by: Dominic Ferrara
It is understandable why California attracts a lot of people. There it is warm and sunny most part of the year, Los Angeles is full of movie stars, rollerblading babes can be found all over the place in Venice Beach. Even if it is exaggerated, this part of the California mystique is real and not very hard to find.
But California has other things too, that are not scripted, sanitized, and broadcast to the mesmerized masses of the world. The glitter and glamour are only the surface of an incredibly diverse state that would be a productive and powerful nation in the event of ever getting separated from the Union. California has it all: redwood forests, an incredibly verdant Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, deserts, a lot of well-known cities, and hundreds of miles of beautiful coastline.
Despite the crime, pollution, traffic, and earthquakes, which have made California famous as well, people here are still the golden children of the United States, America's spoiled rich kid that is either loved or loathed by everyone. (In Oregon, for example, they sell lots of license-plate rims stating "I hate California.") To be perfectly sincere, people here don’t really care. Californians are aware of the fact that they live in one of the most interesting places in the world, and they're proud of their state. Nobody can guarantee you that you'll meet Arnold Schwarzenegger or learn how to surf here, but with a little time, a little money, and an adventurous spirit, you will be guided by us and offered one of the most fulfilling vacations of your life. The four of us do nothing but travel, but we chose to live in California because this place has so much to offer.