First stop: Long Beach, CA

Surprise! My first post is not from New Zealand :) No, I'm actually on 30 hour layover in LA to visit my dear friend Katie. The 13 hour flight I'm facing tonight was daunting enough that I jumped at the chance to break my trip up and spend the night in LA and see Katie. It's been wonderful here, and it always blows my mind about how different one side of the country can be from another.

First I want to introduce Katie, because she is a huge reason why I'm even going on this trip. Last year, Katie took a 2 month backpacking trip around Southeast Asia all by herself. I was blown away, both that she took the leap and did it, and that she had an amazing (and safe) time all by herself (that's not to say she didn't meet some awesome people along the way!). I don't think I would have had the courage to do this without her setting an example for independent women travelers! Thanks Katie :) (PS if you want some fabulous reading, check out here blog: http://katiegoestoseasia.blogspot.com. She's a much better writer than me!)

After picking me up at LAX, Katie took me to a delicious dinner in Manhattan Beach, which was adorable. We even made friends with a sales rep for New Belgium Brewery, and walked out with some awesome swag (including hops-flavored chapstick...it's even weirder than it sounds). On the way home, we stopped at Signal Hill to catch the sunset which was absolutely gorgeous (and let's be honest, the main reason I'm writing this post).

Today I finished some errands (who knew they sold bungee cords at Rite Aid? Score.) and then spent the day riding around Long Beach on Rose, one of Katie's 4 vintage bicycles. It was so fun, even though the June Gloom came back to haunt me.

Now just a few more hours until I head out to NZ (which, fun story, I am completely skipping Thursday since I take off tonight and land Friday morning. I'd like to ask the world to not do anything fun on Thursday so that I don't miss it, ok?). Thanks so much to Katie for being an amazing host and giving me another taste of home before I head out.

Next post really will be from New Zealand, I promise!

-Emily