That’s reassuring.
I’m going to call her this week and see how things are progressing. We’ve also planned to meet next weekend.
She’s not into clubbing at all, so that’s not going to be an issue.
And thanks for the neighbourhoods that she needs to stay away from.
What type of organization is it, that:
They are not telling her, who is the family where she is going to arrive. . .?? Odd!!
They are not even offering her to pay her an Uber or Lyft in order for her to arrive safe to her destination . . .?? That on itself is suspicious. . .
The whole thing sounds absolutely questionable!!
As a mother myself and living in LA for a long time, I wouldn’t hold back telling my eighteen years old, how I feel about that trip, by herself. Personally, I would highly discourage her to go to LA period, and even more so by herself!!
Her dream trip could quickly, fast and in a hurry turn into a nightmare. . .
Transportation is the least of the concerns, there is more to it that meets the eye!!
She could be all the eighteen that you want, but she has not a clue where she is going, what she could bump into it and even worse how to handle it!! The movie Taken was made for a reason.- My two cents, that’s all I have to say.-
To show how America should fear that its overaged teenaged girls who are inexplicably following a U2 tour through Europe are going to immediately be kidnapped by white slavers at the taxi line at de Gaulle airport?
Or are you referring to Taken 3, which has the most amazing stunt choreography every put to film?
“Liam is one of the best fence-climbing actors in the business.”
Stranger
All right, I talked to her yesterday, and I have more details.
While she still doesn’t know the exact address of her host family, she knows that she will being staying in Westwood.
Also, they were never expected to pick her up at the airport. What she declined was a shuttle service, provided by the organisation. She’s now slightly more inclined to take a taxi, although she’s still considering public transport as her first choice.
So, what would be the best option to get from LAX to Westwood? I have seen that a taxi ride would cost about $50, which seems low. But if that’s the case, great.
She’d like to take a surf lesson. Is there a reputable place where she could do that, bearing in mind that she’s a complete beginner. How much would it cost?
She’s also confirmed to me that she will be using an eSIM and her Apple Pay account. To be on the safe side, she will bring some cash, about $800, and her bank card, configured to work in the US.
Uber, Lyft, or taxi. Westwood is reasonably close to LAX.
And also close to Santa Monica, which has plenty of surf-lesson places. Usually best to inquire about it a day or two in advance, to check for availability and best surf times.
Westwood is certainly a nice area of town.
She should know that the weather in LA near the shore in June is likely to be cloudy and 15C overnight with the clouds slowly clearing over the morning hours until it’s sunny and 20C-22C for a couple hours in the mid afternoon before it clouds up and cools off again.
The Pacific ocean is cold; any surfing will need to include a wetsuit. Which the surf lesson places should be glad to rent her as part of the total package. Worth asking though.
I can’t think of a better place for a young solo traveler to LA to stay than Westwood. It’s LA’s “college town”. There will be hundreds of other out-of-town people her age exploring the area in June thanks to UCLA.
Wow, there’s actually a bus that runs from LAX to Westwood, terminating at UCLA. Only (!) takes an hour.
Westwood is a big area, so it would depend on where she is staying if the bus has a stop near there.
There are no good public transit options from LAX to Westwood.
There is no real reason to carry that amount of cash; except for the occasional small restaurant, stores and vendors will accept credit/debit cards and many accept Apple Pay and other online payment systems.
Stranger
I just posted one, right before your post.
Because of the student population, Westwood may will have the highest percentage of non-drivers in LA. Which means there are probably a whole lot of other options for getting around town.
Westwood certainly has some upscale areas but it also has some less savory ones especially down by the Veterans Administration (not really dangerous but a significant amount of property crimes). I’d recommend that the o.p.’s daughter get some local guidance before just wandering around. It is well placed for a lot of the things she might want to do.
MTA buses are not a great public transit option, especially for someone coming off of a long international flight, carting luggage, and not familiar with Los Angeles. ~$50 for a taxi from LAX direct to her host home is well worth the price for convenience and safety, and I’ll reinforce that anyone coming from a European country is probably going to find the ‘public transit’ in Los Angeles shockingly limited for a major city.
Stranger
Well, that’s irrelevant, because I linked to the Culver City Lines.
But if you’re going to push back because
as being some valid response is just setting up arbitrary reasons against my suggestion. The bus goes from LAX to Westwood, it has a schedule, new buses, and a daily ridership on their seven routes of close to 10K. Someone thinks it isn’t “limited”.
The Culver City buses go all the way to Westwood now? When I was at UCLA, I took the Culver City 3 to Pico and National, then, I took either the Santa Monica (Big Blue Bus!) 7 or 8 to Hilgard. I liked that break, because coming home I’d occasionally walk down to The Apple Pan for a hickory burger.
Yes. Looks like it follows Sepulveda all the way from LAX to Wilshire and them small streets until it terminates at UCLA.
Cool. Next time my sister has an appointment up in Westwood, I’ll tell her to take the bus! j/k
I’m not going to engage in yet another discussion with you where you just get increasingly combative just to “win the argument”.
Stranger
No one is combative, except you. My facts are correct. There is no “argument” to win. The bus exists, and runs where I said.
I’m not going to get into a fight that’s not in the pit with a SD favorite.
Here is a guide for navigating to points of interest from Westwood without a car.