I've lived in Southern California for more than a decade — here are 15 things anyone from here knows to be true

For Europeans, fall in America looks like the stuff of wanderlust, with fiery trees and pumpkin spice lattes à la Gilmore Girls. 

Liesbet Collaert was about to blow up her life.

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As a newbie California resident keen on exploring as much of my adopted home as possible, I was struck by how geographically diverse the Golden State is, the impracticalities of making a "quick trip" to one part of the state from the other end of it, and its surprisingly variable weather.

It's become an iconic image of travel in the United States – a red convertible with the top down, cruising such classic California thoroughfares as the Pacific Coast Highway or across the Golden Gate Bridge.

As the temperatures dip in the transition to fall from summer, airfare prices are also cooling down with deals available within the United States and around the world.  Travel booking site Hopper recently shared its “Fall Shoulder Season Report,” providing insight into discounts as we head into fall. Domestic flights to New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Orlando all average under $200. Each city is seeing prices at least 24 percent lower than the same ticket over the summer. 

Embarking on a trip to Cal-a-Vie Health Spa in Vista, just north of San Diego, feels like visiting a French Provencal-style retreat. It’s nestled into 500 acres of scenic rolling California hillside like a well-being-focused cocoon, hidden away from the stresses of city life – and that’s its entire mission.

The Lake Tahoe region of northern California is, arguably, the best place in the state for year-round outdoor activities, from world-class mountain biking in the summer to epic skiing in the winter, with hiking, camping, and all manner of lake activities occupying their seasonal niches. It’s an appealing place for a second home for anyone who’s looking for an active lifestyle year-round, no matter what your jam. Anchoring the California side of Lake Tahoe (which encompasses a stretch of Nevada south of Reno, as well) are the towns of Truckee and Tahoe City, both real mountain towns with good healthcare, solid schools, chef-driven restaurants, and year-round communities that thrive in the context of healthy tourism. And the real estate market continues to be nimble, even as it normalizes after the madness of the 2020 pandemic boom.

California has a reputation for sunshine, beaches and palm trees – but that’s only part of the picture.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Dr. Londí Cox, an international psychologist and expat therapist who's been living abroad since 2014. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

The saying goes, "West Coast, best coast," for a reason.

At an age when most schoolkids are still learning to tie their shoelaces, Nathaniel Prebalick — AKA Gold Plate Nate — was teaching budding treasure hunters how to pan for gold. As a third-generation prospector, he was raised amid the sparkling streams of California’s Gold Country, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, getting to know its watery veins as well as the life lines of his own hands.