mms, you have the best suggestion so far. For those who don't spend their vacations working part-time "on call," there's a large element bragging about exotic and prestigious destinations from which they have just returned. So if I tell everyone about my great trip to Los Angeles, I would certainly get admiration for the sheer audacity of doing something nobody would ever even think of, let alone admit to doing!

JBHaphood--Well then, this is the perfect opportunity to share with them all the great things right in your area! After you keep it secret til you get back to work though, lol!

A trip report, of sorts.

First, I'm glad to report that Los Angeles is a truly fascinating travel destination. I visited some of the "major" attractions (including the recently-reopened Griffith Observatory and Getty Villa, the other Getty, the Huntington) as well as several "hidden" places I never knew existed (most notably Rancho Los Alamitos and Naples, both of which are in Long Beach). And I barely scratched the surface.

Unfortunately, I can't say that my solo exploration of Los Angeles was an enjoyable vacation. The "commuter" approach didn't work (and, as I said earlier, the sights of Los Angeles are spread over such a large area that it's impossible to avoid "commuting"). The traffic was far worse than I expected-- and I expected it to be horrible. Since on normal weekdays I'm either at work or (rarely) on vacation somewhere far away, I really had no idea what everyday traffic was like. Even when I treated myself to a nice dinner and a movie so I could head home at 8:30 or 9, the freeways were still clotted. I don't want to think about what it's like at 5.

I did venture downtown using the MetroRail light rail, which was a delightful break from traffic as well as from ridiculous parking charges. Unfortunately, MetroRail covers only a tiny portion of the Los Angeles sprawl, and it goes to rather few places of tourist interest. Traveling any distance using buses inevitably means spending too many hours standing on nondescript street corners waiting for transfers.

In the future I'll pick a neighborhood, read up on it, book a motel, and enjoy a nice vacation exploring it fully, possibly by local bus. That should avoid the worst of the traffic hassles. Indeed, if air travel remains in its current deplorable state, I could well imagine doing just that on my vacations for the rest of my life. Los Angeles really is that diverse and exciting.

My intent here definitely is not to discourage people who don't live here from visiting. But if you do plan a vacation exploring the Los Angeles sprawl, you should be fully aware of what it involves. My situation as a "soloist" made the traffic problems worse. If you're like the overwhelming majority of vacationers, you'll be traveling with a spouse, family, or friends. That means you can use the "high occupancy vehicle" (carpool) lanes on the major freeways that often (but not always!) reduce the stop-and-creep headaches. Even without carpool lanes, sharing the driving and navigating chores will surely make the inevitable stress more manageable.

If you are thinking about taking a solo vacation in Los Angeles, this is my honest advice: Unless you have the patience of a saint and the serenity of a Zen master, choose another destination that doesn't require spending so much time sitting alone in a car going nowhere. If you dream of visiting Southern California, you'll have a much more enjoyable and relaxing time in San Diego or Santa Barbara.

Interesting.

Just last night we ate at a new restaurant and I told my wife to imagine us being on vacation. It made for a quick mental get-away.

The we had to drive the horrible central CA coastline on our way home.

JBHapgood: or San Francisco where you can leave the car at home, hop on a bus, and enjoy your adventures!

Faina, I actually was considering trying the new MegaBus from Los Angeles to San Francisco. For reasons too boring to relate, I decided against it. Maybe next year.

Take Amtrak that goes along the coast, do it in spring. The hills from Santa Barbara and up make great scenery.

I think the main problem is that you were coming from South Bay and going back to South Bay. Traffic is really not that bad in Los Angeles proper outside of 7-10am and 4-7pm, and most of the time around Downtown. And on the weekends, I rarely have problems unless I'm trying to drive from the valley to LA proper or from South Bay to LA proper. It's just best to avoid routes that most people take at specific times and on certain days. For example, everyone from the valley is going to LA proper or to the beach neighborhoods on weekend mornings/noon, so 101 south is bad, etc. I think next time, you should pick a small hotel in a certain area and explore everything around there for 1-2 days. Or, if you drive home to South Bay, it's a good idea to wait until 10pm at night.

You could use your home as a base, but get away for 2 nights at a time. I'm an hour from San Francisco and under 1 1/2 hours to Monterey/ Carmel. I enjoy both more when I do a 2 night trip to each vs. day trippin.

5 miles from home is enough to give me a "fix".

Packing an over-nighter and paying for parking is often sufficient fulfillment for me.

I prefer to mix in a flight or two, but I'll take what I can get.

smartcookie, you're quite right. But I suspect it's bad going between any far-flung areas on weekdays, not just the South Bay. Any trip will likely involve the 405 or the 101-- and the alternatives don't seem to be that much better. In the future I will definitely book accommodations in an area I want to explore, and drive to and from there after midnight (10pm is still crowded). It's also more like a "vacation" that way.

I suppose that an actual visitor can carefully plan out an itinerary based on geographical clusters of places, spending several nights in each cluster and moving between them late at night when the freeways are less congested. The caveat is that such an approach will reduce the traffic headaches but not eliminate them, as surface streets can get very congested too, even at supposedly off hours. I suppose the right attitude would help-- traffic congestion is an inherent characteristic of Los Angeles, so you might experience it to its fullest. Go with the flow (or, in this case, the stoppage). It's better than flying.

Faina, do you mean the Coast Starlight? That's really the only train that goes north of Santa Barbara, unless you want to ride a bus from San Luis Obispo and beyond.

The Coast Starlight actually sounds like quite an adventure, a taste of the Third World where service is slow and unreliable and "you'll get there when you get there." I've been meaning to call up Amtrak and ask them what provisions they make for passengers who want to go part of the way. If you're going from San Francisco (Emeryville) to Los Angeles and the train can be anywhere from six to 14 hours late, how do you know when to show up (or whether to book an additional night at the hotel)?

To the original question, I don't consider it a "vacation" but being a tourist in your own home city can be fun.

I had out-of-town guests here in Seattle this week and we went up the Space Needle, rode a ferry, went to Snoqualmie Falls, ate dinner out each night... and had a great time.

Not working is a vacation

JBH, yes, Coast Starlight, I took it only once, and it was not more then 2 hours late. The passengers boarded in LA on time, but didn't take off until something was fixed. As I live in SF, it was not a problem for me.

As for you... well... a hotel reservation will hold your room till 6 am I beleive, other then that you are on your own.

I talked to a woman on Zephyr coming from Chicago, they were late coming to Chicago, and lost one night reservation with B&B, non-refundable.

Clicked "post" too soon.

Maybe you want to fly to SF and take the train home? I did this coming from Chicago not to worry about hotel reservations. And we were 7 hours late, arriving at 1 am instead of scheduled 6 pm.

I think you can call Amtrak and they will tell you if a train is late and how late.

While exploring my hometown isn't exactly a "vacation" (since we still have to feed the kids in the morning, look for matching socks in the laundry, and try to overlook the mess in the living room as we make our way out for a day of hometown sightseeing), it IS fun.

This summer (due to budget restrictions), we decided to take 3 days off from work and just hang out. We live downtown, so it's easy to leave the car in the garage & just hop on a bus to see all the sights, just like a tourist. It was fun telling the waitress at the restaurant down the street from us (which we hadn't frequented before) that we were on vacation. She said, "Oh that's so nice. Where are you from? "1/2 mile up the street," we replied. We all had a good chuckle.

It is if you do it with a vacation mind set. Otherwise, no.

I went to my hometown in Minnesota (Browerville) in May.

Took me about 5 minutes to "explore" the town.

One grocery store
Two bars
One Bank
One hardware store
One gas station
One garage
One high school 1-12
One Catholic school 1-6
Two churches
One cafe
One clinic
Two creeks, one with a small park
One small river
One used things store (Thread Shed)

Jbhapgood - thanks for reporting back. I was curious to see if it was a sucess. It is simply too hard for me to relax if we stay "home". I too live in Southern California. We do often take a few days at stay at a hotel in our area or San Diego - this summmer we are actually renting a house in Newport Beach.