Move to CA... Reasons not to?

Jersey was better yesterday. LOL ROFL LMFAO

Oh Gaf, you dry? I hear y'all got some weather the other day.

Speaking of: Hey Texas guys, y'all grounded or in OZ with Dorothy? They've been, like, getting weather it seems everyday recently.

God hates Texas, but loves New Jersey.

 

Don't be fooled by the "Haunted by Perfection" type articles. They have great days but that is far from the norm.
Those shots are also from a handful of spots usually..And when it is really good expect it to be really, really crowded, especially at those handful of spots.

 

You are young, soon to be married. What I would do is talk to your bride and suggest a two year trial at life on the West Coast. If you both find it works for you, then stay. If not, you can always return to the East. Basically, a two year adventure.

 

Aren't they always out there, at least up in LA. The freeways that is. The freeways.

Ventura Highway, in the sunshine....

Sonny Garcia got beat-up by Californians on the vast infrastructure of Southern Cullyfornia. So, yeah I reckon they ain't no joke.

When I was bused to The Griffith Park Observatory for yet another Observatory field trip we'd hassle motorists.

But that's what Californians do.

Then we'd get into tangles with other children, from other LA or area neighborhoods, bused to The Griffith Park Observatory.

Fascinatingly educational.

One time it was, like, East LA Day at The Griffith Park Observatory. That was a great time. I'd never seen such fantastic mustaches on the faces of 12-year-olds. Those guys weren't real friendly.

Hey, Gaf why do Californians always cause trouble?

 

Ha, I went to school with an Almond. A Robbie Almond in the Conjeo Valley Unified School District.

I think that means Rabbit Valley or something.

He was a nice gentleman, however, and a native Californian to boot. Whatever that means.

 

as in, however you want to interpret it...to me it says, "the grass is always greener"

take yesterday up here for example....we ain't had shyte to speak of for solid swell in months...i mean there've been days, but nothing like 13-14...so i was walking out of the water yesterday, talked to a guy for a minute about conditions n such, and they weren't great by any means (but i had me a few good ones).

any way, i'm explaining to him to what i thought i had, and what he would have in front of us....tide up, sloshing around, draining, little chop...you know, b1tch, b1tch, b1tch...but then i looked at my watch and realized i had been out for 4 hours! then i kinda realized, i'm just gettin really picky and overly critical and went about my day somewhat satiated

n you know what else, i'll be back out tonight for some low tide

so, look at that pic gaff put up anyway you want. then look deeper into the things you have around you now, i guess.

 

Not too sure where you are located now but, in my opinion, a 2+hour to surf is not sustainable. Unless you have the ability to drop everything at any moment. Even then it still sucks. Head West or East.

 

I did it. My wife and I moved out here last September shortly after our first kid was born. We used to live in NYC, most of our family is in Baltimore/DC/OC MD.

I don't surf as much as I'd like to, but some of that is laziness and some of it is having a young child. If you don't have kids, and have a reasonably flexible schedule, you can surf just about every day. A lot of days it's knee-chest or smaller, but a lot more days are chest+ here than on the east coast, and the wind is almost never an issue in the morning. It's crowded when it's good, but I'm an average surfer and still manage to get waves. I don't bother with Lowers though.

Do we miss our family? Yes - it's the one thing that makes us think about coming back east besides the food. Although in SD, you will probably get better food than here in OC.

The water situation is a little shady, but you wouldn't guess it by the green lawns and clean cars. People are farking knuckleheads out here.

We live in OC - it's expensive and the food sucks, but my wife and kid go to the beach almost every single day (I try, but realistically make it 3-4 days a week bc of work). This winter made us feel like we had made the right choice - my kid was at the beach everyday. He probably would have murdered us if we still lived in a 1BR apt in NYC this winter.

Like anywhere - positives and negatives. We might move back, but not anytime soon if we can help it.

 

if you don't need to surf every day, you can move quite a bit inland in socal for cheaper housing. The waves will be there when your schedule allows you to get to the beach. East coast is pretty much the opposite.

 

Thank you OP for this thread, I'm planning my escape out west & the local replies are reassuring

 

If you plan on driving. don't. I just cruised down the coast from portland to LA. was planning on going to mexico but driving in socal is horrendous, truly painful. Worst in the country. Ive never seen so many people so willing to recklessly endanger their life, their families lives and everyone else on the road. Other than that its really expensive, and people are different. Maybe I'm just sourer that I got shafted on surf. Why not Oregon? cheaper, less crowded and the surf is good. Maybe not as good as cali but I think its a fair trade.

 

there are alternate routes and times you'll eventually discover will get you to the beach in a timely and stress-free manner...but, yeah, getting to/from work at rush hours is a gridlock nightmare pretty much anywhere in socal. Once again, the farther inland you are, the less of a problem that is.

 

a big thing to me..
was that every time I looked out to sea, there was a brown layer of sh!t on the horizon every day.
that seriously bummed me.
you can smell it in the air. you can see it in peoples eyes.
the ignorance is no longer bliss.

 

oh and I love how VA has the absolute worst weed prices in the nation lol
well second to worst.
and yet we make more per person on the laws against it than any other state too

 

smog is more a problem the closer to LA you get, but SD has theirs, too. LA adjacent waters are definitely more polluted...frequently smells like petroleum products.

 

this my friends is an example of some one that s too responsible to have time to surf because he puts his work in front of waves..kook. he was to scared to step out of his ( as brad paisley would say southern comfort zone.) dont listen to this guy he wouldnt bang j-low because hes scared of stds. im going to move out there this fall..bro if you dont do it now while your young you might not ever..and live a boring ec life like this guy surfing **** waves all time and never get the perfect waves you want because your a titty baby and dont want to live far from your mommy.

 

When people that don't live in California talk about California, they are 99% of the time thinking of SoCal.

Once you get above Santa Barbara, there is a world of difference...with Santa Cruz being a possible exception.

Yes, the surf is better in California. Generally though, it's not all that great during the spring and summer. More so as you go further north.

Some stay. Some go back home. It all depends on how you handle the obvious changes in traffic, employment, housing, cost of living etc.

It can be intoxicating, but I really wouldn't want to do it again. Everybody talks about how "laid back" the state is. I've never really bought into that, and I was born and raised there. Maybe it's "laid back" compared to Manhattan or Boston...but it's pretty ridiculous, everybody is in a freaking rush and pretty rude to boot.

Living inland about 15-30 minutes is quite a bit cheaper than on the west side of I-5, but you won't find too many bargain basement offerings. Rents are retarded.

Now if I were making a *solid* six figures (not starting with a "1"), it might be worth it.

But I honestly never thought about how much or how little money I was making there...I always paid the bills and I always had spending cash. It just never occurred to me that I lived in one of the most expensive states in the nation. I mean, how do those native Hawaiians survive on those expensive islands? I'm pretty sure not many of them are holding down Silicon Valley-type jobs, ya know?

It's amazing what you can get used to, in a short period of time.

 

Local replies?

Ms. Campbell these east coast transplants on here are all pot-head, acid-dropping freaks, who couldn't handle the stresses of the Northeast.

The southerners who go out are just confused, as are most people from the south.

So, their whole reason for west coast loving is primarily based on the easy access to a Medical Card and the 10,000 weed stores that exist in every town.

Yeah, I know.

All I know is that Dale has lived there his whole or hole life. And he tells me that the place just isn't what it used to be. "Too many transplants," he says. "They're everywhere, you never meet anyone from California anymore..."

And they are drinking our water.

Most of y'all will end up surfing less spectacular beach break opposed to the drainers at "THE BRIDGE" or the ever reliable offerings of NSB.

That being said, I would go to California in a heart beat, but I'm impulsive, slightly-mentally ill, and make poor decisions. I friggin love Oxnard. And there ain't no DUTCH villages out here like they have in Solvang. Ok see I said Dutch not German this time.