In October 2020, I escaped the craziness of Nashville’s host of the 2020 Presidential Debate. I hadn’t really traveled anywhere new due to the pandemic’s chokehold on everyone’s travel life. It was time! And it was a time that four, FOUR of my pals from Thailand found themselves living in Southern California.

I’d never been to the west coast until this trip, and boy was it an introduction. In-N-Out, PCH trip, our car getting broken into and robbed, and generally the best sunsets I’ve ever seen at a beach. Woes aside, traveling with photographers is the way to go: if your camera is stolen–like mine was, you’ll still have some high quality memories! So, please enjoy this small glimpse of a Thailand reunion, via my friends Scotty, Casey, Emily and Jon, and some mobile shots of mine that I didn’t totally hate. Heading back to the west coast soon, Portland on the agenda as well as a brief stopover to remind California that it does *not* own me, but the score is Alli: 0, SF: 1.

After exploring L.A. and a little bit around Riverside, we headed up the coast to SF. Honestly I was really looking forward to stopping to gawk at Big Sur, but there was so much fog, the below image was even doctored up to show… well, anything. We kept on, stopping for views, sleeps, ER visits (you read that right). The best parts consisted of quoting every movie I’ve ever seen with Jon, walking barefoot on “dunes” by the coast, and everything else that goes along with a fall road trip: snacks, Fleet Foxes, fighting over who had to sit on the b*tch seat, and who controlled Spotify. You know. Mature adult things.

We finally made it to San Francisco, swinging through redwood forests and basking in beams of light, emerging from the sun roof of Em’s car to get what we could of Lombard street from the actual drive down (failure, on all accounts). We laid in the grass at a park, walked way too much, and picked up tacos to eat at the beach (Marshall’s Beach was the greatest place I went this entire trip, maybe all of 2020). Then our car got its windows smashed and my backpack was stolen (thankfully that’s all, all of our luggage was in the back, safe and sound when we returned. The thieves got a beloved world-trekking anorak, my prescription glasses that really don’t help anyone, my camera, and an EXTREMELY nerdy C.S. Lewis book. Have fun with that? Either way, I’m thrilled that all of the professional photographers in our group had kept their gear on them while we were down at the shore.

For a first time in California, I wasn’t too disappointed (glaring circumstances aside). I saw six long lost Thailand pals, walked a lot, and I can sorta understand why people like the west coast (…sorta). Can’t wait to go back to explore now that I have more friends living in the PNW! If my layovers take me through California, which they will, I’m sure, I wouldn’t mind. I still need to prove myself to San Francisco.