October 28, 2020

This is a late post. I was supposed to release it on September 16, 2020.

A few weeks ago my niece asked me to come to California to watch her 6 month old son over the Labor Day weekend so she and her boyfriend could celebrate his birthday.

They offered to pay for my flight, food and accommodations.

My initial reaction was to decline the offer. I hadn’t flown in an airplane since I was 7 years old (that’s really sad).

I decided to go because I really didn’t have an excuse not to, and traveling is something that I definitely want to do more of .

I’ve always wanted to go to California, it’s a place I would one day want to live.

Surprisingly I wasn’t nervous about the plane ride. My travel time was about six hours and I had to board two planes with a one hour layover.

The first plane I boarded was small and I could feel some turbulence but I was so mesmerized by the view of being above the clouds I rarely noticed. The second plane was a huge airbus. The flight was so smooth the only thing I felt was the landing.

During my stay, I was in the North Hollywood area a few blocks from the walk of fame. It was nothing like I expected.

The area was a hodgepodge of architecture and aesthetics from modern state of the art buildings to colorful stucco Spanish style houses.

One thing that took me aback was seeing homeless tent communities on sidewalks, street dividers, under bridges and in parking lots of closed businesses.

I attributed what I saw mostly to the COVID-19 pandemic but when you think of Hollywood, you think celebrities, luxury cars, glitz and glamor.

During my visit I got to see the Hollywood sign, walk of fame, Rodeo Drive and the Santa Monica Pier. I didn’t take many pictures but you can follow me on Instagram @lisamevansceo and see footage from my trip in my story highlights.

I’m glad I took the chance to take this trip and I can’t wait to plan my next.