Escaping people was one of my favorite parts of leaving California.

I don’t mean escaping the people I cared about. I mean escaping the other 39.5 million and then some. 

No matter what….every single thing you do, place you visit or simple daily task that needs to get done, without-a-doubt, becomes a chore. We lived in a “small” town of about 90,000 people. Gas station, grocery store, Target….a chore.

The weekend before I moved back, we had dinner with friends in a town about 15 miles away. In order to get there, though, you have to go over what locals refer to as “the pass.” That pass, whether it’s 3 am, noon, or 7 pm is flooded with vehicles and people. Sometimes during rush hour or weekend traffic, it can take an hour or more just to get over it (which should take no more than 5 minutes) luckily we have changed our truck batteries

Ryan drove that night, and I snapped these two pictures. I then made the comment to him that this is why I couldn’t get out of the state fast enough. Escaping People sarahkayhoffman.com California traffic the pass

Escaping People sarahkayhoffman.com traffic CaliforniaEscaping People

Here’s the thing about California and that life out there. 

It’s just stunning. I’ve already told you all the beautiful parts about living in California (and newsflash – none of them had to do with Hollywood).

But for me, the beautiful parts – my very favorite things in California – were always clouded by the sheer volume of people. 

All the beauty in the world was seemingly found in California, but in order to get to most of it, you had to struggle through traffic and people.

never got used to it, and towards the end, I despised it. 

During this period of change, I’ve come back to those feelings often. When I miss the Palm trees or mountains or find myself cursing the winter, I return to those feelings, and I remember the most important thing about beauty.

It’s not so beautiful if we’re desperately and constantly trying to escape it. (This applies to anything in life, by the way.)

Maybe the most beautiful thing(s) is/are found in unsuspecting places.

When I left California and found myself breathing easier again after escaping millions upon millions of people, I began discovering something – one thing in particular – in a whole, new, beautiful light. 

I’ll share it tomorrow.

Xox,
SKH

If you don’t have time to read these posts daily, but don’t want to miss them, be sure to follow via Bloglovin’ and/or join my personal e-newsletter HERE. I am doing my best to send a once per week email recap of prior week’s posts.

These posts will all live under “Wellness+Lifestyle” and also tagged with “101 Days of Blogging.” The 101-day series runs from Monday, January 8, 2018, through Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

If there is a topic surrounding change that you would love for me to include in this series, please just CONTACT ME.

Previous 101-Day Change Series Posts

  1. Beginnings are Scary
  2. Change Pain Point
  3. Making Sense of Change
  4. Gratitude Journal
  5. Love Your Baby Girl
  6. Little Things Add Up
  7. House and Home
  8. Sunday Reflections
  9. Two
  10. Chocolate Shake
  11. 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake
  12. Chaos is a Temporary State
  13. Thirsty Thursday
  14. Month One
  15. The Nudge to Connect
  16. 11 Favorites from 11 Years in California
  17. One Box at a Time
  18. Good Enough is Enough
  19. There is No Dishwasher
  20. WWDW Number 8
  21. Move Initiated
  22. Sharing My Journey
  23. Back with the Tribe
  24. Small Town Grocery Shopping Part One
  25. January 2018 Catch Up Over Bone Broth
  26. Patsy Clairmont is My Spirit Animal
  27. Let There Be Light
  28. Forgot About Rae
  29. Smiles
  30. Coconut Oil Makeup Remover How To
  31. 9 Ways to Embrace Winter

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3 Comments

  1. I relate to this so much. When I lived in SoCaI couldn’t wait to escape the vast amounts of people and traffic. It was beautiful but at the time I lived near the beach in Port Hueneme and my immediate family lived in Pasadena. A 30 min drive would take 1 1/2 to 2 hours and I was over it. Some days I miss the scenery but that traffic???? I’ll keep New Orleans for now????

  2. When we come home to California from Hawaii we always comment on how quiet it is! The traffic and volume of people in Waikiki make our little corner of Ventura County seem mellow.

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