Flying to Los Angeles and What to do there PART 1 (Santa Monica Edition)

Flying to Los Angeles and what to do there. Part 1

Flying to Los Angeles, California from Houston, Texas can be a long flight. When you are flying there, you are flying over mountain ranges, and time zones. Sometimes, there is turbulence because you are flying through jet streams. Depending on where you live, the flight to Los Angeles can be an uncomfortable flight, do not worry, that is why I am here to help make that flight a lot easier and more enjoyable so that way your trip doesn't start off on the wrong foot. 

Fly during the day

Los Angeles is located in the Pacific Time Zone so it is 2 hours behind here in Houston. That means, whenever you fly there, your flight time can be decreased by two hours. For example, If I leave Houston at 1pm and my flight is 3hrs and 34mins, then I would land in LA at 4:34pm, BUT because of the time difference, I would land at 2:34pm instead. This allows you to have more time AND when you are flying you can see the really beautiful mountains in Arizona and California from an aerial view. An example that I like is leaving Houston at about 8 or 9am and then landing in LA at 9 or 10 and you can go experience a beautiful, Californian morning.

Flying tips

I have soooo many airplane and travel tips that you can use, but here are just a couple that you can use to help make your long flight a little bit less hectic. 

◈ Travel in your most heavy outfit. This allows your bag to be less heavy when you have a weight limit and also allows more room in your bag. Plus the plane can get pretty cold and they adjust the cabin temperature and oxygen, so traveling in your jeans, jacket, and your heavy sneakers allow you to be comfy and warm. If you get hot in your jacket, you can simply just take it off, it isn't that hard. When I travel I usually go in a pair of my jeans, sneakers, and a jacket, this allows me to be warm on a cold plane and also allow more space in my bag. 

◈ Bring an empty bottle. Yes, I think everyone recommends this tip and everyone uses this tip, but hey it works. But just be sure that your bottle doesn't leak, that way your whole bag is wet when you get off the plane. (Yes I am looking at you, past Emilia) Thankfully, most airports are starting to redo their terminals and with that come fancy water fountains. So you can easily fill up your water bottle at those water fountains, just remember to do it AFTER SECURITY because you can't have any large amount of liquids. 

What the heck should I go eat in Santa Monica?

Well, in this edition I will talk to you about one specific area of Los Angeles, and this issue will involve Santa Monica! I have an uncle who lives right next to the ocean in Santa Monica, so whenever I stay with him, I usually hang out and explore in Santa Monica. Downtown Los Angeles is more inland and Santa Monica is the beach city not too far from Downtown LA. In Santa Monica there is a street that runs through a majority of the city, it is called Main Street. On Main Street, there are several places that you can go to that I recommend. Here they are;

◎Holy Guacamole- a Mexican restaurant that has reeeeeaaallly good tacos (this is an opinion coming from a Texan by the way) 
My favorite items: Two steak tacos with a Mexican Coke 

◎Urth Caffe-Santa Monica: This is a cafe right down the street from Holy Guacamole, it is mostly known for its teas and pastries. It is a very mellow and nice cafe to go to if you need to get work done or if you need a coffee break. 
My favorite item: The earl grey milk tea with boba. 

◎Lemonade- Santa Monica (3rd street promenade): This is a restaurant that is all over LA. Lemonade is a restaurant that is a buffet style. You choose what you want and you go. It is a very quick and easy place to go if you are in a hurry, and the food is great!
My favorite items: The BLT and their lemonade :)

Great, I had yummy food. What should I go see?

Santa Monica has great things to go and see. I can literally go walk and be at a great place to hang out and have fun. 

◎The Santa Monica Pier: This is a pier that is not like your usual pier. The one that I am most familiar with in Galveston, Texas, is only an amusement park and you have to pay to go in. This one is a lot bigger and has an amusement park within it. When you walk towards Santa Monica Pier, you will see the different things that you can go to, there are shops and restaurants that you can go to. Then there is the amusement park which is called Pacific Park (see the picture below). Then you can also fish along the sides of the pier. It is free admission! (unless you want to go into the amusement park part of the pier) 

◎The amazing view at Adelaide Drive and the Santa Monica Stairs: The Santa Monica stairs are a set of stairs that go uphill along a steep hill. It is a great form of exercise and when you get to the top there an amazing view of the valley of homes and trees. 

◎Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade: If you want to go shopping or walk around a cool outdoor shopping center, go to the Third Street Promenade. They have all sorts of stores and other cool places that you can eat and look at cool things, such as art or gadgets. When I was in Santa Monica in June 2017, they had all of these beautiful purple trees that had Edison lightbulbs attached, it was such a nice and natural decorative decoration.

Thanks for reading! I plan on making more LA themed travel recommendations, the ones in the future are going to be more specified toward other areas in LA and not so much about flying to LA. I hope you enjoyed reading this and that you use my recommendations and tips in the future!

Have a glorious day! 

From, 

yo girl Emilia