There is no place like california…
By: California Transplant
Tags: Travel, National Park Service, Bay Area, California

And nobody should be living anywhere else. No state is perfect and sure California has got its problem, but if you are into outdoors in particular this is by far (IMHO) the best please in the world. I know this is a bold statement but hear me out…

I am a transplant living in the bay area for over five years and every day since I’ve moved here I’ve gotten more and more attached to the bay area and California. I have travelled extensively throughout California and every corner of California has something unique to offer.

California has the tallest, largest and oldest tree in the world

California has the tallest, largest and oldest tree in the world. Think about that for a minute, if any state had even just one of these that would be worthy of a visit, but no it’s got three. Sierra is a truly magical place and more on that later.

Bristlecone pine tree

It has got some of the best beaches in the world. With its blue ocean on one side and mountains on the other side, Pacific Coast highway is one of California’s most popular road trips. Growing up my very first introduction to America was with a movie shot entirely in California and I still clearly remember Monterey and 17 mile drive even though I saw the movie almost 20 years back.

Mcway falls on the Pacific Cost Highway

it was an actual picture taken in napa valley and not created with photoshop

It has some of the top wine country in the world and the area is also where the windows xp wallpaper “bliss” was taken. My very first computer was a windows xp and I did not realize that it was an actual picture taken in napa valley and not created with photoshop. And yes the mountains are really that green. Every year I look forward to hikes in the east bay mountain with all the greenery surrounding me (After spring it gets brown and hot so don’t go there to hike).

Diable montain range in Febuary 2019

Going from south to north, Sierra mountain range is home to the tallest mountain outside of Alaska. Sequoia and King canyon national park is home to the largest tree in the world. In the high Sierra mountains there are still a few glaciers down from more than 200 glaciers just a century back. Ever so popular Yosemite is in the Sierra range.

Ansel Adams wilderness in the high sierra

It is so blue and so pretty I feel they are cheating

Then there is lake Tahoe. What can I say about Tahoe… It was the very first trip I did when I moved to the US. Since then I have visited the lake every single year even if it meant I could spend just one hour in the lake for a total of 8 hour drive. It is so blue and so pretty I feel they are cheating somehow 😀. Sure Crater lake is the clearest lake in the world, but being able to enter the lake and enjoy its warmer water (in August and September) puts it over for me. Not to forget there are ski resorts worthy of even hosting winter olympics.

Unedited picture of Lake Tahoe on an old cellphone camera (iPhone 4). Yes it really is this blue!!!

That’s the most extreme ends of landscape you can think of and California has got both and they are within a 100 mile radius of each other

Next is the desert. Death valley national park which is mostly a desert is one of the prettiest national parks I have been to. Every place in the national park has a different landscape and makes you feel they are in entirely different worlds. I often joke that even a freaking desert is pretty in California. Not sure if you noticed, but California has both a desert and a glacier. That’s the most extreme ends of landscape you can think of and California has got both and they are both within a 100 mile radius of each other. Ironically death valley is a desert because of the sierras which is the home to some of California’s glaciers. Highway 395 splits the mountains and desert and it is on my favorite highway. There are a hundred more things I want to show and talk about California’s beauty because every corner of California is special in its own way, but you are probably already bored…

Death valley during a rare winter snow (Thanksgiving 2019).

California often gets rap for its cost of living, traffic and homeless etc. Sure these are issues to be addressed and state and identified these as priority. But I would say these have turned out to be an issue because California is so popular and not despite being popular.

California is the fifth largest economy in the world, not in the country in the world.

California is the fifth largest economy in the world, not in the country in the world. California is literally feeding the nation by growing 50% of all produce grown in the country. It has some of the best consumer protection laws in the country on par with Europe. For a while it was the leader in environmental regulations (I would say Washington state is doing better in this regard now) and even has its own emission standards for vehicles that other states are using as benchmark. California recently passed a law providing medical insurance for everyone under 26 irrespective of their immigration status. Some cities even require minimum wage to be paid irrespective of immigration status. This may be a controversial topic but for me it’s a positive change to treat everyone with dignity and not discriminate just because they were not born in the right country.

Edit: During the COVID-19 outbreak, California is allocating $125M to assist undocumented immigrant families — first in the country to do so — and I am so happy (and proud) they did this. Before you rise up and say where’s my money, YSK undocumented immigrants paid $2.5B (yes billion) in state taxes just in 2019. Source — Listen to the governor himself.

As I said earlier I am an immigrant and still an immigrant. I may not be an American, but I am a California and proud to be one. I have a feeling California is happy to accept me as a Californian as well because there is no place like California….