After battling LA traffic on the I5, we eventually got to our destination, the HI Hostel at Point Loma. This is a fair distance from the central city, so if the city is your thing you probably want a rental car (or to stay somewhere downtown), but it’s only a mile or two to some decent beach (and bars) and the staff here are really helpful with places and events to get to.

We only had a couple of days, so the next morning we decided to check out La Jolla, a seaside village with picturesque beaches and parkways (and, it turns out, one of the most up-market suburbs in the US). One of the highlights there was being able to watch a colony of sea lions, lazing on the rocks in the sun. They also have a number of restaurant choices with great food and cocktails.

That night we check out Old Town. This is the site of the first Spanish settlement in California and, lucky for us it was Taco Tuesday! This means $1 or $2 tacos and $4 margaritas. Be warned though, this area is very popular with tourists and lines can be long waiting to get into any of the Mexican restaurants on a Tuesday! We waited about 20 minutes but found the wait worth it for some of the best tacos we’d had since being in the US.

The next day we check out the city, including the old Gaslamp Quarter – again there are a lot of restaurants and bars available in this area so there should be something for most tastes.

Back in Point Loma, I head down to the beach and end up walking down the Ocean Beach Pier. This is the longest pier in San Diego at 1,971 feet. A number of people fish off the pier and there are many different sea birds competing for the fish.

As I walk back I discover the Ocean Beach Farmers’ Market, a Wednesday night institution in the area. We grab dinner here from a series of food stalls – recommend this place for great food, some cool crafts and the quality, natural skin care products we found.

Verdict on San Diego? Loved it! Of all the cities we visited, this would be one I would choose if I had to live in a city…

Next (and last) stop: Los Angeles

If outdoor adventure travel is your scene, then you’re in the right area. Lakes and national forests dot the landscape so you are sure to find something to keep you occupied.

On the road again...

Our arrival at Yosemite was a little dicey (advice: plan your trip to arrive in daylight!), most Yosemite accommodation outside of the Village is found on the remote valley road and it can be a challenge to find in the dark (especially finding our tent cabin once we got there!).

After totally crashing for the night we woke up bright and early to head into the park for some hiking (with no small amount of excitement from me as this has been one of my dream destinations for years!).

The park entrance - excited!

After bear-proofing the car (you have to remove all visible items and lock any food in the storage lockers provided – failure to do so can land you a hefty fine (and maybe a bear-damaged vehicle!)), we decided on the hike up to Vernan Falls, a relatively popular track.

With scenes like this, what's not to love?

The Vernan Falls track turns out to be ideal for the outdoor adventurer who does not have a lot of time – we were in and out in about 4 hours (with plenty of stops to take photos and generally stare at the scenery). You want to have a relatively good level of fitness and proper hiking gear though, a lot of the trail is very steep (and don’t forget your water bottle!).

Who needs a stairmaster?

This seemed to be a good time of year to come here (October). The weather was still quite warm and there were not as many people on the trails as would be during the summer.

Heading back to our campground, we decided to eat in at the on-site restaurant – turns out to be great food but portions are enormous! Guess that’s good for anyone who’s worked up an appetite on the Yosemite trails.

Oh, and mobile phone addicts? Good luck getting reception out here

Next stop: San Diego

Tahoe is an outdoorsy kind of place; lake activities, camping and trails to hike in the summer and a ski-resort town in the winter. The scenery is beautiful and the town is very laid back.

One of the interesting things about Tahoe is that it straddles the stateline of California and Nevada. You know when you’ve hit the Nevada side; you will be greeted immediately by a row of casinos (which are often good for relatively cheap places to eat).

We check out the night-life (which is pretty busy!) and the next day decide to drive across to Carson City, State Capital of Nevada (about 30 minutes drive). Having seen a few westerns in my time I was kind of expecting a more authentic gold-rush feel to the town, but, while there are a few historic buildings/museums, there is not much of it left that lives up to it’s colourful history (and, again, there are a lot of casinos!). We are told by a very helpful Visitor Information assistant that we really need to see Virginia City, to experience a historic town – unfortunately we don’t have time.

Back in Tahoe I decide to go for a scenic run around the lake-front and wonder at why I seem to be puffing harder than usual. I remember later that we are at around 6000 feet above sea level so you need to remember to allow for the altitude if your body is not used to it!

Tahoe overall? A beautiful town, although there are very many ways in which you can part with your cash if you are not careful…

Next stop: Yosemite National Park

Having finally escaped the rush hour San Francisco traffic, we headed for our next destination; Sacramento.

Capitol Building Sacramento

We arrived at the HI hostel which turned out to be one of the interesting points of our Sacramento trip. The hostel is an old mansion which was built by flour merchants in the 1800s and the architecture and feel of the building have been successfully preserved.

Given that Sacramento is the California State Capital, we visited the Capitol Building and checked out where the California State Senate sits. Entry was free and you are able to wander around and check the place out for yourself.

Old Sacramento was also on our list to check out. Now, this place can feel like a tourist trap snapping shut with its’ eateries and souvenir stores tending to be pricey, but we enjoyed the old-fashioned candy store (they let you try salt water taffy free) and the old school house.

What's not to get excited about?

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Sacramento, in fact we thought it was a bit slow there, but there are definitely interesting places to visit, particularly those of historical significance.

Next stop: South Lake Tahoe

First stop (and a great place to start our trip); San Francisco. Staying at the HI Hostel Fisherman’s Wharf was interesting – it’s located in the old barracks at Fort Mason and overlooks the harbor for stunning  views of Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and of course the wharf.

If you’re into fitness, this is a great area to stay. You can run along the waterfront and there are stations with exercise equipment for public use (hey, you’ve got to make up for that time sitting in the car!).

Palace of Fine Arts - Getting in a good walk from Fort Mason!

We saw some of the touristy things of San Francisco; Lombard Street, the Ghiradelli Chocolate shop (highlight! essential road-trip energy…) and  across the bridge to the pretty village of Sausalito (recommend the ice-cream here).

Chocolate bonanza!

Here’s the mistake we made that you’re not going to get while traveling unless you do a road trip; NEVER time your drive through a city for the end of the day during rush hour traffic. We didn’t plan it that way, it just happened in a spontaneous road trippy kind of way that we were trying to get through the city and on the road to Sacramento at that time. Let’s just say we saw the city limits two hours later…

San Francisco overall though? Loved the place. The art scene is thriving, the people are generally friendly and there is something there for everyone.

Next stop: Sacramento

A friend and I decided to do as much of California as we could in ten days by road. While suffering the Thelma and Louise jokes of some of our friends, we started on a journey that would take us from San Francisco to Sacramento, to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Diego and finally to Los Angeles.

Sunset in San Francisco

So, challenge #1; driving on the right hand-side of the road when we come from a left-hand driving country! (and who gets to go at a four way stop?!). Short of drawing a big ‘R’ on our right hands, not driving while too tired and repeating the mantra ‘stay right’ seems to work…

Challenge #2; navigating! We opted not to pay a daily hire charge on a GPS unit as we wanted to do the whole trip as low-cost as possible. Getting a local SIM card and making sure you’re on a plan with data did the trick in terms of being able to use map apps on the smartphone.

Challenge #3; did I mention we were doing this on the cheap? We set an ambitious budget prior to the trip that we didn’t want to spend any more than $30 each per day on accommodation and no more than $15 each per day on food. We managed to get a good deal on a rental car (about $36 per day including insurance – and yes, it was a 2012 model), and the car was economical on gas – it cost us about $70 to fill the tank and we only had to do this 3 1/2 times over the whole trip.

In terms of our food and accommodation budgets, we actually did well, managing to come in under or on budget for every night’s accommodation (we’re talking hostels, a motel and a tent cabin). With our powers combined, $30 on food actually went quite far. Buy groceries, including road trip snacks and you don’t need to eat out so much. And, where we had saved on accommodation, we could spend a little more on food (farmer’s markets are also great for good, fresh food at decent prices).

Tent Cabin in Yosemite - Tidy on the budget!

Do you travel on a budget? What tips do you have for the outdoor adventure traveler living on the cheap?

We stayed at Swiss Gardens Resort and, being a lover of adventure activities, this place was gold. One of the aspects that I really enjoyed about this place was that it offered activities that took me back to the days of going on school camp. (Hey, it wasn’t everybody’s thing but I loved camp!).

Within the first day, here are some of the activities I partook of;

Getting my ‘Hunger Games’ on with some archery (may have been a bit off-target at times but absolutely killed the wall!).

That wall sure was dead!

Channeling Pocahontas with some kayaking (the sea here was very calm and warm, but there are a lot of jellyfish around at the moment).

Two-person sea kayak

 And, (having run out of movie-themed similes) swimming and hiking.

Hey, you don’t really have to travel far from home to try these kind of activities. Did you enjoy your school camp days? Are you looking for more adventure in life? Check out what you have available locally and give a new activity a go or relive the adventures you enjoyed in school.

I’m not sure if I’m particularly tasty to them, but mosquitoes seem to view me as fresh meat and if I’m not careful, I end up covered in bites. To make it worse, my skin reacts badly to bites and I am overly sensitive to many of the repellent products out there.

Because of this, I have spent a bit of time looking into what kind of natural remedies are out there that may be a bit gentler on the skin.

Here are a few suggestions (some stinkier that others!);

1. Various essential oils such as citronella, geranium and clove oil are said to protect against mosquitoes. It is not recommended to put these undiluted directly onto your skin.
2. Vitamin B consumption had been thought to help, although there are varying studies on this – some agree, some do not.
3. Garlic consumption has been associated with mosquito protection. Studies found that subjects would need to consume a fair amount of garlic to be effective however – optional if you want that on your breath!
4. Wear shirts with long sleeves and long trousers (avoid dark clothing as it is known to attract mosquitoes).
5. Light a candle or fire; mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide so if you have something nearby giving off more carbon dioxide than you, they are less able to detect you.
6. Avoid wearing floral or fruity fragrances.
7. Consider mosquito nets while sleeping (or keep one of the Para’Kito clips mentioned below nearby).
8.  Para’Kito mosquito protection bands and clips work with a combination of 7 different essential oils and don’t touch the skin. The combination of oils confuses the mosquito so that they have difficulty detecting the presence of humans.

I tried the Para’Kito product while in the Amazon last year (combined with a small amount of insect repellent, not taking any chances with Amazon mosquitoes!). I (and my skin) loved the bands and I have recently got them on the store of this site. Another great thing about them is they are waterproof so you can wear swimming or in the rain.

Check out this video and my store page if you want to know more information;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU6DZW7KxoM

Disclaimer: Obviously I do have an interest in telling you about the Para’Kito products although I do highly recommend them from personal use. I suggest figuring out what works for you and not taking any risks with regard to protection in areas of infectious disease.

Do you have any tips or suggestions for mosquito protection that have worked for you? Please comment below…

One of the things I love about being a traveler is the interesting people you meet along the way. Joel Cocciolone is a fairly unassuming guy and a very interesting character. We met him on the Strip as we spotted him sitting away to the side painting and Susie wanted to buy some unique art.

As Joel worked on Susie’s picture, we got talking. It turns out that, a small while ago, Joel owned a busy restaurant in Florida. Growing tired of the restaurant business, he decided to sell up, donating all proceeds to charity (bar a small amount for supplies), and hit the road, traveling across the US to see whether he could fund his travel and living costs with art.

Joel; painting on Las Vegas Strip

Joel described it as a bit of a social experiment really, but he says that so far he’s met a lot of great people. There are the not-so great as well, and we saw one or two as we spoke. People who pay so little attention to what is happening around them that they don’t seem to realize when they are trampling over his artwork. A reminder to tread a bit more gently on this earth as you go?

Joel’s experiences are being filmed for a documentary to be released in the near future. If you want to follow his journey, check out his blog at artandhotdogs.blogs.com.

On the roof area they have some of the world’s highest amusement rides including the one I tried, X Scream. Check it out… (cue the dramatic music).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgoTSE5yhJ8

While this is an urban form of outdoor adventure travel, it will spike your adrenalin and hey, you get to hang over a 900ft drop! X Scream hurtles over the side of the building at speeds of up to 30mph, giving the sensation that you are about to plummet from the edge.

Admittedly, I had done the Skyjump (seen in my last post) before hitting this ride so it wasn’t as great a buzz as the jump. That’s me sitting in the back, right in the video – I think for maximum effect on this try to get a seat up front!