Reflections on the US Trip (June'24)

In June'24, I spent 3 weeks in the US, half of which i spent spent traveling in California and the New York City. In this time, i saw San Fransisco, Monterrey, the Pacific Coastal Highway and Big Sur, Yosemite Valley National Park, Death Valley National Park and New York City. 

These are my reflections from this 3 weeks trip. 

The one prevalent feeling from my trip, especially from what i saw in California, is the awe-inspiring expanse of the landscape. As you travel on the highways, the scenery that accompanies  feels like what a first time theatre movie experience would feel to someone who has only watched TV. And because you travel fairly fast, the landscape evolves constantly - as we travelled on highway 395 from Yosemite National Park to Death Valley National Park, we saw the entire range of landscape, from snow covered pine trees to sand dunes and desert, along with all the variations in between, in that single day's drive. 

San Fransisco is a character

The city of San Fransisco is a unique character in itself - in the sense of making you feel a certain way because of its architecture and the hilly roads, and the unique micro weather, the people, and the size. In contract, NYC feels like any other big city - very generic for the most parts, more dirty, more crowded, vey hot and humid, essentially more like any other big city. SF is more uniform architecturally, and the Edwardian houses gives it a unique 'not-any-other-American-city feel. 

SF is more uniform architecturally, quaint (its surprisingly small), has pretty houses and street corners (in my opinion), but also has a big homelessness problem. NYC on the other hand has great public transport so you dont feel the size of Manhattan for example, and also has more well-dresses people. Few rides in the NYC metro can be a great fashion inspiration. Those Instagram handles capturing the fashion on the NYC street are not exaggerating, people dress well in NYC. You could spend many afternoons just people watching in NYC. 

 I also got to experience the famous San Fransisco micro weather this trip. June is supposed to be summer, and while the rest of the bay area had a very pleasant summer weather (a side note, you can actually smell the summer in California, no wonder people would want to write songs about it), SF was cold and windy and rainy and all kinds of unpleasant. 

But, i would pick SF over NYC any day. NYC is efficient but generic, boring. SF is anything but generic. 

Neighbourhoods changes rapidly

But there was a common theme between the two cities, and thats how much the neighbourhood changes in character as soon as you walk a few blocks. You might be at the Russian Hill in SF, with it's upscale houses and boutique shops, and within a few blocks you suddenly find yourself surrounded by Japanese restaurants, nail salons, pagodas and temples. Similarly, stepping outside the metro stations in NYC feels different in each neighborhood - lower east side, mid town, upper east side, Chelsea felt different right off the subway station. 

The character that the neighbourhoods picks up is so complete that the the Chinatown in NYC had the prices listed in Chinese as well as English. And i was surprised that the lady at the store didnt seem to understand much English - i was told that a new Chinese migrant can lead their entire life within that self sufficient community without needing to step outside of it. 

Walking amidst Ancient Redwoods is Spiritual

I went for a day trip to Muir woods near San Fransisco city. I didn't know what to expect, other than many people had suggested i go here. On the way, i got to know that the Muir woods, and the broader California coastline, is host to the Redwoods, which is one of the oldest and tallest trees in the world. These trees grow taller than 300 feet and can be as old as 1000 years, with the oldest tree about 2200 years old. While these facts are astonishing, it doesnt prepare you for the feeling when you are walking amidst these trees. They are taller than any other living thing you will have ever seen or will ever see. Their trunks are wider than a car. And they are old. Actually not old. ancient. The trees you see now, you can touch now, were around when the Romans were marching through Europe. Some of them were around when Jesus was giving sermons in the middle east. To see them, to touch them - you feel small, insignificant but at the same moment a part of a wider and more important story, a story thats longer than your lifetime. Its a physical manifestation of history, which was always a abstract thought for me. And you realise you are a part of it. No wonder one of the walkways is called cathredral lane, because here more than any other beautiful cathedral in the world, i felt a connection to the spiritual. A connection to things beyond the physical reaches of a single man and his lifetime. 

California is wildly beautiful

I had a singular image of California - beautiful beaches, people surfing, sunny days. But it is so much more than that. I was surprised by the how naturllay beautiful and more importantly diverse that state is. While it does gave a beautiful coastline, it is fringed on the east by a mountain line, divided into beautiful national parks, hosting lush valleys, snow capped mountains, pristine lakes, sand dunes and deserts - the entire range of landscapes that you could imagine. Each of these national parks (and there are plenty in California!) seem like a self contain world in itself, with its own landscape and weather. Thats maybe because many of these are valleys, and hence contain their own micro weather, and remain isolated from what happens outside the valleys. That isolation, extended over thousands of years, have created very fascinating places. 

It just doesnt look beautiful, but i could even, for the first time in my life, smell the summer in California. The air was crisp, like it carried electricity. 

I had under appreciated Big Sur. I thought it would be a coastal road, beautiful but tedious. It is something you have to see it to experience it, no amount of photos or videos will do justice to it. The grandness of the mountains on one side of the road and the pacific ocean on the other creates a sense of awe in you. And with every turn you get to see a different flavor of mountain meets ocean. 

The Death Valley National Park is a very vast, desolate place - forces you to contemplate. it is a very spiritual place. I spent an evening at a slightly elevated places called Zabriskie Point, with the warm wind blowing strong, creating a beautiful white noise. And i could see the horizon stretching long on all the sides, because it is after all a desert. That combination of the landscape and the weather, and the setting sun makes you feel small - pins you in a way that is necessary to contemplate and look within. I remember thinking - no wonder ascetics are attracted to the desert. The desert has a way to let the inconsequential disappear, which is the first step on any spiritual journey. 

Families are Large, People work Hard

I saw many large familiies in the US, in the sense of young-ish parents having 3-4 kids or even more sometimes. Coming from the land of 2 parents and 2 kids being a fairly standard rule, something like that stands out to you. But the larger families didn't seem to stop the parents from traveling or indulging in adventurous activities. Which is contrary to the modern families in India, where both the parents seem to be left to the whims and fancies of a single child. 

On a different note - public gardens, especially Columbus Park near Chinatown in NYC, are full of human activities, especially of the elder population, even on weekday afternoons. This is where people eat, play, sunbathe, people watch, and most importantly - make friends. Such heavily used public spaces are a joy to see! 

US is meant for Road Trips

Driving and being outdoors is the best way to see the country. Many parts of the country are spectacularly beautiful, but the beauty as the cliche goes is in passing through the landscape and taking in the views. Case in point - drive down highway 395. Roads reach all beautiful corners of the country, where trains or flights mostly don't. So rent a car, and just drive! They have also made renting a self-drive car as easy and affordable as possible.  

The grand landscape is what left the deepest impression on me. Which is why even after landing back in Bangalore and coming back to familiar spaces, i still felt moved, touched from the awe that the landscape inspired. And perhaps that is the intangible answer to the question i am been pondering - why travel?