I am a prolific side-quester. If you ask anyone that knows me, they know I am everywhere all the time. This has only deepened this year, particularly knowing that after I graduate, the chances of me living in LA ever again are very slim. I started crafting an LA bucket list and I’ve been faithfully going through it!
As an engineering student, I’ve found that sometimes I get stuck in the weeds of school and work and it just feels like a rat race to the next thing. I’ve been guilty of saying “I’ll enjoy myself after I turn this in!” only to proceed to say the same thing about the next assignment. After realizing that three years has blown by with only minimal enjoyment of my time here, I decided something needed to be changed, so I started planning excursions whenever I have days off class or weekends in between busy things.
These can range from things like going to Koreatown and getting a coffee after shopping for fruit at HMart to taking the train to explore more of SoCal! Here are some of the recent adventures I’ve had beyond school and all of the things I do on campus:
Solana Beach
One of my bucket list items has been taking the Pacific Surfliner down the coast, since there are parts of it where you are literally right next to the water. I took the E and A lines to get to Union Station, where I caught the train on the ocean side!
Honestly the side quest was just taking the train but I needed a destination, so I chose Solana Beach as a quieter place that also has tons of nature. I went on a hike in Annie’s Canyon, which had some amazing rock formations that I was shocked to see north of San Diego.
Overall it’s a quaint beach town with a lot of cool shops to explore. I literally sat on the beach for two hours while listening to the crash of the waves onto shore. One of my favorite things to do is doing this exploration to regain a spark of why I love SoCal and its cities, particularly as someone who spends a lot of time pursuing creative activities like writing and filming.
I am a big fan of stairs
the waves!
super cute market in their design district
so magnificent
Highland Park
There are two things I love in LA as a student: Civil Coffee and a SALE! They were having their 10th anniversary celebration and I had a discount code plus a free day. I usually like going to their downtown location because it’s pretty accessible from USC, but I also needed to get a run in so I decided to run to their original location in Highland Park.
As a runner in LA, I use the Strava heatmap to figure out what some good running routes are, so I mapped one out starting from the Historic Broadway stop off of the E line on the Metro and pretty much ran straight to the coffee shop. I got to see the LA River filled with water (a rare sight, honestly) after a recent atmospheric river hit the city and also passed by some cool parks.
Civil Coffee is super studyable and the interior is really cute. There’s a lot of coffee competition in Highland Park, which I’m looking to explore on another sidequest, but the Arroyo is probably one of my favorite drinks in LA — one I’m willing to drink sweetened as someone who doesn’t like sweet coffee. That lavender syrup is amazing!
Sycamore Grove Park!
it’s not often rainy in November but we just had a huge rainstorm
you can often see the base of the LA River but it is quite full after the storm
the lavender syrup in The Arroyo is amazing
More running and more coffee
Running and coffee are how I consume my time when I don’t know what to do. I’m training for the Rose Bowl Half Marathon in January, so I’ve definitely been putting my miles in! Here are some more fun places I’ve been and yummy coffee drinks I’ve had.
Eagle Rock is so pretty with the mountains in the back
running along the Santa Monica beach path
highly recommend Loop Espresso Bar for any espresso lovers
