[0:12]How are we going? So we just pulled in to Santa Barbara, California, baby, for the start of the Northern California road trip. So, L.A. to San Francisco along the Pacific 1, the highway, but parts of it are closed, so we're gonna have to like work around that. Anyway, we're going Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo. Pronounced that so badly, I bet. Big Sur National Park for, National Forest, whatever it is, for two days in a cabin, and then up to like Carmel-by-the-Sea kind of area. Not haven't booked that yet, but like around there, and then into San Francisco for a 49ers game. But anyway, we are losing daylight. We're going into Santa Barbara now, so yeah, let's go.
[1:13]Wow, Santa Barbara is unbelievably beautiful. I am completely in love with it. It's exactly what Ally predicted. She's like, 'You're gonna do this Californian road trip and you're gonna ask, 'Can we move there?' I'm already thinking about moving. This place is beautiful, and now I'm off to get some authentic tacos. I'm gonna completely butcher the pronunciation of the place, but we'll find out what it's called together in like two seconds.
[2:11]Santa Barbara, absolutely 10 out of 10. The food, the people, the weather, the architecture, the everything. I can't tell if it's just because, you know, it's the first stop of the roadie and I'm just completely biased, because I'm also really excited to be on this road trip. I do wish I had more time here. I do not have more time here. We got to keep going. Yeah, Santa Barbara, absolutely 10 out of 10.
[3:15]So, we're staying at the Madonna Inn, which is a crazy hotel that I have been told about by Ally's brother.
[3:25]They came, um, on a family road trip up through here and stayed one night here, as just like a novelty because it's like so wacky. All the rooms, I think, are individually styled and designed, different themed. Mine is an Indian like a Native American themed room. The, I just went into like check-in and went through like the cafe lobby and check-in area, and it is like hilarious. It's so cool, like the carpet, the designs, the thought like it's so fun. So, Yeah, that's where we're bunkered tonight.
[4:00]When you pee, the waterfall starts. This place is hilarious.
[4:40]Native American theme with the stone walls is what the postcard was saying, and then like the brown the brown walls as well. I love these are cool. As a lot of you may know by now, and remember it is tradition on this channel that we do a first look at a hotel room together, and I feel like this what we're about to do, this one we're about to do is gonna be one of the best yet, for all the wackiest of reasons.
[5:39]Unfortunately, I can't do my other surprise, which I was planning on doing today. It was going to be driving out to a Navy base that has fighter jets, um, because I love fighter jets, and I really wanted to see some, but it's like, it's two hours plus to the trip, and then I end up missing like a lot of the coastal road, which is where I am right now. I've stopped because it's absolutely beautiful. So yeah, no fighter jets, unfortunately.
[6:09]Because of that I'm kinda like ahead of schedule now. Um, so I just pulled over at this beautiful place. It looks like it has a hike, all that kind of jazz. So, let's go check it out, eh?
[6:32]Oh my God. There's a fighter jet at the view that I just said I was going to see. No way!
[6:56]I was saying that I'm not gonna drive inland and waste like hours, not along the coast, driving to the desert to go to the base where the fighter jets are, and one just flies by at the most beautiful spot that I just happened to randomly pull over at. What?
[8:53]Are you serious? Look, at where I've just woken up. It's a cabin in the redwoods. Well, actually, I think it counts as redwoods, these look like redwoods behind it. I think it counts as redwoods because all the hikes I've been looking up in the area say, um, like if you go, anyway, I'm completely skipping the entire point here. I've woken up in Big Sur National Park. I just drove straight yesterday from like that Taco Bell. It was a long drive, like three hours up into Big Sur, which is where we're spending the next two days! And, um, I skipped tradition, unfortunately, of showing you the room with me. Like, you know, getting a first look because I got here so late. But anyway, we can do that right now. And also, it was dark and you wouldn't have been able to appreciate it. So yeah,
[10:21]There's no signs or anything for this first stop. I found it on TikTok though, so, like it has to be legit. I mean, it looks unbelievably beautiful, but I mean, honestly, I've had to stop myself from pulling over like 10 times since leaving my accommodation to get to here. And that was about 15 minutes ago. I was talking to the guy in the gas station on the way here, like getting protein bars, water, that kind of stuff, and he was like really upset about it. Because he obviously owns a business here and he was upset about the highway closure. So there's a highway closure on Pacific, on California 1, that disconnects Big Sur National Park from like Los Angeles. So you have to like come all the way around and go inland, which is what I ended up doing yesterday. And that's bad for business because it means this place is like empty. Well, you know, empty compared to what it usually is, which is really upsetting for the locals and for business, I'm sure. He did say to me though, he was like, look, enjoy it like this. You're you're never going to get it like this again. Like you go and enjoy it. But for me and all of us businesses, it's slumping at the moment, which is really sad. Look at this. I can just walk along Pacific 1, California highway through Big Sur National Park, and there's no cars.
[11:44]So I was just driving by and I saw this cute little sign for a public library that's open. So it's in the Redwood Forest in tucked into the trees. We've got to stop and have a look, don't we?
[12:24]It's so cool in there. It's a non-for-profit library that's effectively turned into a bookstore. So I just had to grab something. I grabbed Darwin, um, origin of the species bookshelf staple. I haven't read it and it's tiny and it fits in my suitcase because I have like absolutely no weight. Look, this place is just unreal. Look at their backyard.
[14:00]So solo traveling is super, what's the word? Interesting, I guess. I mean, you just got to be, like, aside from the obvious, which is being okay with time spent on your well with um, with um, time spent on your own and sitting at a restaurant by yourself. What I personally find the most difficult is not sharing the experiences directly with someone, and it's extremely obvious to me, because it's in direct contrast to what I've just come from, where Ally and I were in Zion National Park together for five days straight doing this every single day. And don't get me wrong, this is absolutely unbelievable, but I catch myself thinking, 'Oh, this is so beautiful, I can't wait to bring someone back here,' or 'come again,' or 'do it again with a group,' which obviously shows that my brain is thinking that I would like a companion with me right about now. I mean, it's kind of fun because you're with me, but, you know what I mean. Like a side-by-side companion. I think that's, for me personally, the hardest part about solo traveling.
[15:54]Yoooo, good morning! The reason we're up so early, it's like 6:30, it's still dark outside, is that we're going to go and do like one of the main hikes of Big Sur, Point Lobos Loop. So it's like 10 kilometers, six miles, estimated two and a half hours-ish.
[17:00]So I have to pull over, and sit down, and sit in the gutter to tell you about what just happened. So I was sitting at that cafe where you saw, where I had that unbelievable chocolate and almond croissant sitting there, and I just pulled out my book and started reading it, and it's called The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene, who's a professional theoretical physicist, and he's on string theory. There's this really chatty older couple sitting right next to me, and then the lady just turned to me instantly, and she's like, 'I'm sorry to interrupt, but what book are you reading?' And I was like, 'Oh, it's this book.' She's like, 'No way, my husband is a physicist.' The husband, like, his eyes lit up when he saw me, came over. He's an 81-year-old guy, he like owns his own company. He's just like, one of the more in shape and mentally with it 81-year-olds I've ever come across, and he came and, like, pulled up the chair next to me and sat, and we just sat there and talked physics for, like, an hour and a half. And while I was doing that, his wife was sitting next to him, and she's like, would look behind him, and look at me, and be like, 'You don't know what you've just done.' He hasn't talked physics like this with anyone in years. You've opened a can of worms for me. He's never going to shut up about this. And he would, like, sit there, and like, put his arm out, and, like, tell her to stop, like, get her to stop talking because he's trying to think. And then we would keep going and ask more questions about it. It was one of the more wholesome, and, like, beautiful, and fun as well. So fun because, like, we were learning physics off each other, just sitting there at a table. It's one of those, like, amazing interactions, like a beautiful interaction. I'm just, like, beaming ear to ear.
[18:29]It was so fun. So, the outcome of that is that I haven't seen any of Carmel-by-the-Sea other than, like, three streets, so I'm going to actually go and explore now.
[19:00]So, I realized when I walked down to the beach just before that I've been in, I've been in California for four days now, and I have not jumped in the ocean yet. So, let's go change that.
[19:46]Yo! Teleporting us around. We are currently in, um, San Francisco for I'm gonna show you, actually, because I bought it today. Boom! San Francisco 49ers game. Oh, yeah. It's my first ever NFL game. I'm so hyped for it. Beyond hyped for it. Um, but I literally have to go right now. Also, I can't bring my camera. I've been researching. They don't let you go in with, like, big camera setups, so I'm not even gonna, like, you know, risk it. Oh, yeah. Football! Okay, I have to go. I'm going to film everything I possibly can on my iPhone. Who knows how it's going to turn out? We're going to have fun. First ever NFL game. Woo!
[21:17]Yo! That game last night was so much fun, like ridiculous amounts of fun. I knew it was going to be fun, but I just didn't expect it to be that good. Like the Americanism that was flying around, the high fives, the yahoos, the USA, USA, the chants. It was like hilarious and so fun for all the best reasons. It completely blew my expectations out of the water. That is going to be it for the video because, like, technically that part of the California road trip is done. But I am 30 minutes off the next leg, which is going to be the next video after this one. It is Yosemite National Park. I have like just set up camp and I'm just pulling into the park now. Um, it is I'm going to give you a sneak peek. We've got no idea what's coming. Well, I was going to say you've got no idea what's coming, but I also have no idea what's coming because I haven't even gone in there yet. Anyway, thank you so much for watching. I'm going to go and catch sunset. I'll see you guys in the next video for Yosemite. Woo woo woo! Bye!
