For the majority of my life, I’ve lived in popular tourist destinations. When I was 3, I moved to Lake Mary, Florida, a suburb just north of Orlando, which is one of the most visited cities in the United States, according an article from the Inquisitr in 2015. Then, for the past two years, I have attended school in St. Augustine, Florida, which draws many tourists each year as it is the oldest settlement in the United States. Because I have lived in tourist hotspots for most of my life, I haven’t done a whole lot of traveling. The last big trip I took was to the Bahamas and that cruise was almost 10 years ago. I’ve also been to Ohio, Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia. But those trips were so brief and so long ago that they’re hardly memorable.
But now it’s summer, and this is the time of year when people love to travel. Given that I haven’t done a whole lot of traveling in my own lifetime, there is a place that I’d want to go to if I had the time and money: Los Angeles, California.
Los Angeles is also a popular tourist destination. In fact, it is actually ranked a few spots above Orlando in the Euromonitor International’s list of top 100 city destinations around the world based on data from 2013. The reason that Los Angeles is so high on that list (30th) is because there is so much to do, no matter what you’re interested in. Two of my primary interests are entertainment production and sports. Those are two of Los Angeles’ biggest markets.
Now if I were to go, the first thing I’d figure out is where I’d stay. This is huge because sometimes hotels can get pretty pricey, and because it’s Los Angeles, I’ll need to make sure that I’m getting the most bang for my buck. If I want to be really cheap, I could find some hotels on hotels.com that charge about $97 dollars a night, but those are ranked two star, and they might be that way for a reason. For example: they could have roaches, something I hate even though I’ve lived in Florida for all my life (go figure). Plus, these two star hotels might be really far away from places I’d want to visit, like the Staples Center. This could be a huge issue, especially since I don’t drive yet. The hotel that I would personally choose would be the La Quinta Inn & Suites Inglewood. The price per night is $115, which isn’t bad, especially since they have free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, and free parking, according to their website. Also, not only is the hotel only thirty minutes from the Staples Center, but I’ve stayed at a La Quinta before (in Sarasota, Florida) and from what I remember, it was pretty good service. And, for a hotel that’s ranked just above four stars, I feel like that’s a pretty great deal. Another bonus about the La Quinta Inn & Suites Inglewood is that it’s under 20 minutes from the Los Angeles International Airport, which is the airport I’d be flying in from.
This brings us to the next point, which is picking a flight. The first thing to consider when doing so is the airport I’d be flying out of. The closest airport to my house is the airport in Sanford, the Orlando-Sanford International Airport. This airport is pretty small and it would be difficult to find flights that go to Los Angeles. That being said, I’d have to look at flights that depart from the Orlando International Airport, which is much bigger. Depending on when I book, when I want to travel, and how long I want to stay, the flight prices fluctuate, so it would be difficult to predict at face value how much a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles would cost. When booking the flight, I’d probably go to Travelocity or Expedia.
Once I’m in Los Angeles and at my hotel, the next part of the trip is things to do. The first thing I’d definitely want to check out is the Staples Center. Home to two NBA teams, one NHL team, and three other professional sports teams, the arena has become a staple in the city (maybe that’s why they call it the Staples Center, aside from the naming rights of course). I have no interest in hockey, so naturally, I’d like to go watch a basketball game at the Staples Center. I honestly wouldn’t care whether the home team is the Lakers or the Clippers (Los Angeles’ two NBA teams), but I would love to watch either team play the Orlando Magic. The Magic are my favorite professional sports team and I support them in any way that I can.
The way the NBA creates team schedules, each team will play all the other teams at least once at home and at the other opponent’s arena. But based on divisions and conferences, they may play said team more than once at the same location. So usually, since the Magic and Lakers/Clippers are in separate conferences, the Magic end up going to Los Angeles twice a year to play the Lakers and the Clippers one time each. All that being said, seeing the Magic play in the Staples Center would mean practically scheduling the whole trip around when they play either the Lakers or the Clippers, which could be any time between October and April (unless the Magic and one of the LA teams make it to the NBA finals in the same year, but that hasn’t happened since 2009 with the Magic and the Lakers). To buy the tickets, I’d have to go to Stubhub.com and use my account to purchase the tickets. I’m not particularly picky about where I sit, after all, all of the Magic games I’ve gone to at the Amway Center were in the upper bowl. So I don’t expect to spend a fortune on tickets. Food and merchandise, however, are another story.
The other places I’d like to visit are the various TV studios in Los Angeles. Being a Media Production major at Flagler College, working on TV shows would be my dream job. I love all parts of it: production, editing, shooting, etc., but the part I love the most is writing. I’d love to get the chance to create my own TV show and have the opportunity to watch my characters grow from episode to episode on the small screen. Even though I like to write drama, I’d still jump at the chance to create a sitcom, especially since sitcoms (like How I met Your Mother and Lab Rats) can include elements of drama. So, watching a live taping would be something I’d definitely do. Live tapings are generally free, but you have to know the right websites or people in order to watch one. Since I’ve never been to a live taping before, I wouldn’t be very picky about which show I go to watch. For this viewing, it would be all about the experience, and getting to see first-hand how they shoot everything from a multi camera perspective.
My trip to Los Angeles would also include tons of sightseeing, which is something that I would do no matter where I travel. One place I’d definitely take a look at would be the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Looking at all the starts who’ve made it will certainly inspire me to do whatever I can to make it on the Walk of Fame myself one day.
As the trip ends, I’d fly out of the Los Angeles airport and go back to Orlando International Airport, taking either a taxi or SunRail back to Lake Mary, my home.
