Move to CA... Reasons not to?

Very good, but still WRONG!! Solvang is a DANISH town, not Dutch, not German.
Kids today........

 

I visit San Diego or Orange County once every 1-3 years. I surf, eat burritos, try to pretend that I'm local. It scratches the itch and then I head back to the East Coast and enjoy close family ties, 4 distinct seasons, and snowboarding trips to Vermont. Home is where you make it.

 

Well, you've pretty much nailed it on the head. You *might* surf twice as much...you *might*. But it will rarely be "twice as good" as what you're already getting at home.

From a Native: What really sucked for me was living in a state that EVERYBODY wanted to be. It always seemed that 1/2 the people were Cal natives, while the other half were blow-in's. And, not to hurt anybody's feelers here, but honestly the worst were people from NY, NJ and Texas. All I ever heard was "This place sucks, NY/NJ/Texas is *so* much better". My response? "Then Go Home."

Even worse was going to Chargers and Padres games, and 75% of the stadium is cheering for the visitors. Whenever Fernando Valenzuela came to town, the entire city of Tijuana would show up drunk.

Like I said before though, there is a big difference when you get out of SoCal. NorCal def has the goods, and has a quieter and slower lifestyle. Quicksilver, Volcom, Vissla and such have no business there, and you will be spotted immediately. I guess the biggest issues are: conservative attitudes and lifestyles, colder and wilder weather and surf patterns, GW's (and I don't mean Bush), and employment opportunities. Guaranteed, your wait for surf will depend on the surf getting smaller, not bigger.

If you're solo, SoCal might be worth a shot. If you're bringing a tag-a-long, probably not so much.

 

Now this is all aboot coastal areas.

Don't forget that there are plenty of Inland Empire areas in Cullyfornia that are spectacular.

I mean, Victorville is magnificent. Bakersfield and Fresno are prime places for the budding surf enthusiast. What aboot that desert area where David Eggers tends bar? Mr. Eggers was better than Slater. Never lost to Slater either. But Body Glove wetsuites do evil things to kids.

And let's not forget to mention that if part of the reason a younger east side shreddah is contemplating buying a covered wagon and a pack-team for a journey out west, is because they are lonely and don't have much of a Jersey social circle, California offers much in the way of belongingness and com-rad-ism. Several social groups exists throughout the state, especially in LA County and Oakland, that offer the disenfranchised a network of employment opportunities and social adventures.

 

Oh man. I can never grab that one.

But in my defense or de Fence, all them people talk funny and don't use many vowels.

Man, I wish I was in Cullyfornia. Not so much San Clemente but Fort Bragg. I want to eat fungus and hug a redwood. Then surf with white sharks and bearded dudes with clear boards who are angry. I wonder how the bearded guys in Rhode Island would stand against bearded Northern Californians?

 

Wow, man. I have a boring life? You don't know me. And you have no idea. No idea.

Ever snuck into a Communist dictatorship to surf and risk arrest working as a journalist? Quit your well paying career track job to backpack through third world countries? Spent a night a "yowie bait" with the Australian Hominid Research team? Been interviewed or filmed surfing for a national network news broadcast?

Maybe you've done a few things like the ones I've done (and seriously, bro, I could add to that short list above til the cows come home) and lead a life as interesting as the one I've managed to carve out. Or maybe you just get your thrills making assumptions about people on the internet and then flaming them? I have a hunch it's the latter.

Part of what fueled my response to the OP is the number of sad, pathetic souls I've met traveling the globe and the amount of struggle and tragedy I've covered in my career as a journalist. Have fun out West Sandblaster. Maybe you'll grow up somewhere along the way.

 

Victorville, Bakersfield and Fresno? Seriously, that's some fine work there son.

Eggers dad opened up a bar in Salton Sea...about 2-3 hours from the coast. Now *there's* some prime real estate.

 

if you do get stuck inland for whatever reason, there's always the skateparks...tons of them and they're always dry and sunny...and smoggy

 

NY NJ and Texas?

Hmmm, awful suspicious that you mention those three states when you despise me(NJ), PeeJay(NY) and IBC(TX). Coincidence?

Yeah, people from Michigan are cool?

Fernando V !! Wow, he was awesome wasn't he.

Oh, the Chargers suck and so do the Padres. Ha, we got Sam Bradford in Philly so, yeah......you guys suck a little more.

 

One year ago to the day, I was driving across the country with my girlfriend from Lake Virginia Beach to San Francisco. At this point, I have no plans of ever returning east.

I've surfed more in the past year, than I have probably in my entire life (I'm 24). That includes more barrels, bigger waves, different faces. I decided that surfing is a top 3 priority for me along with family and work. If this is the same case for you, then move to CA or really anywhere that's not the East Coast.

In CA, I'm late to the party, a complete traitor to my roots and I spend more $$ than I thought was possible. But I'm happier than ever. My chunky spring surf session on Friday was better than any day in VB outside of a few special swells. VB obviously sucks and parts of NJ, FL and NC are WAY better but in terms of job opportunities and access to consistent waves, CA (and for me, SF) beats anywhere in the nation.

YOLO.

 

What makes you believe that I "despise" you, or the other 2 Swellies? That's obviously not coming from me.

If I despise somebody, they'll know it in very short order.

 

1 word reason not to go to Cali,

Fukishima.

 

dude quit being a pccy

 

cool story bro but i cant wait to ragdoll your mom! your just a paper pushing tool bag for the media and i bet you sucked someone bigs ones to get tat journalist job. tisk tisk. but maybe since im not grown up you can wipe my ass for me. thanks big daddy

 

california seems like heaven on earth until you realize everyone else has already realized it and f_cked it up for ya

 

I'm basically moving to SF for the better part of the year. Not saying it's going to be infinite, but certainly indefinite. 10ft of snow bruh. 10ft of snow. No thanks. I'll take boardshorts and swell on the daily. Even if gas is double.

 

Then dont move to SF emass!!

 

I know right! Haha

 

I'm was a NYC guy who's business often took me to so cal so I decided to rent a house in Venice from 2009-2010 and keep my place in the city. Venice was great because is has a pulse, its not generic, great (overpriced) food, was able to beach bike or short drive to waves and locals are cool-they all seem to tell me their life stories after knowing them for 1 minute... I was real keen on making the move full time as I hate the cold and average day of surf there is what we call epic on the east but my big west coast client dried up and back east I went. I ended up marring my girl back east (Its true that CA chicks are flakes for the most part) and moved to burbs close to family and NJ's best knee high waves. I still hate the cold and have to force myself to get excited about waist high waves but our girl has a safe surrounding (no Crips/Bloods in Monmouth county) and she see's grand parents every week so I guess my priorities changes.
I would say if you are not interested in starting a family anytime soon go out there for a year and if the GF comes great, if not...your 28 there are tons of females out there. Hopefully you are self employed or can work a home office as you will need to make $$ to live close to the beach. If you are a office/corporate guy just know that all the the real jobs are inland and you will be getting very close to XM radio in traffic.

 

Wow. You're actually more pathetic than I initially thought. You should at least try being funny with your trolling. Like most trolls, I guess this provides some kind of thrill for you, hurling anonymous insults at people from behind a keyboard. You get some little puff of adrenaline typing it in and hoping to get a rise out of someone. So yeah, go to California and engage in some adventure. Please. You clearly need some other outlet. Peace.