- Moments of Sonder Travel

Most of the pictures on my phone are taken in California. I have lived here, on and off, for thirty years, and even now I am surprised by how much of it I have not seen. This is a short piece about how much I love this state.

What I love the most about California

I have lived in California, on and off, for thirty years. My family arrived in the Bay Area. I grew up partly in the Central Valley, went to college in Southern California, and now I live and work back in the Bay Area.

The thing I love most about California is that there is nature everywhere, and none of it looks the same. The desert, the mountains, the coast: each one is its own kind of beautiful.

The Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands, looking back toward San Francisco across the bay — The Golden Gate, from Marin

A stretch of California mountain road through pines and golden aspens in fall, light catching the leaves — A drive in the Sierra

The range

California is the third-largest state in the country and contains more variety, geographically and culturally, than most countries do. You could be in a major city in the morning and standing in the desert by the afternoon. You could be touching the ocean and then hanging out in the mountains, all in the same day. The state has deserts and forests and snow and surf, sometimes within a couple of hours of each other.

I could spend the rest of my life exploring California and not finish.

The high desert with cumulus clouds piling up over distant mountains — The desert

An overhead view of a small mountain lake surrounded by pine forest, with the Sierra Nevada range on the horizon — The mountains

A rocky stretch of Southern California coastline with deep blue water and red earth in the foreground — The coast

The famous places

There are the obvious ones. San Francisco. Los Angeles. San Diego. Lake Tahoe. Yosemite. Joshua Tree. Palm Springs. Napa Valley. Sonoma County. Santa Barbara. Big Sur. Disneyland. These places are famous for reasons. They are amazing, and they are absolutely worth a visit. I go to them all the time.

A small boat anchored in the turquoise water of Lake Tahoe, framed by pine trees and mountains across the lake — Lake Tahoe

Downtown Los Angeles at golden hour, with the US Bank Tower and the city catching the last light — Los Angeles

San Diego harbor on a bright day, naval ships moored across the bay and a marina in the foreground — San Diego

A stone winery building set among vineyards in Napa Valley, mountains rising in the distance — Napa Valley

Then there is everything beyond those headline destinations. Lake Shasta. The Mendocino coast. Marin County, with its trails and its tiny towns. Tomales Bay, where the oysters come out of the water and end up on a table next to you within the hour. The towns of the Central Coast: Carmel, Monterey, Pismo, Paso Robles, Los Olivos, San Luis Obispo. And in Southern California: Ojai, Laguna Beach, Catalina Island, the wine country of Temecula. Californians know all of these places well. They are simply the ones that sit a layer beyond the headlines, and the people who make the time for them tend to come back differently than they left.

The cypress tunnel at Point Lobos, an arched canopy of cypress trees over a winding road on the Carmel coast — Point Lobos

The Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach, a single tree on a rock outcropping with the Pacific behind it — The Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach

I am big on a California road trip

If I had one piece of advice about California, it would be this: see it however you want. The key thing is to make sure you have the opportunity to explore. Give yourself time, if you can. There are so many ways to do that. I love a road trip. I have done California road trips myself. I have planned them for other people. The way the state reveals itself to you when you are moving slowly is different from how it reveals itself when you fly in for a weekend. Both ways are great.

A road trip down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles takes time. If somebody is willing to give it that time, it will change them. That is not an exaggeration. The cliffs at Big Sur. The bridges. The cypress trees at Pebble Beach. The Central Coast towns. The Pacific on your right going on forever. There is no version of that drive that does not stay with you.

And beyond the cliffs and the bridges and the golfing and the landscape at Pebble Beach, there are beautiful cafes and great shopping in the little towns sprinkled along the way. Lovely wine shops. People sharing a slice of their lives with you as you wander through their cities and towns.

The Big Sur coastline, green cliffs above a curving beach, the Pacific stretching out under a soft sky — Big Sur

Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, the famous concrete arch spanning the canyon between cliffs above the Pacific — Bixby Bridge

One of the most amazing things about California is that the destination is part of the trip, and the journey to it will reveal a bunch of amazing gems that can become core memories of their own.

Beyond the car, there is the train. You can fly to one place, spend a few days, then fly to another. Maybe do a road trip again. The key thing is, exploring California is fun, and it is incredibly rewarding.

What is still to come

I have a lot more I want to write about California. Napa Valley and Sonoma County, and the other wine regions of the state. The Central Coast and how much it has to offer. The places between San Francisco and Los Angeles that are not on the coast and that are worth knowing about. The California desert, season by season. The greater Sacramento area and the drive up toward El Dorado. The Northern California coast, Mendocino and beyond. Finding nature inside the Bay Area, which is easier to do than people realize. The cultural vibrancy of the Bay Area, which is its own essay. The beach towns of Southern California. The Southern California that is not Los Angeles and not Disneyland and not San Diego, though all three of those are wonderful and you should go to them too.

I will write all of them eventually.

Baker Beach in San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge rising in the distance, sand and sky meeting in soft light — Coming home

For now, this is just an ode. From someone who lives in California, to a place that keeps surprising her, even after thirty years.

Whether you are visiting California for the first time, planning a return, or, like me, living here and wondering what you have not yet seen, we would love to help you design a trip that does this state justice. There is a lot of California, and that is the good news.

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Priscilla Nzessi is the founder of Moments of Sonder Travel. She lives in the Bay Area and is still finding new places in California to add to the list.