California day in the life of my Kia Soul

I have been preparing for my California trip ever since my dinner with Hewlett Packard in NYC in July! I live in New York but have never been out west, let alone the West coast, to sunny San Diego! All sorts of freaking out and excited emotions have run through my veins as I prepared for this trip. All my hard work and dreams are starting to come to life. Travel for a living! Enjoy a California day in the life of my Kia Soul.

I had to address some “must have’s”, how am I getting there? How will I get around? The idea of driving across country did not really seem appealing so I booked my flights and started a search for rentals. I booked a Kia Soul without any real information about it.

 It would get me from point A to point B and was gas efficient, yep works for me! After 7 hours of flying I was welcomed to San Diego by this “Alien green” beauty!!  Never in my life did I ever think I would drive a shiny new car.

I loaded my luggage, pillow, book, carry on and still had room in the truck. They say you can not judge a book by it’s cover and I would say this car fits into that saying! It may seem small from the outside but it is rather spacious. After I got my preconceived ideas out of the way we set off for my hotel for check-in.

I put my Kia in reverse and the coolest thing happened…… I have a back-up camera! Let me stop you here and say I drive a Chevy pickup truck back home. It is was so rusty that when I was in NYC my family built a new truck bed for it. I have put more money into that well loved vehicle then it is worth. To be sitting in a NEW vehicle, let alone one with luxuries like a back-up camera, yep, I was giddy!

Together we saw all of San Diego! If you follow my Instagram @Westernnewyorker you would have seen some of the places I visited, reviewed and experienced. The West coast beach was on my “To-Do” list! Without a hitch my Kia buzzed the 12 LANE (we do NOT have those back home either, eek!) highway and found Del Mor beach.

I saw blue water!! I put my toes in the Pacific Ocean!

After the beach I headed out to a few local areas Balboa Park then El Agave for dinner. I will share my experiences in another post but I wanted to mention them. While in the parking lot of Inspiration for Balboa Park I sat and watch planes come in via my moon roof. This might not be a local attraction but I found it to be rather entertaining.

I traveled a lot the first day I got to San Diego, 7 hours of flying then a full day of sight seeing. I charged my phone using this nifty USB outlet!! I need one of these in my life because I never remember the darn car adapter for my cords!!

 I spent a good week with this car. The thought of giving back was down right miserable. I am completely in love with it and want one (no joke)! It has the every day amenities I use mixed in with luxury as well. Trust me I contemplated driving it back home across country and seeing if anyone would notice it was missing! From the GPS (built in) to cruising the highway and maneuvering the California sloped streets and curving roads it pasted all my expectations and more! Don’t be surprised if you see my once die hard Chevy pickup owner sporting Kia Soul in the near future ;).