plenty to sightsee like Griffin observatory, walk of Fame, rodeo drive, Hollywood sign etc which was really fun and so happy to have seen them, but not especially fun. But it did feel like we were a bit pressured into them because anything that was fun and cost money felt expensive for what it was. It was purely for this reason that we didn’t do a theme park as it just seemed really expensive compared to what it could be spent on.
The 2 final points that I feel are pretty common problems I hear but can’t say from my perspective I have seen it. The first one is crime and homelessness, as they do feel everywhere. In fairness, this maybe isn’t a LA thing as homelessness is an issue in every megacity, but I did feel the pressure from the homeless. This wasn’t in Glendale but was in the tourist areas so didn’t see them often, but we were aware of their presence, to put it one way. This generally goes hand in hand with crime, which we didn’t really witness but again were aware of. I have heard of Compton so like any sane person, stayed completely away from the area.
The final point is crowds. This is season-dependent and we did go in the middle of summer which is always going to be more busy, but everywhere we weren’t there were crowds and lines. It doesn’t help that we weren’t to peak tourist destinations like Santa Monica but it’s just a thought I had.
I did enjoy my Los Angeles and I did feel like I was in a city that feels like it knows it’s a big deal. The sights are surely iconic and there is something for everyone. I really wish I wasn’t COVID-ridden and was able to take a day trip somewhere out of the city to somewhere like Malibu or maybe even San Diego, but I guess I’ll just do it next time.
My final thought is that as good as LA could be, it’s a tad overrated which is a shame, cause I was so excited to go, but I did really enjoy my time there. Thanks for reading :)
