Like most of the residents of Los Angeles, I am a transplant. I grew up in a small town about 2 hours outside of Denver. When I say small town, I mean super small. Like cows are your best friends small. There were 43 people in my graduating class. Most of us had been going to school together for 13 years.
So as you can imagine my move out to the coast was full of many, many surprises. I first noticed just how huge the LA area really is. I discovered that my dream would be to go live out in Malibu but let’s be honest, who can really afford that at 22? I settled in a much less desirable zip code and now had the daunting task of navigating my new home.
I learned the hard way how important it is to have renters insurance out here. The aspiring actress 2 floors above me was practicing lines and cooking simultaneously one night, when she managed to somehow set off the sprinkler system. She ended up flooding 3 floors, including mine! Unfortunately all of my electronics were damaged in the flood. This was a huge blow. It can be hard to make friends in a new city and my x-box 360 had become my best friend since I had moved! We went on adventures to outer space and even cried at sappy movies together. It was a major bummer. Needless to say, I will never lose a friend again due to a lack of insurance!
Another lesson I’ve learned since the move is that people don’t exaggerate when they tell you everyone drives in LA. What they might not tell you is that everyone drives like a crazy person in LA! Driving on my country roads in Colorado had not prepared me for the busy, traffic jammed streets here. It was something hard to get used too. Everything moves at a faster pace out here and that includes the Californian drivers.
I have always enjoyed getting out of town and cruising on the PCH. If you’re lucky you can really enjoy your drive with the windows down and your music up. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the road. If you don’t you may have your first celebrity encounter turn out like mine. As in, I smashed into a fairly well know sitcom star’s rear bumper on the PCH! As in, holy cow I am glad I have awesome car insurance! As in, let’s exchange insurance info and can you please take a picture with me? I guess it could have been worse; I could have had liability only!
Getting used to life in the big city had been pretty crazy. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I have learned quite a few lessons and definitely learned to laugh at myself a lot more. I’ve learned to make a dollar stretch and the importance of protecting my investments by insuring them too! And hey, I have one of the coolest fan photos with a celebrity that I’ve ever seen.
