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California what is it really like?

JGL please tell me honestly if you feel I'm hijacking your thread, but can anyone give any advice on whether moving to the US is a decent move or a bad one?
 
monkeybarry said:
If you haven't been to SF it is cool to check out - but tbh, its gone down hill in the last decade.

The outdoors and open roads of CA are beautiful.
If yyou are outdoorsy, like to eat or shop - you'll love it.

And the spirits are cheeeap.

Great place to visit.

Avoid Fresno and Bakersfield- there is no need for these places.

Sacramento is also a bit 'meh'

Napa and Sonoma are great country
And south lake Tahoe is a must - you have amazing scenary, watersports etc and, as its part in CA and NV, you has casino's too.

Yosemite might be worth a visit too.

For food - check out the man vs food and diners, drive ins and dives websites for some less chain like ideas.

I live near Sacramento these days
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How do you reckon mate?
 
monkeybarry said:
An extra thumbs up for San Diego - it has something about it.
Go there over LA.

The thing with most CA towns though - there isn't a lot 'see'.

They are towns for living in, and as such, make sure you research the things you want to do.

When are you thinking of going? I have friends in Socal I can ask for recommendations.
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Now I'm getting worried mate...why on earth would you think that?
 
Craig_J said:
JGL please tell me honestly if you feel I'm hijacking your thread, but can anyone give any advice on whether moving to the US is a decent move or a bad one?
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Go ahead mate.

We ourselves planned once the kid has gone off to university to buy him a flat in this country then sell up and move abroad we thought Majorca the northern non tourist part for the hill and sun but maybe America now at least there would be no language barrier for me. We have a summer house in Latvia but the truth is in 5 years I have not picked up any of the language.

So go ahead and ask about moving there because I have a curiosity about it myself.
 
monkeybarry said:
An extra thumbs up for San Diego - it has something about it.
Go there over LA.

The thing with most CA towns though - there isn't a lot 'see'.

They are towns for living in, and as such, make sure you research the things you want to do.

When are you thinking of going? I have friends in Socal I can ask for recommendations.
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Probably next August as we are booked up this summer. For a holiday I like nature and good scenery so a drive up the coast stopping for a few days here and there and relaxing by lakes and doing a bit of cycling. But it would not just be me, so I need museums for the wife and stuff for my son. But I think we have a lot to go on, those museums in L.A. would keep the wife happy and the theme parks my son.

Must be a nice place to live with decent weather.
 
A few more thoughts:

You probably will want to go to one of the amusement parks. Disney is a bit out of the way so is a whole day trip. Universal is nearly as good and much easier to fit around other stuff. If you extended the trip from San Diego to SF, then Seaworld is another to consider.

There is a cycle path on the beach in LA. It's not good for cycling (too crowded) but is a nice way for touristy travelling between say Santa Monica and Venice. I assume there are bike hires.

In a trip up the coast, you should stop at at least one of the smaller mission towns for a few hours. San Juan Capistrano is best known but there are others than can give a feel of the Spanish Mission in California (e.g. San Luis Obispo), which I preferred to those in the mission towns that grew larger (e.g. Santa Barbara).
 
To add on to Steff's comments...

- Def check out the Santa Cruz boardwalk, the kid will love it and you will probably too. It's where they shot The Lost Boys and still has a wooden rollercoaster plus a gorgeous beach.
- If you're a fan of fresh seafood then you'll love it. Crab season is the best (I forget when this is) but there is no shortage of amazing fish and shellfish plates all year round
- Consider SF a much larger version of Brighton. It has a similar feel and vibe, but on a much larger scale. And the dining is ridiculously good. You seriously have to try hard to find a bad restaurant here.
- As mentioned before, the drive up Big Sur is absolutely stunning. You literally want to pull over every two miles to take pictures.
- I've been living in SF for 4 years now and it still amazes me on a daily basis how great this city is. Yes it's not cheap, traffic can be a bitch and there are too many homeless people on the streets but get past all of that and you have one of the greatest cities on the planet IMO.
- Within hours of SF, you have wine country, beaches, mountains, hiking and the weather is pretty solid year round too. Weirdly enough, I tell people to avoid SF during July and August as they are the worst months weather-wise (grey and cloudy). It's nicer in January!
 
Skinhead in a Suit said:
To add on to Steff's comments...

- Def check out the Santa Cruz boardwalk, the kid will love it and you will probably too. It's where they shot The Lost Boys and still has a wooden rollercoaster plus a gorgeous beach.
- If you're a fan of fresh seafood then you'll love it. Crab season is the best (I forget when this is) but there is no shortage of amazing fish and shellfish plates all year round
- Consider SF a much larger version of Brighton. It has a similar feel and vibe, but on a much larger scale. And the dining is ridiculously good. You seriously have to try hard to find a bad restaurant here.
- As mentioned before, the drive up Big Sur is absolutely stunning. You literally want to pull over every two miles to take pictures.
- I've been living in SF for 4 years now and it still amazes me on a daily basis how great this city is. Yes it's not cheap, traffic can be a bitch and there are too many homeless people on the streets but get past all of that and you have one of the greatest cities on the planet IMO.
- Within hours of SF, you have wine country, beaches, mountains, hiking and the weather is pretty solid year round too. Weirdly enough, I tell people to avoid SF during July and August as they are the worst months weather-wise (grey and cloudy). It's nicer in January!
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Top words from a top man.
 
We're also doing a trip from San Francisco down the coast to San Diego in June, we're planning on breaking the section between SF & LA up with a couple of nights near Paso Robles to explore some vineyards - has anyone stopped around this area and any views or recommendations?

(Great thread by the way, has just added to the excitement of looking forward to the trip!)

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Fapatalk
 
japenesegardenlover said:
Go ahead mate.

We ourselves planned once the kid has gone off to university to buy him a flat in this country then sell up and move abroad we thought Majorca the northern non tourist part for the hill and sun but maybe America now at least there would be no language barrier for me. We have a summer house in Latvia but the truth is in 5 years I have not picked up any of the language.

So go ahead and ask about moving there because I have a curiosity about it myself.
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I'm at university still myself mate so it's defiantly not something thats fast coming. :p

Main worry for me is I find most people in the UK to be self centered arseholes and I'm not sure if American culture would be much of an improvment on that or not!

My uncle though whom I've only met once moved to South Carolina 30 years ago. He lost his job and struggled for a while but when my granmother asked him to come back he said he felt to Americanized and that he could never see him living in any other country again. Must be something to it then!
 
Craig_J said:
JGL please tell me honestly if you feel I'm hijacking your thread, but can anyone give any advice on whether moving to the US is a decent move or a bad one?
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I've lived in Northern california for 11 years and I've hated the natives here since day 1 and I still do, at least they're slightly more cultured and worldly than other parts of the country but I live here for the weather, the amazing travel opportunities and scenery and to coin a very old cliche, the opportunity here. I bought a house within 5 years of moving here, I'd probably be renting if I was still living in London.

and for the original poster, avoid all of LA. I would start off in Vancouver and drive down the coast, taking in Seattle, Portland, (the oregon coastline is beautiful and very underrated) and then when you make it to Cali, go through Montery, half moon bay, take in hurst castle and san luis obispo.

GL and enjoy.
 
the genre spanner said:
We're also doing a trip from San Francisco down the coast to San Diego in June, we're planning on breaking the section between SF & LA up with a couple of nights near Paso Robles to explore some vineyards - has anyone stopped around this area and any views or recommendations?

(Great thread by the way, has just added to the excitement of looking forward to the trip!)

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Fapatalk
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Not spent an enormous amount of time there to be fair..I believe the infamous Madonna Inn is that way!!!
 
Mr_B said:
I've lived in Northern california for 11 years and I've hated the natives here since day 1 and I still do, at least they're slightly more cultured and worldly than other parts of the country but I live here for the weather, the amazing travel opportunities and scenery and to coin a very old cliche, the opportunity here. I bought a house within 5 years of moving here, I'd probably be renting if I was still living in London.

and for the original poster, avoid all of LA. I would start off in Vancouver and drive down the coast, taking in Seattle, Portland, (the oregon coastline is beautiful and very underrated) and then when you make it to Cali, go through Montery, half moon bay, take in hurst castle and san luis obispo.

GL and enjoy.
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I find it amazing that you hate the 'natives' mate...where in Nor Cal are you? That will make a massive difference...
 
Kingdawson said:
Don't go to:

1) Compton
2) South Central
3) Inglewood
4) Watts
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Surely it's all like GTA??? Just punch someone in the face, steal their money which automatically flies in the air and steal their car. Oh and **** a *****!
 
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