About Me

Welcome to California Wanderland! I’m Laura, a California local always in search of new adventures around me.

So what makes me an expert on all things Central California? Here is my story…

As a child, I grew up in a small country called Latvia in East Europe. After spending waaay too many cold winters watching Beverly Hills 90210 and daydreaming of blue skies and palm trees, my dream finally came true and I moved to California in High School. I was excited to trade in my snow boots for Rainbow sandals and to spend my afternoons laying out on the sunny beaches of Southern California.

During my 20’s I did all of the “normal” things – went to College, studied Accounting and worked at a 9-5 office to pay my bills. My weekends were spent going on mini-adventures locally in California but the more I explored the more I felt the pull to see what else is out there. Before I turned 30 I finally took that leap and left my Accounting job to travel-full time with my wonderful hubby Joel. We spent a year traveling and living in Oregon at which time I realized that as beautiful as Oregon was, winter gloom was a real thing and no amount of Happy Lights could replace the sunshine of California.

During this time I also started a travel blog called Fun Life Crisis to document our adventures around the world, and with time this little side hobby turned into a full-time gig for me. But as our adventures grew more epic, I also felt like something was missing. After a few years on the road, I realized that there is no place like home and we returned to California where we adopted our super-duper cute puppy Quito.

Now we live in Bakersfield, the only place in California where millennials can still afford to buy a house, which also happens to be quite the central location for adventures. Within a couple of hour drive, we can reach the beautiful Central California coastline or escape into the mountains. With multiple National Parks around us like Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Pinnacles there are endless adventures to find in Central California.

We hope that you can use this blog to discover something new and exciting around you whether that is going on your first hiking trip, that brewery you always wanted to try or on a fun adventure that reminds us that we live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth – California.

Cheers!

Laura