When I come to think of it, I’m definitely consumed by wanderlust. Nothing makes me more happy than the idea of exploring the world. Plus, when I have concrete plans for that matter, it’s hard to focus on anything else.
wanderlust
Pronunciation: /ˈwɒndəlʌst /
NOUN
[MASS NOUN]
a strong desire to travel
(as described in the Oxford Dictionaries)
Now, imagine I have booked the husband and I two tickets to San Francisco this summer. Yes, that’s right, we finally decided it was about time to head to the West Coast. We’re in for a 15-day road trip that will lead us to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Flagstaff (Grand Canyon), Las Vegas and Palm Springs (with the occasional stop in between).
Am I excited? Hell yes, I’m excited! I’ve been planning non-stop since I booked our flights. So far, the car has been decided on (why yes, a Ford Mustang convertible, if not something similar) and I booked our hotels in San Francisco, Flagstaff and Palm Springs. I have yet to decide for Los Angeles, but I’m leaning towards either an Airbnb location or the Ace Hotel Downtown LA. As for Las Vegas: there’s an abundance of luxury resorts at our disposal and the one thing that keeps me from booking is that I just can’t decide (it’s a terrible habit of mine). So, if you have any recommendations for LA or Las Vegas, don’t hesitate and let me know in the comments.
Next to booking all our accommodations, I’m also looking into how we’ll spend our days in all those locations. I’m thinking the classics (Alcatraz, Golden Gate, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Beverly Hills, etc…) but I’m sure there are other things to discover as well.
The one thing that will prove a major challenge is where to shop & eat. I’m sure I’ll head to my favorite travel & lifestyle blogs for inspiration, but once again, don’t hesitate to leave your recommendations in the comments.
But, we started off with a definition of wanderlust, so it might come as no surprise that I’m headed to Paris and London in the next couple of weeks, so have a look out for that on the blog soon.
Have an amazing time this summer! When I visited San Francisco 10 years ago I fell in love with it and truly left my heart there like the song says.
Thank you, Alyson! I still can’t believe we’re actually going, I am that excited!
Yeaaaaahhh! Can’t wait to see photos! =D
Me neither! 😉 That’s always the fun part of coming home: going through all the photos!
Ooohhh, this trip sounds amazing! I LOVE the Ace in Palm Springs – my best friends & I stayed there for a girls weekend and loved it. King’s Highway, their restaurant, is really good too. Other recs while in PS – Norma’s at the Parker Palm Springs (expensive though) and/or Cheeky’s for breakfast. I’m also dying to take a trip up the PS aerial tramway — some friends went last year and said it was beautiful.
For LA, how much time will you have and what neighborhoods/areas are you going to focus on? LA is SO spread out that it’s hard to give recs without knowing where you’ll be. If you’re staying downtown, some yummy places to eat include Wurstkuche & Bottega Louie. I also really like the Santa Monica area (pier, promenade) and West Hollywood.
OMG, for Vegas, you can really not go wrong with any of the hotels on the Strip. You can walk, drive or take a cab everywhere. I prefer to stay in the middle of the strip near the City Center – I’ve stayed at Vdara and the Cosmopolitan and loved both. Caesar’s & MGM are also close by and are good choices too. I’ve also stayed at the Wynn and enjoyed it but thought it was just a tad too far from the action. And the food! Oh man, I’ve been telling Rob we need to take a foodie trip to Vegas again. For breakfast/brunch, I love Mesa Grill and Bouchon. Scarpetta and Jaleo in the Cosmopolitan are solid for dinner. For buffets, Wicked Spoon is one of the better ones. As far as sights, definitely visit the Las Vegas sign and the Neon Museum (so fun!).
I haven’t lived in SF for 5 years now but my favorite thing to do there is to go to the Ferry Building (especially on a weekend morning), grab coffee and a waffle at Blue Bottle, check out the farmers markets, then eat from one of the shops/vendors.
If I think of anything else, i’ll let you know… or feel free to email me if you have any questions. SO FUN!
Thank you so much, Kel! I’m writing everything down in my little Moleskine travel notebooks! I just made reservations at the Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles as well, I’m really excited about that one as well, which answers your question by the way: we’re staying downtown and Bottega Louie is already high on my list. 🙂