First Solo Adventure: California

Hi Bloggie,

This was supposed to be last Sunday’s post but I travelled for Soa’s Chess tournament. Initially, I thought I would be able to write the post before leaving but I honestly can’t tell you where time goes these days. Anyways, let’s talk about #California!

This is obviously not my first trip as by now, I’ve told you about several. But in all my trips, I’ve never had any solo adventure. My travel adventures usually involve family or friend(s) so I was both very nervous and excited about this one. This entire trip was spurred by my field’s biggest conference which was being held in San Diego. When I was applying to the conference, I figured if accepted, I would take a few extra days to explore California since I had never been there. Luckily, my abstract got accepted and I immediately got to work planning my presentation and my vacation.

First stop, San Diego. San Diego is pretty cool! The scenery + weather + people + food=a great experience. Apart from my presentation, the conference also connected me with old friends and new friends. Especially a very very good friend from undergrad who came with her new baby! I'm an aunt again 😊. It was very fun catching up and playing with her child. She also presented at the conference and fun fact, one of my co-presenters is a fellow alumna! I daresay, Uni didn't lead us astray hehehe. Ann and I explored San Diego together – we got to try out restaurants and even took a boat trip to Coronado beach. There’s so much to see and do in San Diego: amazing food, Coronado beach (you can see seals here but we didn’t have time to see them ☹), the zoo, SeaWorld, and so much more. I don’t know when, but I want to go back to San Diego and explore some more.

On to my solo adventure portion!! Mommy, we went to #Universal o! 😃. I took a bus from San Diego to Los Angeles (if you don’t mind Greyhound, this is the cheapest option from ~15 bucks if you buy early) and thanks to T’s help, booked my first Airbnb (we’re growing o) which was less than 5 minutes from the park. They had a special when I was visiting the Park – buy one day, get another day free. So, you already know I got my money’s worth 😉.

I started my adventure in none other than Harry Potter world! This and the Minions were the main reasons why I was visiting Universal. I had zero expectations and hoped I wouldn’t be bummed out doing the Park solo. People had expressed shock that I planned to go myself and their expressions were creating doubts in my mind. But I’m happy to say that in spite of their doubts, I had a BLAST! After Potter world, I did the Universal Studio tour (there are some rides during the tour), then proceeded to the Simpsons, ate at ‘Cletus’ Chicken Shack’, drank ‘Butterbeer”, saw the ‘Animal actors’, rode all the rides in the Park, and basically did everything doable except “The Walking Dead” section (I’m just not a fan). I even did a video chat with the children while I was there. Their reactions were uber cute and so worth it!

Universal is pure magic! I was there until closing and was just so happy that I didn’t let fear and concerns talk me out of taking the trip. At the end of the night, I wasn’t sure if I would have enough time to come back for day 2. You see, genius that I am, I bought my return ticket to fly out of San Diego not bothering to find out about LAX. Sigh. When I got back to my rental, I asked my host about the LA traffic situation as that would help me plan my tomorrow. He let me know exactly what time I would need to leave to get to the bus station on time. He was very nice and flexible about check out time so I didn’t have to lug my suitcase to the Park (my other worry). He also suggested that I go see the Hollywood sign and the walk of fame as part of my LA experience. Neither was far from his place. Bright and early the next day, I went to see them. Since I had time to kill before Day 2 of the Park, I took a nice walk around a mall close by and got a bite to eat.

Park time!! I only had about 3 hours to spend at the Park so I went back and redid the rides I really liked the day before i.e. Harry Potter world rides, The Mummy, Transformers, Kung Fu Panda, and Minions. There were more people at the Park this day so I was very happy I had come the day before when there were barely any lines. I spent the rest of my time drinking Butterbeer and getting souvenirs. Again, genius that I am, even though I knew I had to check in my suitcase for the trip, I packed my carry-on. It surely helped me save money since I could only fit so much new stuff. Tsk tsk.

On my way out of the Park (while nursing my sadness), I stopped by the cutest bubble tea shop. You can get your bubble tea in a regular cup or in a huge light bulb. I went straight for the light bulb! Thank God my backpack’s side pocket could hold it… smh. I made it to the bus station on time and we got to San Diego. Everything was fine, until it wasn’t. My flight went from delayed to cancelled in a matter of minutes and long story short, I had to sleep at the airport – yay first time experience! Luckily, my sister (Cesca) had a similar experience a while back and learnt that airlines sometimes provide you with a toiletry kit when this happens. I followed her tip (which worked) and didn’t have to worry about baptizing everyone with morning breath the next day. Rub and shine, I thank thee for being a part of my life. That kit made the night/morning bearable.

Try as it might, the weather disaster couldn’t dampen my joy. Was I pissed? Yes. But more so because I was thinking I could have had my full day at the park. Yeye? I know 😃. Travel disaster aside, it was a great trip! And now that I know I can plan and enjoy solo adventure trips, I’ll be sure to plan them when opportunities/interests arise.

Here are some photos from my trip. I hope they encourage your adventuring spirits. If you could solo trip anywhere, where would you go?

 San Diego

Los Angeles

Here's this week's jam. I'm feeling as Bad as Tiwa Savage for conquering another first :). Enjoy!

Have a great week, 

Tonia