American Dream?! ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

เบˆเบฑเบ”เบžเบตเบกเบกเบฒ: 14.04.2018

After my exciting days on Kauai, I continued to California. This was the cheapest flight connection from the island to the mainland, and once I'm there, why not take the opportunity to explore?! So let's go!

Since I knew that my dear friend Chris Pohl has relatives there, I asked him if I could stay with them for a few days, and it worked out right away! Once again, a wonderful coincidence and the hospitality amazed me once again, because his cousin, Linh, didn't hesitate for a second and said yes right away. How kind!


Yes - you have high expectations when you hear about the big cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Josรฉ. I had them too and was super excited to experience everything there. After the camping days, it was a dream to live in an apartment again. Linh really offered me something great there. However, after the outdoor showers, I was already overjoyed to have a hot shower!

Linh
Linh's cute cat! Finally cuddling again!


And then it started: little Pauli travels through the big, world-famous cities! It was so incredibly impressive to see everything, and each city had something special about it. Let the pictures speak for themselves. Again, I want to show you my time with these pictures and not talk so much about them, but just write small comments about them:

Stanford & Palo Alto, 03.03.2018

First stop: Stanford & Palo Alto
Welcome โค๏ธ


The avenue was simply lined with palm trees, so beautiful! Plus, the sunset a little later.. that gave me a real California feeling!

The famous Stanford University..
The famous Stanford University.. but unfortunately, it wasn't as spectacular as you would imagine. There was a small tour on the internet that led you from one building to another, but that was it. All I did was look at houses and towers on this huge campus. Personally, I found it really disappointing. Such a famous university and then it presents itself so poorly to visitors. That didn't really attract me, especially since I belong to the potential target group. But well, not a big deal.
One thing there was
There was one thing left: souvenirs! I barely saw anything of the university, but the main thing is to buy any junk with the imprint "Stanford University".. I won't say anything more about that.
Beautifully lit by the evening sun!
The buildings beautifully lit by the evening sun!

San Francisco, 04.03.2018

Welcome โค๏ธ
Welcome โค๏ธ
San Francisco is really a great city, in my opinion. I felt most comfortable there in California. It had a great atmosphere, and I could simply enjoy the day! Everyone was relaxed, and it had a mix of a hipster/hippie feeling with a big city feeling that represents glamour.
First, the skyline.
First, the skyline. That was the first thing I saw of the city, and I was completely overwhelmed! It was hard to believe where I actually was in that moment! But that's how I felt in the big cities most of the time!
The harbor!
The harbor!
The view from the mainland to Alcatraz Island
The view from the mainland to Alcatraz Island
Having fun!
Having fun!

The overview of Alcatraz
The overview of Alcatraz - that was really very interesting! The island was like a small village. The prisoners lived locked up right next to the families of the employees in the prison.
These cars are not only in the movies!! I was very amazed by that.
These cars are not only in the movies!! I was very amazed by that.
And then started fooling around: D
And then started fooling around: D
Of course, there were many street performers. This one had a live duck in a suit next to him :D
The first time raw cookie dough! Pauli is in heaven!!!
The first time raw cookie dough! Pauli is in heaven!!!
Fantastic!
Fantastic! By the way, the fun cost 6 dollars..
A picture of server Pauli
A picture of me! The harbor was a dream. My cookie dough, the sea lions, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background!!
So beautiful!
So beautiful!


And there it is finally..
And there it is finally..
No longer seeing Alcatraz just in the textbooks!
No longer just seeing Alcatraz in the textbooks!
My favorite picture โค๏ธ
My favorite picture โค๏ธ
There I am.. hard to believe!
There I am.. hard to believe!

Santa Cruz, 05.03.2018

Welcome!
Welcome! โค๏ธ
The beach! The city is known for surfing, you can tell!
The beach! The city is known for surfing, you can tell!
Fancy fancy..
Fancy fancy..
I also saw sea lions playing in the water. Very cute!
I also saw sea lions playing in the water. Very cute!

San Josรฉ, 09.03.2018

Welcome! โค๏ธ
Welcome! โค๏ธ
The bears - California
The bears - California's landmarks!
A very colorful city!
A very colorful city!
Colorful in every view - I like it!
In a museum, you could fill out a note that you can pick up again in 2020. I left my email address, and they will contact me then. I hope they will send me a picture of it as requested because picking it up will be difficult :D
And another sunset picture! Beautiful, isn't it?!

Los Angeles, 12&13.03.2018

Welcome! โค๏ธ
Welcome! โค๏ธ
Incredible: Pauli with the big backpack, in the big city, on the way to Hollywood!
Incredible: Pauli with the big backpack, in the big city, on the way to Hollywood!
That's the way!
And there I am!!
And there I am!!
Is this reality or am I dreaming?!
Is this reality or am I dreaming?!


Mickey, I met him too!
Mickey, I met him too!
The big houses..
The huge streets!
Advertisement in the metro. It took me a while to understand what "Reuse" means :D



But why do I question this American Dream in my headline? The pictures are so dreamy and seem to represent a seemingly perfect time!

That's a good question because as beautiful as it looks in the pictures, it wasn't particularly enjoyable for me overall.

There are many reasons for this, here are some of them:

Safety:

Safety is always a big topic for me, especially when you're traveling alone, you have to be even more careful. Now follows something probably surprising: I felt the most unsafe during my entire trip in California. You can hardly believe it, right?! You would think that it's safe in the 1st world country USA. At least safer than in countries like Indonesia or India. But no, my feeling told me otherwise. I really felt very uncomfortable on the streets all the time. This was because there were incredibly many homeless people walking around. Life in the USA is incredibly expensive! In principle, that's no reason to feel unsafe, but these people were mostly mentally very confused. There were also many junkies whom you could tell were in a miserable state. Lastly, I talked to some former junkies in my hostel in Los Angeles, who now only use weed. Daily. Starting at 10 a.m. And then they asked me if I wanted some too. I politely declined.

You don't really feel comfortable and safe there, right?

That was really shocking to me in such a highly developed country.

Loneliness:

Somehow it was incredibly difficult for me to make contacts in California. On the one hand, because I was a bit isolated in Linh's apartment, and on the other hand, because things like Couchsurfing are simply not as popular there. I also had the feeling that most people were not open enough to make new contacts and were generally not very interested in others. Selfish thinking. Only yourself counts. Not to mention what Linh told me, which confirmed almost everything. She always said to me, "You do your thing, and I'll do mine." All conversations were very superficial, and when you needed help, hardly anyone was willing to help. (Really unbelievable when I compare it to my experiences in Mexico.. but more about that in the next post!) It was really uncomfortable for me to ask alone for a phone to make a call, considering that the people in Indonesia offered to share their internet hotspot right away.

The resulting boredom:

Due to the loneliness, I didn't really go out much and spent many days in the apartment. Who wants to do things alone?! My days were often super dull and boring, and the highlight of the day consisted of a way too expensive coffee from the nearest Starbucks.. it really doesn't bring back any nice memories..

As you can see from the dates, I was able to visit the cities in just one day. Of course, you can spend more time in them, but to see the most, the time was enough.

Business, business, business..:

As I said before, people didn't seem to be very interested in others and weren't particularly open to getting to know new people. This was also due to all the work! In California lies the well-known Silicon Valley, which is famous for the many hard-working people. Linh showed me many things, for example, she took me to the Paypal headquarters and also to her office. It was crazy to see so many desks at once, but when you looked at the people sitting behind them, it didn't exactly look like they were enjoying themselves at work. I also find it crazy how much Linh was working! I really admire her for what she has achieved in her life alone: studies, work, car, apartment, and so on.. all from scratch! But whether it's worth it for me to work so much and have hardly any free time, just for a Mercedes and a study at Stanford University?! Hmm.. I don't think so. Everyone can choose their own life, but it opened my eyes again to what I personally don't want. Rather less money, but be happier!


All in all, I don't want to say too many words about California. Personally, I didn't like it very much, and it is definitely the place that I liked the least so far. I would advise anyone to save the money and travel somewhere else because there are so many more beautiful places in the world that are also much cheaper, and you can have a much better time!

It was cool to see all of it, but it wasn't really worth it. At the end of the 2 weeks, I was really counting the hours until my flight to Mexico, I was so bored! But well.. that's my opinion. There are probably many who see it differently. After all, it also depends a lot on who you're traveling with, and in that regard, I really had bad luck.

Mexico enchanted me from the first moment onwards and made up for those two weeks. So stay tuned for the next post!

Conclusion: my rosyworld in the two weeks in California wasn't quite so rosy, and the "American Dream" was more of an "American Nightmare" at this point, but I have learned from it and become wiser again! Besides, not everything was terrible, some beautiful, impressive, and fascinating pictures were taken!

Or not?!


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