Day 1 – July 31st 2016

Arrival

LAX. You see it all the time, imprinted in your subconscious from movies, or magazines. You’ve seen  A- D listers waltzing down the terminals as if they’ve just walked off a catwalk as supposed to a 12hr flight. We stopped off in LA for two days as a pit stop to Hawaii  – and crammed a lot into those days!

LA. Los Angles. La La Land. The City of Angles, whatever you want to call it. How can two initials ignite so much excitement? Well –  it’s the home of cinema, the city of dreams, Hollywood and all that jazz. The epitome of the ‘American Dream.’ As a writer, specifically a playwright and future screenwriter, I guess it’s my dream right? It has to be? Go out to Hollywood, write something, show it to someone and then BAM! Rich, famous and set for life!

Yeah. No. It’s not as simple as that.

I think there’s an obvious, preconceived idea that LA and Hollywood is coated in stardust as supposed to just – Californian dust. That you’d spot someone famous as soon as you step off that plane. But to be honest, you’re so busy wondering how to function after that 12hr flight, the idea of meeting someone glamorously famous in your grubby, worn out state is just irritating!

So that’s one stereotype done.

Then there’s the traffic. Ah, the good ole’ LA traffic. Why is there so much traffic? And why does it take you 2hrs just to drive a few blocks away? Well, there’s barely any public transport so the chances of you bumping into Leo D’Caprio on a bus heading down Rodeo Drive are slim to none. I’ve heard so many interviews with actors, especially city actors from London or NYC that talk about their experiences in LA by saying, “Yeah, they drive everywhere in LA,” which is kind of an understatement. That’s like saying, “Yeah, it rains a lot in England.”

It’s a part of their life. They drive in LA because they literally have to. There’s no way of getting from A to B. (There’s a story involving us and the Hollywood sign, where our cab driver dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and my Mum started panicking because we couldn’t get home. But I’ll talk about that on Day 2.)

Never had I appreciated living in a city like London as I do now. Just the knowledge that there’s a tube station somewhere, nearby that can carry you to safety. That neon sign of ‘I got your back dude,’ and the relief you get from seeing it.

Now, I can drive so I’ll be okay in LA (I lie like a rug, I’d hate to drive there!) but if you don’t have a licence, I don’t see how it’s possible you can live in that city. Unless you can afford to fork out for cabs everyday, in which case, will power to you because they are expeeeeeeeeensive!

That’s not to say LA doesn’t have its’ perks… the weather for example, is AMAZING! As a Brit, I love the Summers. Those very rare, good British Summers where it’s ‘just right.’ Not too hot, not too cold, none of that muggy bullshit you get in the tropics. LA is exactly that, a British Summer, but better – they have it 365 days a year! Barely any rain. In fact there’s hardly any rain! California hasn’t seen proper rain in about ten years! (I know… how do they cope?) I mean, we all need a tiny bit of rain now and then, to cool the air down, water the plants and like… nourish the planet…? So the fact that LA is thriving without water (they actually steal borrow it from Colorado) is a fine credit to them!