Madison Tong - The West Coast on film

Took a road trip up the West Coast of California and I thought it'd be a really great opportunity to try out my film camera. We started in Los Angeles and took the Pacific Coast Highway (1) all the way up to San Fransisco. Honestly I couldn't recommend it more. While it took me a while to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, the drive itself (aside from when you drive around Big Sur, which gets a bit windy) was super chilled. There were so many different things to stop and do along the way and the coastal drive itself is one of the prettiest road trips I've done.

A few recommendations

- While I did this trip across two days that was largely because we didn't have a lot of time. I would actually recommend taking your time if you have it. There's so many things to see, so many walks you could do and so many beaches you can stop at.

- Paying the small fee to drive through Carmel by the Bay is 100% worth it. While the area is renowned for the very famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, the route to drive through is actually stunning. It's definitely worth cruising through if you have the time.

- If you have the time, go and see Yosemite. It's not technically part of the Pacific Coast Highway but if you're making your way to or from San Fran anyway, it's only a few hours away. We took an overnight tour due to the time of year that we went (late Feb/Early March), but if you go in summer you could definitely drive there yourself.

- If you're into tech, we recommend going to San Jose. It's a very different vibe and it's just such an interesting place. Whether you go and see Stanford or you do a bit of a tour like we did and cruise around the neighbourhoods to see Steve Job's Garage, the Google HQ and where HP was started.

- Hire a bike in San Francisco - what a great way to see the city and it means you can cycle over the Gold Gate Bridge which is always a fun trip. Plus it's a really great way to see all the architecture that the city is so famous for.