Everyday feels like a vacation here (San Diego, Orange: live, beach, public transportation)

[NYC10]

I stayed in OC for a short period, and while it was pleasant everyday did not feel like a vacation. From experience, San Diego and Florida feel more resort like. Partly because of the high amount of tourists in these locations.

[Veritas Vincit]

Originally Posted by NYC10

I stayed in OC for a short period, and while it was pleasant everyday did not feel like a vacation. From experience, San Diego and Florida feel more resort like. Partly because of the high amount of tourists in these locations.

I can only speak for myself, but for something to feel like a vacation to me the no.1 element is whether I have the knowledge that I have freedom to spend the day doing stuff I enjoy.



I could be sitting on a patio overlooking the waters of the Indian Ocean with a gentle breeze softening the tropical heat in a luxury resort in the Maldives...and it wouldn't feel like a vacation if I know I'll have to log onto my work computer and mess around with spreadsheets all day.

[apple92680]

This is an interesting post and it brings to mind something I was pondering recently...

I've known quite a few younger (30s-40s) working age people that have moved out of state to places like Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Idaho. Those were nearby states where they used to spend vacation time. When you're on vacation, it's usually exciting and you've got endorphins and serotonin working at higher levels in the brain. This is the opposite feeling of your home city/state where you have a job, bills, obligations and responsibilities.

So, naturally, you feel like the place you are vacationing is "paradise" and home is "not fun/not exciting" and mentally exhausting.

Here's where it gets interesting:

Of those younger people I mentioned who moved out of state, about 2/3 of them think that they might have made a "mistake" in their move.

The "vacation" veneer of those places they moved to isn't there anymore and they're talking about how much more difficult and inflexible the working conditions are in some of those places. Another element I've heard is that people in those places were "much nicer to us when we were visitors" and not so much now that they're part of the community.

Add in the lower wages and the lack of access to the variety of recreation that they were accustomed to in California, and it adds up to quite a bit of remorse. Most know that they can't come back and are just doing what they can to make the best of their new homes.

It's an interesting paradox.

I always tell working age people that say they're considering a move out of California to give it some long and intense thought and to really weight it out.

[Avalon08]

OP, I got the point of your post. I lived there for two years (work transfer that I requested) and it felt like a vacation the entire time. I worked in Seal Beach and lived in Huntington....I used to take the 405 to work but when leaving, I'd drive down PCH with the windows down. It was just glorious. After two years, I missed home (East coast) and family so I moved back, but many times have thought about giving it another try.

I also get that California gets a bad rap. "Everyone's leaving...high prices, cost of housing, homeless, traffic, wildfires, blah blah." I eventually landed on the Gulf coast of Florida (also a beautiful area) but all anyone has to say about Florida is, "Everyone's leaving....too hot and humid, alligators, hurricanes, bugs, blah blah." It's funny that two of the most beautiful states in the country have so many people ready to diss them.

Enjoy OC and SoCal! I still haven't ruled out moving back...

[tstieber]

Great thread! We live in SD and have been working from home for years, way before everyone was doing it. We don't live in a touristy part of town, we're a bit farther inland (although you can see the ocean from a block away), and there are mountain views to our East. So it doesn't look or feel like the stereotypical tourist beach experience. Nevertheless, we do feel like we're on a constant vacation too, bc we're only a short drive to the city, the beaches, the mountains, the wine country, etc. There is so much variety nearby that this, too, contributes to a feeling of relaxation. And I don't think SD is quite as hot as OC, so the climate is pretty great most of the year. We're all very blessed

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

OP, I got the point of your post. I lived there for two years (work transfer that I requested) and it felt like a vacation the entire time.

How did you feel as though it’s ‘a vacation the entire time’ - if it wasn’t, lol? It appears you (and a few others) are simply speaking to nice weather or beaches as ‘vacation-like’ (and ignoring work or daily traffic updates and commutes, even if it’s only a few days per week). I’ve lived in several great locations (including London for about a year), and I’ve never felt as though I was on vacation the entire time in any of them. :-)

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Great thread! We live in SD and have been working from home for years, way before everyone was doing it. We don't live in a touristy part of town, we're a bit farther inland (although you can see the ocean from a block away), and there are mountain views to our East. So it doesn't look or feel like the stereotypical tourist beach experience. Nevertheless, we do feel like we're on a constant vacation too, bc we're only a short drive to the city, the beaches, the mountains, the wine country, etc. There is so much variety nearby that this, too, contributes to a feeling of relaxation. And I don't think SD is quite as hot as OC, so the climate is pretty great most of the year. We're all very blessed

Originally Posted by Avalon08

OP, I got the point of your post. I lived there for two years (work transfer that I requested) and it felt like a vacation the entire time. I worked in Seal Beach and lived in Huntington....I used to take the 405 to work but when leaving, I'd drive down PCH with the windows down. It was just glorious. After two years, I missed home (East coast) and family so I moved back, but many times have thought about giving it another try.

I also get that California gets a bad rap. "Everyone's leaving...high prices, cost of housing, homeless, traffic, wildfires, blah blah." I eventually landed on the Gulf coast of Florida (also a beautiful area) but all anyone has to say about Florida is, "Everyone's leaving....too hot and humid, alligators, hurricanes, bugs, blah blah." It's funny that two of the most beautiful states in the country have so many people ready to diss them.

Enjoy OC and SoCal! I still haven't ruled out moving back...

It's ok to be happy

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

How did you feel as though it’s ‘a vacation the entire time’ - if it wasn’t, lol? It appears you (and a few others) are simply speaking to nice weather or beaches as ‘vacation-like’ (and ignoring work or daily traffic updates and commutes, even if it’s only a few days per week). I’ve lived in several great locations (including London for about a year), and I’ve never felt as though I was on vacation the entire time in any of them. :-)

Let's see. The office was a happier place. I no sooner got there and they had an office "meeting" and outing to Disneyland. It wasn't the grind that Corporate back East had been. I noticed that the women wore open-toed shoes!!! Lord, we were still wearing closed-toe with knee-high stockings back home! The people were more easygoing and it was just a more relaxed environment.

My commute was rarely a hassle -- Beach Boulevard to the Seal Beach exit. As I mentioned, I would take PCH home. Even just driving to L.A. was one mountain vista after another.

I became good friends with two neighbors and we went out every weekend. I gained about 20 lbs. drinking margaritas and eating fish tacos. Yep, the weather was fantastic. This was 20+ years ago before the wildfires and other climate catastrophes. (Oh, I did live through an earthquake -- the Joshua Tree quake of '99. It woke me up but wasn't close enough to do any damage.)

So yeah, I have nothing but happy memories.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Let's see. The office was a happier place. I no sooner got there and they had an office "meeting" and outing to Disneyland. It wasn't the grind that Corporate back East had been. I noticed that the women wore open-toed shoes!!! Lord, we were still wearing closed-toe with knee-high stockings back home! The people were more easygoing and it was just a more relaxed environment.

Too funny. How does the change in your office environment (or shoes, lol) translate to you feeling as though you’re on vacation every day?

Originally Posted by Avalon08

My commute was rarely a hassle

Point being, you’re still going to work. Only folks who don’t live/work in an area can feel as though they are on vacation every day; hence, from my perspective, the thread is amusing/nonsensical. We vacation elsewhere. :-)

It’s akin to the subject of cable cars in SF; folks who don’t live in the City think of the cable car experience as something tourists do whereas those of us who lived it for a decade consider such relative to commuting and public transportation.

Originally Posted by Avalon08

So yeah, I have nothing but happy memories.

That’s great, but it’s not the same as feeling as though you’re on vacation every day.

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by CorporateCowboy

Too funny. How does the change in your office environment (or shoes, lol) translate to you feeling as though you’re on vacation every day?



Point being, you’re still going to work. Only folks who don’t live/work in an area can feel as though they are on vacation every day; hence, from my perspective, the thread is amusing/nonsensical. We vacation elsewhere. :-)

It’s akin to the subject of cable cars in SF; folks who don’t live in the City think of the cable car experience as something tourists do whereas those of us who lived it for a decade consider such relative to commuting and public transportation.



That’s great, but it’s not the same as feeling as though you’re on vacation every day.

You're gatekeeping. Who are you to say what a vacation feels like to someone else?

Maybe you take tours of the hills in Tuscany for vacation. Maybe that poster goes to Disneyland and wears open toed shoes. That doesn't mean one is a vacation and the other is not.