California Healing Final Days
/So I got back home yesterday, and just finished up my blog on my trip now. I’ve been struggling to gain the mental energy to write (and who knows if anyone’s even reading this), but this is the rest of the trip:
Saturday I got to see Saaaaaaan Fraaaansiscooooo (that’s from a song isnt it?! Because I’ve been singing that all day). I spent the day there with my cousin and fell in loooove.
Driving in was just, amazing. the architecture of the buildings, the mountains in the background, with the ocean alongside the highway, with all of the sailboats in the water, the Golden Gate bridge, and many other massive bridges all just had me in awe. The hills in the city were CRAZY. Literally felt like I was on a rollercoaster on how steep they were. I felt a mix of motion sickness and awe.
BUT I was all pumped up. Nature AND architecture? This is ma shit.
As soon as we got there, my automatic thought was “So where are the sea lions at?!”. We went straight to Pier 39, where they all hang out on the docks…IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. Omg. It made my whole day. Actually no, it made my whole year so far. They’re so cute and weird and they make funny sounds and are just so lazy I love it. I just watched them roll around, and do other seal shit, AND two of them even had a little fight! I felt a I could have stayed there all day, but for the sake of Adam’s sanity (and time) we left to walk around and go to lunch.
We had the BEST seafood lunch with an amazing view of the Golden Gate bridge and the ocean, with all of the sailboats. Ugh. I’m already craving the exact meals (which btw included Dungeness crab legs, clam chowder and crab cakes).
Then we walked around, taking in the sights, and went to the Exploratorium, an interactive Science museum (yes, I’m a huge nerd). I LOVED IT. I was amused by everything, it was so fun. I felt like a kid in a toy store. I highly recommend going there if you ever go to San Fransisco, and love any kind of science, or even have an interest in learning it. I learned so much!
We were both so exhausted so we just headed to our Uber..and totally saw a gang(?) of teenagers on bicycles just hootin’ and hollerin’ as they rode past us…with one of them trying to steal a girl’s purse!! It was pretty nuts.
So our Uber driver worked at Facebook, and it was pretty cool listening to two tech guys talk about the companies they work at…good ol’ Silicon Valley.
It was a nice little taste of San Fransisco, and I most DEFINITELY will be back.
I spent my last couple of days just hanging out by the pool, and reflecting on my trip.
To some, leaving so suddenly may have seemed reckless. Or like I was being selfish and just wanting a vacation. The thing is, I needed to leave. I know myself, and I know when I’m slipping into a depression. If I stayed here, I would have been in my bed every day, not wanting to move or eat. I’m not saying that going to California prevented me from slipping into depression, but it definitely helped in keeping me distracted, active and moving, and taking care of myself. The warmth and sun definitely helped too, since ‘winter blues’ are 100% a thing (AKA Seasonal Affective Disorder).
I take my mental health VERY seriously. It comes above all. Our mental health is when we need to be selfish. Sometimes, we need to put ourselves, and our mental health first. We really should be doing it a lot more than we do!
My spontaneous trip to California taught me that I’m stronger than I thought. I’m more patient than I thought. It made me feel capable, and a bit like myself again. I needed that <3
