Solo Reise nach L.A. ✈️🌴/ Solo travel to L.A. ✈️🌴

Hey to everyone reading this! 😃

There is a slightly longer blog entry waiting for you! 😅 I went on vacation for the first time all alone! There is of course a lot to tell! 😂 So richly gifted I was during this time!

So then I'll get started. Last Wednesday morning, I flew into Los Angeles. I flew out of Pittsburgh and my flight was around 5 hours. You're probably wondering why I went back to California. I have always wanted to explore Los Angeles. Unfortunately no other person from the ranch had time to go with me, so I decided to go alone. For one or the other probably not even imaginable. 😅😂

But I can say that things and situations will happen that you might not experience if you travel with someone. You also learn to manage on your own and not be dependent on someone. It just allows for a lot of personal growth. Traveling like this is the first time you see how brave you can be. 😊

The flight was really relaxing. First of all, in the United States you don't have to wear a mask when you fly on an airplane, and secondly, the seat next to me was free. Two seats over was an older woman who was flying for the first time in her life! She was a little excited and liked to talk. So I chatted with her and always gave her an update on how far we would have flown and how much longer. 😉 

Since I landed in Los Angeles relatively early on Wednesday (June 1, 2022), I had already made a plan for the day. It was called something like this: Check in the luggage at the hotel, report to your parents that you have arrived safely, get your room key and unpack my things, go to the Santa Monica Pier and enjoy the day. ☺️

So I had gotten a 7-day metro card (Tapcard) that allowed me to use the metro and bus as many times as I wanted. 😉 That was really handy, but I'll tell you, I would have been really lost without Google Maps. 😜

Arriving at the Santa Monica Pier, I found the Route 66 End of Trail sign and musicians playing various cover songs (Mason & Julez Couthino). Loud souvenirs and food stands were along the pier. I wanted to see a bit more though, so I thought I'd walk over to Venice Beach. Haha, it definitely wasn't a quick walk. It took me a whole 1 1/2 hours on foot. 😂 They had a paved path where you could walk on. But others were biking or rollerblading. Once there I saw the famous Venice Skatepark. I still spent a bit of time on the beach and enjoyed the fresh sea air. 🌊 The palm trees there were simply sprayed with graffiti. That's a whole new style. 😎

The next day (Thursday, June 2, 2022) I wanted to see the Griffith Observatory, because I had heard that you have a beautiful view of the city from there. So I took the Los Felix bus up into the mountains. From this location you could also see the Hollywood sign in the distance! 😍 After that I drove on to the Universal Studio, where I wanted to have a picture with the ball, of course. However, I did not go into the park. I found going by myself too stupid. 😅 It was already early afternoon. I thought about what else could be done. I was recommended to visit the Getty Center, because the entrance is free and there is quite a bit to see. 🙂 It was really beautiful - especially the garden! 🥰

Friday morning (June 3, 2022) was the day. My tour of Hollywood was that day. When I took the metro to the Walk of Fame in the morning, I had to be amazed. I always wanted to see the stars of the celebrities on the ground. But now brace yourselves. Each celebrity has to pay $50,000, which is about 47.000 €, to be immortalized. 😅 I guess the money will be donated to organizations. That was just one thing the guide told us.

Our first stop was at the Hollywood sign. Our small group, consisting of 7 people, was able to see the Hollywood sign the best and the very closest place. Few get that close unless you hike for a few hours. But nah, you can drive up there too. 😉

On the tour I heard that one of our group is from Manchester (England) and that he is the whistler (David Morris) from the movie Mama Mia. Have you ever seen the movie? I haven't, but I guess I'll have to sometime soon. 😂

The tour continued to Beverly Hills, where we were shown houses of a few famous people. For example, I saw the house of Katy Perry. But also of the band that released the song Gangnam Style. In addition, I saw in which estate Michael Jackson died and where Justin Timberlake lives. Of course, the view was limited because everything is fenced off and cordoned off for protection from paparazzi. 💁🏽‍♀️

We continued with the tour of Rodeo Drive, where I would have liked to shop. 😉 Of course, only if it would have been affordable... 🫣😂 The tour was concluded with the Beverly Hills sign.

In the evening I wanted to go to a worship evening from the Renew Church. However, when I arrived at the location I entered, no one was there and everything was locked. After researching again, I noticed that the event was somewhere else. So I headed out and unfortunately arrived a little late. I was made very welcome and was able to make contacts quickly. So good contacts that I even did something with one of the girls the next day. 😇

Debbie, my new friend and I went to Malibu Saturday (June 4, 2022) to see the west coast. The water was turquoise blue colors and it was very windy. Of course we had to listen to the song by Miley Cirus about Malibu on our drive there. 😂

After finding and looking at the Hannah Montana house, we were hungry and went to eat at the Malibu Pier. It was really good food, but see for yourself. 🍴 🍲

In the hotel where I stayed, I even met a German who was also traveling alone. It was fun to communicate with people in German again and share experiences with each other. 🙂 

The next morning (Sunday, June 5, 2022) I left for the next church. Since we are singing a lot of Hillsong songs in Germany, I also wanted to go to a real American Hillsong church. However, my previously held expectations were a bit disappointed. I didn't feel as welcome as before in the other church I had already told you about. But the sermon was still quite good! 😊

Over lunchtime, where it became relatively warm, I made my way to The Broad Museum, which also had free admission and featured many beautiful works of art. 🖼

A next church visit was just around the corner. This time an evening church service. But when I arrived at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, where by the way the famous Pastor McArthur preaches, I found out that it was more of a question and answer session about the Bible and the Christian life. 

A young German man also asked a question. I had to sit up and take notice when I heard where he was from. I was a bit surprised. 😅 After all, you wouldn't think you'd meet someone here who spoke the same language. After the Q&A, of course I had to let him know that I'm from Germany, too. 😉 So I walked up to him and asked, 'Germany?' 😃 Then, when we both realized that we spoke German, we talked a bit. He has been on a business trip. We even had someone else come into our circle who was born in Germany and has lived in Los Angeles for a few years.

A couple and their son from church, had invited us to try street tacos. I had only known regular tacos before. But is there really such a big difference? Well, I found out then. 😂 They taste a bit different and you can put different meats in them. On top I made a kind of avocado sauce. 🥑 Street tacos in Los Angeles I can then also tick off. ✅😂

The following day (Monday, June 6, 2022) was already my last day before I flew back again in the evening to the ranch in Pennsylvania. I wanted to use the last hours to see the Grand Central Market, which by the way was full of people. There was also a camera crew in the middle. I asked one of the men what was being filmed. It would be for a cooking show and the actors would probably be from Italy. Since I am also doing a lot in the media area, I just had to see how they filmed it and so on. Until I was talked out of it by a man and asked if I would be part of the team. Then I asked back, 'No, do I look like that?' 😂 Then in response I got, 'Yeah, you're pretty, you should be in front of the camera there.' 😂 Something like that also only happens at Central Market in Los Angeles. 😂

Shortly after that I wanted to go to a bookstore (The last bookstore). Not to buy books, but actually just to see the book tunnel. But very self in the picture gallery. 😇

As I waited for my Uber, I was approached again outside the bookstore. A bald man said to me, 'Excuse me?' I asked, 'Yes?' He continued, 'Can you give me some of your hair?' We both had to laugh. 😂

My Uber came and I was able to have a very good conversation with the Uber driver. I was on my way to Warner Bros Studios. So there I was telling him in 20 minutes what I was doing in America. He had told me that he still had Bible study in the evening. That opened up completely different topics of conversation. Shortly before he kicked me out, he told me back that I was very open and somehow radiated such peace. Then I said to him, 'Do you know what my name means?' Salome, meaning Shalom translates as the Peace or the Peaceful. We both had to smile. 😄

So there I was. At Warner Bros Studios. I took a tour of the grounds and was able to learn more about how Warner Brothers came to be. I was really interested in that, because I too would like to do at least something on TV or in the media field. ☺️ So I couldn't pass that up. 😅 Just look at the pictures, maybe you recognize some of the locations. For example from the series Pretty Little Liars, Friends, All Americans or even Harry Potter. I haven't seen all of them yet. 😂 But well, it was still cool and amazing to see that you can redesign a backdrop so much that it already fits again. The whole built up city can even change seasons. There are special gardeners there just to take care of that. Sometimes it can take two weeks to get a set ready to film there. Of course, they also have painters and complete interior designers there to get everything ready. 😅

In the afternoon I had another appointment with Debbie. She really took care of me the time over and really took time for me to make my stay as nice as possible. Not excluding all the tips and advice I received. ☺️ I even got to try Spanish food before Debbie then took me to the airport again!

I knew someone in town over the days then just where I knew I would get help if I needed it (badly)! Such a godsend! 🌠

Cool! You guys have made it this far to read! But I just want to give an overall glimpse of the city. It is really always shown only the golden side of Los Angeles and especially Hollywood. But it is never mentioned how many homeless people live here on the streets and sit around at the metro stations. There is a very big split between rich and poor and it's not easy to watch in which conditions these people live. 😕

I've been in weird situations where homeless people were yelling at each other and you thought something was about to escalate, where someone was throwing bottles around and rioting and where I had to watch out that I didn't get hit, where someone spit out his mouthwash in the metro…

It hurts to see how people have to live and why they become the way they become. Where I always ask myself, 'What is the reason that this person is sleeping on a piece of cardboard and looking in the trash for something used?' These people need hope! ☹️

Since I was traveling alone, I still had to protect myself and avoided some areas of the city. But I was quite well protected and taken care of from above! ☝🏻 But also from people I met and who additionally always kept an eye on me and even did not want me to ride the subway or bus in the dark. 😅

I never felt like I was alone. Even though I did go off on my own in the beginning. I can only encourage everyone to do the same, maybe not in LA as it gets scary especially in the city at night. 😅 You should just have done it at least once in your life. I can tell you that I would go traveling again on my own in a heartbeat! 🧳😊

So, enough of the travelogue now! I wonder if this is the longest trip report I've ever written on my website. 😂

Well, thank you for your patience and your time to read more about the city of Los Angeles and about my experiences. 😄

Until the next blog post then! 😜✌🏻