Confessions of a Californian girl turned New Yorker
I remember the exact moment when it dawned on me that I felt like New York City was my home.
I also remember exactly when I decided to move to New York. Actually… There were two times — once when I was a kid and I thought it was this grand idea. And then again, just three and a half years ago, when I decided it was time to actually pack my bags.
I moved to California when I was 14 years old and I completely fought against it. It took me a long time to adjust, but after I graduated from high school and I actually chose to stay there, I really began to fall in love with the things that make San Diego special.
I love that I grew up going to bonfires on the beach and that I actually know what good Mexican food tastes like (sorry NYC, but you just don’t get it). I love that I lived somewhere where you have access to the beach or the mountains or the desert, all within a two-hour (or less) radius. I love that when I learned how to drive, it meant taking road trips up the California coast or going to Vegas with my friends.
I’m lucky: I get to go back to the west coast and visit a lot. My parents still live there and I have amazing friends and a great community to go home to.
I get asked all the time if I would move back to the west coast, or if I prefer California or New York. The truth is that I love that I get to have both in my life.
I think anyone who’s moved away from home can understand how it’s weird to go back somewhere you grew up and feel like everything has changed and at the same time, it’s all exactly the same.
Two weeks from today, I’ll be back in California. On my last visit, I shot in Venice Beach with Gil Riego. I love that I’m at a place in my life where even though there was a time when I was visiting Los Angeles every weekend, I’m a tourist in LA now.
I had so much fun at Venice Beach with Gil, a Los Angeles native. Gil is one of the sweetest guys I know, and we spent our day buying t-shirts on the boardwalk for way too much money, eating ice cream and talking to different people — a group with the cutest bird, a guy who was able to bench press me above his head (woah), and a group of guys that let me “help” with their street art (if you’re reading this, I’m sorry that I can’t spray paint inside the lines). And last but not least, big shout out to Calvin Alagot, another super talented photographer who came along to help with some lighting.
Anyway — I talk too much! Check out the photos:
You can check out more of Gil’s work here.
♡
Kelley Louise is a travel + lifestyle blogger and model.
You can read more of her thoughts on the culture collective.
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