Wow, ww, gave me a major nostalgia blast. When you drive north from santa barbara to go surf the great waves of jalama beach and the gnarly left tube of tarantulas.(actually a great right, too. on the right swell)
You pass these amazingly colorful banks of multi colored tulips in the town of lompoc.
And as you drive out the road from 101 to jalama. Or the equally amazing drive from the freeway to morro bay and montana de oro park: the flowers....the beautiful golden flowers. and it smells like nowhere on earth
Thank you lord for giving california her rains back. The flowers go nuts. The great sandbar breaks re appear. I can stand under a waterfall at its true potential above ojai where my buddy lives. He shapes for for Roberts Surfboards after 22 years at channel islands.
You can go in the hills above big sur for the waterfalls again. of course, once they clear the landslides...
but, i'll post next why florida is clearly better. But i'll ski in the mountains. And do my high altitude dive again in lake tahoe this spring. and surf lotsa great waves in my beloved california...

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It's a democratic hoax

Holy crap everyone! I didn't expect this many people to chime in. My wife and I definitely appreciate all of the info and will look into it all. We go in March so I will give my synopsis when we return. You guys are great! Thank you again!

If you're aerospace, space x launches out of vandenburg afb , again right by where i just described. justup the road is the cool danish town of solvang. the growing areas: gilroy garlic, castroville artichokes. monterey crabs and fish. america's garden: salinas
except no one will be available to work the fields anymore... but other than that...

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It's a democratic hoax

If you get a job at Vandenburg AFB.The base is also home to one of the country club Fed Prisons for white collar and non violent coke dealers. There werea few big name people in the surf business that spent some time there.  They have two really excellent waves On Vandenburg, that are hard to excess, unless you are in The Military or work on base. One is a right point that will hold as big as it gets. The Other is a very shealtered left peak.  The Great white problem in that area is very real.  Cold Water issues are real. summer fog is also an issue.  The Central coast is still very beautiful. great camping, hiking mountain biking.  Diving and other activities outside of summer.  You can Surf in the moring and be skiing in the afternoon if you choose.    

 

 

Another thought is if you do not need to be close to your work and can do it from home. Think about northren Baja asa place to live close to the boarder and so not too far from Home cheaper then living in CA  i will be leaving Florida in about a year or so. looking at diffrnt options Costa Rica, Panamal maybe Puerto Rica.  Then Thought about northren Baja.  Just thinking as I type.  Baja means year around wetsuits.  Tropics does sound better just further from family.

 

 

You must be new, or just unaware. cali vs FL is THE MOST discussed topic on this forum next to local shaper vs popout. IF you do a search (see that search box up there ^^) , better pull up a lawn chair and get a case of popcorn!

 

I'll save you the trouble, and summarize it for ya:

 

Cali - you can't afford it!

I've been on here for years just don't frequent too often. I know people making much less living in decent places making a decent living. As long as you are conscious with your funds you can make it. Watch the movie Minimalism on Netflix, it'll help. At least it helped me. But thanks for the optimism and chiming in! 

The california biathlon: surf in the morning, ski in the afternoon. here i come...

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It's a democratic hoax

life goals

Hands down the best little surf town in California is Carpinteria.

Close to Rincon and many other spots that I won't mention.

 

Yeah, the guy across the street from me in Satbe is a California transplant. He bought the Fla. house sight unseen for a bit over $200k. I asked him why he didn't wait to look at it and he told me that it didn't matter as it was practically free relative to home prices in California. Said our houses would be worth millions in California.

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I :heart; Q

Poway Hills? 25 miles from La Jolla. Seemed affordable by California standards travelled around there....do not know much about the community but coming from FL, I like Hills and would not mind living inland and drive 30-45 mins to surf.

If you're making $100k in Florida you'll certainly make more then that in California. Before I moved to SF 4 years ago I was making $60,000/year in Florida. When I moved to California I was making $90,000 to do the same exact job. Rent/owning is crazy expensive, but in my opinion it's totally worth it. You pay for the quality of life. Commodities aren't much more then back in Florida. I say go for it, what's the worst that could happen, you move back in a couple of years? Don't listen to the negative people on here who were to scared to risk it and get the hell out of Florida.

Sure it is a personal choice. My son moved there from Florida and loves it. He's young and more than doubled his salary though. Some of the folks who are providing the perspective that California is not exactly a paradise have lived there, myself included. If the OP only wanted positive reviews he should have said that. But he didn't. Anyway, not scared here, I just know better from personal experience. California is not my kind of place.

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I :heart; Q

 

Let me summarize it for YOU::

Anybody who'll refer to California as "cali", don't know their right from their left DICK about it. Ignore them mate.

Poway area muchy peligrosa para gringo's in recent years. Ignore that too. 

Rent awhile. Go wherever else you want. You'll do fine, even if you find yourselves equating rent as high as 2/3 monthly bring home for you guys. Ramen- Then,, you'll know what t'do next. Adventure baby!!