Welcome to my Summer vacation! Finishing up the home remodel is taking precedence over any sort of travel this Summer so we’ve decided to plan the ultimate ‘staycation’ and spend our weekends exploring right here at home in Los Angeles. Armed with Carrie Kim’s new book 100 Things To Do In Los Angeles Before You Die (Reedy Press) our staycation plan is starting to feel more like going to a fun Summer School with this guide as our textbook.
As a long-time resident of LA, Carrie Kim has experienced LA as a kid, a young adult and now as a mom so she’s got great recommendations for kid friendly experiences as well as adult suggestions like late-night bike rides through downtown and a Mexican masked wrestling/burlesque/comedy show. Many of these experiences require very little planning and are perfect for spur-of-the-moment inspiration on where to eat, a fun place to catch a film or watch the sun set. Carrie also highlights each of the neighborhoods and gives advice on what can be done seasonally and year-round.
The first thing I did when I got this book was jump to the index and start checking off what I’ve already done and was shocked to find that I’ve only covered 47 of the 100 things. I was tempted to work my way through the list alphabetically but decided to follow Carrie’s suggested itineraries starting with ‘Quintessential LA’ and then move on to ‘Off the Beaten Path’ and ‘Date Night’. My goal this Summer is to check off as many of these adventures as possible and even try a few of the more outdoorsy ones that I’ve put at the bottom of my list including things like kayaking the LA river and kite surfing.
For more info on !00 Things To Do In Los Angeles Before You Die please head over to Carrie’s website. I’d love to hear how many you’ve done!
