California Dreamin'

I love California. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Scot through and through, but I have an absolute love affair with Cali that began when I was 16 and I arrived there on exchange. Well, if I’m honest, it probably started before that; with the idyllic scenes I’d always see on the TV etching into my mind. I knew I’d end up there eventually. I spent the best year of my life there, and when I went back to visit two years later, it was very surreal. I’d changed, but the places and people I remembered hadn’t. I wanted to show my boyfriend what my life had been like out there: and why I always talked with such fond memories of California. He’d never really understood until that visit.

We went on a road trip, driving down the 101 and then highway 1, all the way from Santa Rosa to San Diego. It was a hot, sweaty and long trip, but we were rescued by the magnificent views and a few good mix CDs. The coastal panoramas were stunning. I love the coast anyway: one day I hope to live close to the beach. I gazed out of the car window for hours as we drove, just watching the waves splash against the rock. I mulled over my relationship with the place, and the gravitational pull that I felt towards California and its beaches. I promised myself that it wouldn’t be the last time that I visited. There’s lots of things that I love about Cali, and I’ve got a bit invested in the area through family, friends and the agreeable weather. But the coastline is etched into my consciousness, and I know that it’ll keep me going back for many years to come. I smiled wryly to myself as Phantom Planet came on the stereo. I couldn’t help but quietly sing along.

Driving down the 101
California here we come
Right back where we started from

California, here I come.