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Los Angeles.

I miss it already. Over the past two weeks I've had the opportunity to go back to the United States and spend a vacation there. It's been a long time coming. This was something we as a family had been planning on doing since 2020 but unfortunately the pandemic threw a wrench in our plans and delayed it down the road.

But hey it happened and it was a blast.

I know the United States isn't perfect. You see it differently as a tourist. But man is it fun to visit. The plane ride was literally a pain in the ass. My butt was sore from sitting down for hours on the plane. But once we got sorted out and got to our hotel, everything was relatively smooth sailing.

My family and I mainly visited three places: Hollywood, Long Beach, and Orange County.

We went to Universal Studios, both Disney parks and even Knotts Berry Farm! Yes. It was expensive. I shudder to think how much we actually spent to get this trip out the door but this is the type of vacation we were saving up for a long time.

That and I'm fortunate that my parents are financially stable enough to actually do this sort of vacation with us tagging along with it. I hope one day I can be the same.

There's not much I can say about Hollywood and Universal. The park was amazing. Visiting Hogsmeade and seeing Hogwarts never ceases to amaze. What was even more amusing was that while we were riding the Forbidden Journey, it broke down and I found myself staring face to face with a dementor for probably three minutes before it started moving again. It was spooky to say the least.

The weather in general was cold. It was probably fine for the people that are used to it but for my tropical ass I was admittedly shaking.

Long Beach was fun. We spent a fair bit of time at The Pike. I got to see the lighthouse there and for the first time managed to ride around with those Lime Scooters. It was super fun speeding down the road, taking in the sights and whatnot. I even got to watch a movie at the local Cinemark.

I was genuinely perplexed at the notion that no one was watching the doors by the theater. Once you got in, you could sneak into the other theaters and catch multiple movies in a day. What in the world?

Orange County was where we spent the most of our time. It was admittedly nice seeing the Avengers Campus for the first time. While I agree with the notion that it does look cheap compared to something like Galaxy's Edge, I really hope Disney pumps in more money into it to make it shine the way that it deserves. Speaking of which, Galaxy's Edge was amazing. Seeing the Millennium Falcon up close and personal was something else entirely. And don't even get me started on Rise of the Resistance. That ride is just pure Disney magic. It was just unfortunate that some of the effects were a little off.

The lines for the park were something else too. I understand that Disney is one of, if not the tourist destination for families, but my goodness, the crowds were insane. My feet were sore from having to line up for long minutes just to get on the rides.

I mean most of the rides were worth it, but good lord. They really need to do something about it.

It was night and day compared to Knotts. I understand that Knotts is smaller in comparison, but it was definitely funner. What I was disappointed by was that Xcelerator was closed when we were there. I really wanted to ride that ride. Hangtime was also amazing. Going down 90 degrees is something else entirely. And don't get me started on Ghost Rider. The Gs that ride gave me completely caught me off guard.

All in all this was an amazing vacation and something I genuinely needed. It honestly reminded me that life is worth living. In some ways it also made me sad because I wanted to stay.

I know that life isn't easy in the US, the news made me well aware of it, but it's a lot better compared to how we have it in my home country.

I really hope I can find a job abroad.

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