My Older Daughter Is Going To Los Angeles Next Month - What Should She Know?

[Melbourne]

@Moonrise

So, what would be the best option to get from LAX to Westwood?

Shuttle service. They run from LAX to the UCLA/Westwood area. She won’t be eligible for the student discount, and it will probably be more expensive than the one she turned down, but it’s still the intermediate cost between Bus and Uber.

She could also take the bus to Westwood, and walk to wherever she is staying, if that’s what she wants (it’s what I would have done at her age), but you’d have to look at the bus route and where exactly she’s staying? How close to UCLA? Maybe she turned down the shuttle because she wants to take a taxi?

[Moonrise]

@Pleonast

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.

@Stranger_On_A_Train

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.

I’m seeing her on Saturday, so I’ll tell her that.

@LSLGuy

Westwood is certainly a nice area of town.

@Elmer_J.Fudd

I can’t think of a better place for a young solo traveler to LA to stay than Westwood.

That’s the impression I had, but it’s good to see it confirmed.

@LSLGuy

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.

Again, I’ll tell her about the weather. I suspect she expects it to be super hot, but it looks like it may very well not be the case.

@Just_Asking_Questions

Westwood is a big area, so it would depend on where she is staying if the bus has a stop near there.

She will have her host family’s contact information in about 3 weeks. They are supposed to chat online to get to know each other before she arrives.

@Stranger_On_A_Train

There is no real reason to carry that amount of cash

That may be my influence on her. I tend to have as many payement options as possible available when I travel. Actually, it came in handy when my both my Visa credit card and my Mastercard international debit card were randomly declined a couple of times in New York last month.

@Elmer_J.Fudd

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.

@Elmer_J.Fudd

Here is a guide for navigating to points of interest from Westwood without a car.

U-See-LA Without a Car | Transportation

Oh, that’s really great, thanks!

@Melbourne

Maybe she turned down the shuttle because she wants to take a taxi?

As I understand it, she turned it down because she had to reapply several times and fill in the form again, and skipped it.

[Pork_Rind]

@Moonrise

I suspect she expects it to be super hot, but it looks like it may very well not be the case.

It can be hot, especially if she heads inland or up and over into the valley, but generally this period is known along the coast as June Gloom.

[Gatopescado]

@LSLGuy

Westwood is certainly a nice area of town.

Well, except for that one Disreputable Institution. Am I right? Fight On!

[LSLGuy]

I believe you meant “Unmentionable Disreputable Institution”. But yeah, Fight On!

[Just_Asking_Questions]

@Gatopescado

Well, except for that one Disreputable Institution.

The FBI? They’re not that bad!

[carrps]

Heh, the “other” place, though. You do not want to be housed there. Armpit of Los Angeles!

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

Considering the mascot is a condom, I would target it south of the armpit.

[chappachula]

@Moonrise

. Actually, it came in handy when my both my Visa credit card and my Mastercard international debit card were randomly declined a couple of times in New York last month

This is critical !
Carry Cash!

I once had my international credit card rejected in the US (at a major chain restaurant, for a $12 breakfast). Their computer could not process the card for some unknown reason.

Ten minutes later I get a text from my bank that my card is now cancelled and useless, and for my own protection, my account has been blocked due to “suspicious activity”..

Result: I am in a foreign country with zero money available to me.
I cleared it up, after a tense hour of telephone trees and finally a human operator.

“Cash—don’t leave home without it.”

(If anybody on this board is young, and doesn’t get the reference, …this is a paraphrase of an old slogan in commercials for Am. Express Travelers Checks)

[fedman1]

but if she’s DT, as teenager, there’s the garment district, eating your way down broadway, and “jewelry” district

[fedman1]

and Olvera street

[TokyoBayer]

@chappachula

Result: I am in a foreign country with zero money available to me.
I cleared it up, after a tense hour of telephone trees and finally a human operator.

Did you go with only one credit card? I always have a couple, just in case.

We have an exchange student from Germany staying with us and she’s got the opposite problem.

There’s no problem getting cash from the ATM, but in our little town and the small nearby city , there aren’t any banks that exchange Euro into yen.