This past weekend, I took a trip to San Diego to visit some of my best friends from college. It was truly an amazing time. We shared so many laughs, went dancing, had some drinks, cooked great meals, and saw the amazing views San Diego has to offer. It really was one of the best trips I could’ve taken. It’s always a great time spending time with these friends. I would say I have several different friend groups, but none of them gets me to laugh in the way I do around these friends. We click on so many levels and it’s nice to get that reminder. The trip was especially nice since a few of us may be having some big life changes coming up over the next year or so. And before that craziness happens, spending some quality time with each other is the best way we could talk about our futures, gain perspectives on where our heads are at, and the lessons we’ve learned up to this point.
I got into San Diego late on Wednesday night. After getting a little rest that night, my friends and I started the day with a short hike not far from where they lived. It was a nice little hike. It gave us a good opportunity to see the contrast between the city and the mountains. More importantly, it gave us a chance to catch up. I love hiking with a partner. With the endorphins you get from hiking, I feel like the mood is super charged and the conversations are all positive and engaging. It’s a great way to catch up with and old friend. We talked some more, laughed some more, and took a bunch of pictures at the top. It was a great start to the day. After the hike, we decided to get some lunch and picked the tourist friendly restaurant, In N Out Burger. We felt the urge to get it since we never get the opportunity to on the East Coast. In my unbiased opinion, it was not worth the hype that we all hear about it and much prefer Five Guys. But it was still yummy and nice to share a meal with a friend. We had some time to chill after that, played some basketball at a local park, took a cold plunge at their neighborhood cold pool, then got ready for dinner and a night of dancing. It turned into a very memorable night with the boys. It felt good to see my salsa lessons paying off. And even better, I learned some new moves while I was dancing.
The next day, 3 of us hit up a diner while the 4th worked from home. We chatted about the books we’ve recently like. We got in depth about we liked and what we disagreed with about each book. Agreeing with everything in a book is rarely the case. It was refreshing to share the good and the bad in a judgement free environment. It helps share thoughts, perspectives, and other ideas that lead to an interesting discussion. We chatted over coffee and breakfast. We took our time to let everyone get their point across and to get the most out of our free coffee refills. We then chilled for a little, played some more basketball, then cooked an amazing meal together before going out to another salsa club. We all pitched in, but we followed my good friend’s salmon and veggies recipe with a creamy garlic sauce. Needless to say, it was amazing. Cooking is always something my friends and I try to do together while we are together. It’s one of the best experiences we do to bond over delicious food. It’s something we can all do together and work towards a yummy goal. Then, we all benefit from the fruits of our labor along with a glass of wine or two. After the meal and a short clean up, we hit another salsa club. I learned even more moves and was looking forward to trying them out. We caught the tail end of the lesson going on, but I didn’t feel like I needed another basic lesson. I was ready to show off my fancy new moves I’ve been learning for the past few weeks. So, we danced the night away and got some tacos afterwards as a night cap.
The next morning, we all took our time getting up and went to a café that served small sandwiches around noon. At this point, we were all sharing laughs over our trip so far. We sat down, had a coffee, small sandwich, and busted a gut laughing at the silliest things. That’s the beauty of having friends like this. Friends that don’t take themselves or life too seriously. Friends that can be silly and laugh about silly things. It’s a breath of fresh air especially with all the stresses in life and with all the seriousness you hear, having a laugh at something ridiculous and funny is what really makes me a happy man. It’s the stupid laughs that bring the biggest smiles on my face. After gaining our composure, we went back to the house, took a microdose of some mushroom chocolate, and shared a cup of tea with each other while we planned out our night. We took a quick trip to the Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset. While taking in the beauty and continuing to share those stupid laughs, we planned out a chill night since it was my last one and we already packed so much in. We went to dinner at a small Tai food place, then it was off to a whiskey bar for a few Old Fashioneds. We caught up with and met some of their local friends, then it was off to ice cream. On the way home, we went to a very popular ice cream parlor, and it was delicious. We were looking forward to a chill night so that was it. We took it home after that and had one last amazing chat before going to bed. The morning after was my flight out and that concluded my San Diego trip.
What a trip. I’m so lucky to have the friends that I have. There’re no other people on Earth that can give me that hilarious of a time, while challenging me to think about new and old ideas. These people really mean so much to me and I look forward to seeing them again, whenever that may be. Get yourself some friends who can make you laugh at the silliest things and can make you think about deep life concepts. This balance is why we push one another to be the best we can be, while enjoying ourselves along the way. Your friends are everything to you. Choose them carefully and don’t let the good ones get away.
Dabbl 