The best thing about travelling – aside from the adventures, and the meeting new people, and the food and the fun and the laughter – is the perspective that you gain on your home life while you’re away. Before I went to L.A. I was stressed to the point of tears. Finishing my degree nearly finished me off, then I immediately started a very intense internship, and then I moved house three days before my flight. Needless to say that by the time I got on the plane, I was pretty much a mess.

Luckily, L.A. was exactly what I needed (previous posts here and here explain why), not least because it made me realise how fucking lucky I am to be 22 and living in London. It’s hard to articulate exactly why this city feels like such a good place to be right now, but it does. I think it’s to do with the fact that so many people are making money doing work that they love, or at least trying their absolute best to. Strong NY-LON connections and lots of shared cultural references mean that young Londoners have adopted the entrepreneurial mentality of our New York counterparts,  but have modified it to suit our naturally less manic pace of life.

The commercial explosion of the urban music scene has obviously been important too – suddenly, making a living out of music seems viable if you’re willing to work hard enough. Ironically, the same goes for the recession. When trying to get a ‘job’ seems like a generally futile mission, you have to think of more ingenious ways to make money. Like a lot of my friends, I decided a while back that freelancing seemed like the best, and most financially fruitful, option. Luckily, my theory seems to be working out quite well so far.

My inner history geek (just done a History degree and I’m still nerd mode, allow me please) is compelled to relate this to historical research which shows that economic depression often gives rise to periods of intensive creativity in urban environments. That seems to be exactly what has happened in London. And I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.

Some things I did last week:

- Watched (possibly ogled) skaters on Venice Beach.

- Spent hours roaming round the Rose Bowl flea market.

- Channeled Madonna for Moustache Mondays at La Cita.

- Sampled the delights of In N Out Burger for the first time.

- Checked out the streetwear stores on Fairfax.

- Ate some amazing vegan food, some amazing Mexican food, some amazing Japanese food, and some pretty shitty pizza.

- Bought Spizikes at Flight Club.

- Had a memorable dinner at Chateau Marmont.

- Watched Toy Story 3 at The Grove, an outdoor mall that feels like Disneyland.

- Revisited The Cha Cha in Silverlake.

- Was disappointed by the Farmer’s Market.

- Hit up Guys and Dolls Lounge, a hip hop club that was exactly like Aura on a Sunday c.2008, Premiership footballers and all.

- Binge drank throughout all of the above.

I feel like I’ve been in LA forever and I’ve fallen in love with the place hard. The post-holiday comedown is going to be brutal.

More photos after the jump.

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The view from Soho House

Where to start? The past week has been a blur of pools, beaches, shops, cafés, restaurants, hotels, warehouses, rooftops, hilltops, margaritas, bellinis, vodka tonics, vegan food, junk food, hip hop, death metal, UK funky house (inexplicably), dogs, cats that like to climb into bags, car rides, taxi rides, bus rides and walking in a place where no one else walks.

L.A. is like nowhere else. It sprawls out further and wider that any city I think I’ve ever visited, or at least it feels that way. Every destination requires a twenty minute car ride, and every neighbourhood feels completely different from the last. The city strikes a strange balance between clean and dirty living – in the day it’s egg white omelettes and acai shakes with spirulina boosters. At night it’s flowing alcohol, drunk driving, and house parties galore (a necessity in a city where all clubs shut down at 2am). Things get done noticeably more slowly than in London, and no-one seems to be overly stressed. The pace and style of life has taken a little while to adjust to, but after seven days I can say that I definitely like it. I like it a lot.

Lots more photos when you click the link.

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Very much looking forward to my forthcoming adventures in Los Angeles.  I haven’t been on holiday for over a year so I’m expecting carnage to ensue. Any tips for stuff to see/do/hear/watch/eat/drink/smoke much appreciated.

“In the end, Maya is postmodern: she can’t really make music or art that well, but she’s better than anyone at putting crazy ideas into motion. She knows how to manipulate, how to withhold, how to get what she wants.”

Diplo on M.I.A., quoted from a recent article in the New York Times that has caused quite the media shitstorm. Journalist Lynn Hirschberg basically slams M.I.A.’s much publicised political agenda as a misguided gimmick – harsh, but when combined with quotes from Jimmy Iovine and Richard Russell, as well as lots of detail on Argulpragasam’s undeniably fascinating life story, it makes for pretty interesting reading.

Check it out here.