"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

I start my journey to New Zealand in Los Angeles, and with the quote above. I thought it was appropriate not only because I am going to the country where the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was filmed (and where The Hobbit may currently be under production!) and I'm a big fan of J.R.R., but because although in the upcoming months I will be wandering, I will be far from wandering aimlessly. 

I think this also applies to my life in general and not just my trip to the epic country of New Zealand but that is a different story entirely.

I landed today in LA at about 10am after a 6 hour flight of that I want to be asleep but I can't possibly get comfortable sitting up in this airplane feeling. So I feel like now I'm really prepared to take on that 13 hour flight to NZ.  My mom came with me to keep me company for two days before my flight on Monday night so we rented a car so I could see California for the first time.

We first drove up to Santa Monica and walked down the beach to the pier. Then we went down to Venice Beach and walked around there for a bit.  It was a beautiful day for sight seeing; we were worried when we landed that the sun wouldn't come out but then it did and now I may be in love with California. 

This is why they call it Venice Beach

The beach "scene" here is very diverse.  First you walk through these little one way streets with adorable houses that my mom and I really wanted to buy and then you step onto the boardwalk and everything is completely different. There are tons of people up and down this sidewalk, walking, biking, skateboarding, roller blading, it is intense.  There are lots of souvenir shops where you can buy t-shirts and sweatshirts with Venice Beach on them.  There are the usual street vendors that sell art and jewelry and then the smell hits you.

Not that I didn't expect to be bombarded with marijuana paraphernalia when I got to California but really it was a little ridiculous.   It only really smelled in this one area but then every 100 feet or so there would be another kid holding a sign that said "The Dr. is in come get your medical supply here" or something of that nature and then there would be a shop that you would actually go in and get a prescription! It was unreal. Our favorite of the day though had to be the guy walking around holding a sign above his head that said "I will sell you weed right now, no prescription needed."  

Actually, the best was the man begging for money that had a sign reading "Pigeons ate my parents. Need money for BB gun."

Hope this wasn't too rambling!
Until next time,
-Emily