Happy early October! For USC students, this brings the highly anticipated fall break! A four-day weekend, Trojans choose to do everything from going back home to relaxing on campus to road-tripping Southern California. This year, my parents visited, and we decided to spend the weekend exploring the nearby region. 
We started by driving around two hours to Santa Barbara. Along the way, we stopped at Dunkin. Born and raised in New England, I will never lose my love for a Dunkin rest stop. In Santa Barbara, we explored the pier, the main shopping street, and got some ice cream. On the beach, we caught one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen. Southern California’s sunsets are truly one of a kind.
The next day was the highlight of the weekend. We traveled via a one-hour ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island, the largest island in Channel Islands National Park. As a National Park lover, this has always been on my Southern California bucket list! It did not disappoint. Being only accessible by boat, the island is very remote. This meant we were some of the only tourists on the island! During our day there, we hiked the interior section, visited the famous Potato Harbor, saw a few Island Foxes, and enjoyed some much-needed phone-free relaxation.
On our last day, we decided to walk around downtown Ventura and visited the small town of Ojai. We grabbed a yummy lunch, visited the biggest outdoor bookstore in the world, and went on a short hike.
Overall, a very successful fall break! Southern California has so much to offer, and I love to get out and explore the region as much as possible!
