Tag: San Francisco

My First Time In San Francisco

ARRIVING IN SAN FRAN

As we stepped off the BART and lugged our heavy cases up the escalators, we were greeted by the sound of music, cheers, the most amount of rainbow flags you’ve ever seen in one procession…and a man with his penis out, stood with his hands on his hips, stark bollock naked. He wore nothing but glitter face paint, trainers, a pair of sunglasses and an expression that read ‘this is totally normal’. It was Pride, and we’d officially arrived in San Fransisco.

Aside from being slightly shocked by the sight of the naked man and the few others that followed (I’m no prude but it’s always a shock at 4:30pm in the afternoon amongst shoppers and kids walking about, but anyway…), I was excited to be in San Francisco. In that moment I wanted to dump our luggage and join in with the celebrations but we had a hotel to find and right then, that was the main priority.

We asked for directions and had some fire-women dubiously point us in the direction of our hotel. We weren’t sure why they hesitated at the time, but as we trudged up the street away from the procession, we started to notice that San Francisco wasn’t all rainbow flags and celebration.

STAYING IN THE WORST NEIGHBOURHOOD

There were a lot of homeless people and other people just sat out on the street, some just hanging around, others visibly on drugs and some just shouting for the sake of shouting. I wasn’t sure what to think and if I’m honest, in that moment I didn’t really want to be there.

I didn’t feel like we were in the safest area to stay in and we later found out, that we weren’t. We’d arrived in The Tenderloin and this place has a bad rep that goes way back.

Now when you search this area online (which we *cough, Damien* didn’t unfortunately do before our trip), you’ll see mixed reviews. Some articles describe The Tenderloin as the worst part of San Fran, with the highest crime rates and somewhere to avoid, whilst others try and show off its best bits with a ‘it ain’t that bad’ attitude…I’ll give my honest opinion as a tourist from overseas, and as someone who has spent a lot of money to go to somewhere like San Francisco on holiday and simply say, don’t stay there.

I’m all for submerging myself into the culture and staying somewhere that’s nothing like home but I’d rather not stay somewhere that makes me feel on edge when walking down the street, if it can be avoided. Now there are some alright parts of The Tenderloin, but it just so happens that we stayed just round the corner from the worst part of it, and so you can see why we were displeased with our location choice. Well why the heck did we stay there? You might ask…well quite simply (as mentioned), we did very little research and in a city of overpriced hotels, this one appeared somewhat less overpriced (plus Damien booked it, so again, I put the blame on him).

It was only on our second day, after walking down the worst street in the neighbourhood, that we realised we’d definitely made a bad choice with our location, and after debating whether to book a new hotel, we then decided to scrap that idea in favour of taking Ubers everywhere instead.

GETTING AROUND

Ubers became our mode of transport when travelling across the city and when exploring different areas, we simply walked. I’d advise taking comfortable shoes because what they say about San Fran being hilly is no joke and you’re bound to find yourself doing a lot of up and down hill walking.

The cost of Ubers also weren’t too bad at all (compared to at home in England) and we could usually get to where we wanted for less than $10.

When we arrived in San Francisco, we first got the Bart (short for the ‘Bay Area Rapid Transit’, or more simply put, the train), which took us from the airport to central San Francisco, not too far from where we were staying. This cost is $10 each for a single ticket but after learning how it wasn’t much more to take an Uber, we decided to take an Uber when later heading back to the airport.

THE TOURISTY STUFF

Of course, no San Fransisco trip is complete without a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and as I recently spoke about in this blog post here, this was one of my favourite experiences during our time in San Fran. Lucky for us, we’d picked a clear day and the view up close of the Golden Gate Bridge was stunning. It’s now certainly been added to my list of favourite sights to see and if you do take a trip to San Francisco, I’d definitely recommend you hire a bike and take the bike ride over to Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge. There are lots of different places to hire bikes from but we used the company Blazing Saddles for our bike hire and it cost us around $35 to hire for the day (although I believe booking online may offer further discounts).

Another thing I marked off my tourist tick list, was a trip to Alcatraz. We were seriously lucky to get tickets though, as we hadn’t pre-booked and after checking online to find they were all sold out up until August, I actually thought we’d missed our chance. Not one to give up too easily though, after turning up one morning, to our surprise there were just two tickets available for that same day and of course, we snatched them up. Never have I been so excited for the prospect of going to a prison but I knew I had to visit this place. I wasn’t disappointed either, and whilst initially skeptical about the idea of it just being an audio tour, I quickly found myself becoming fully immersed in the experience and I loved it. I even went into full tourist mode and purchased a novelty Alcatraz keyring at the end.

THE AREAS & MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LOCALS

There are so many different areas of San Francisco to explore and each neighbourhood feels so different. Two of my favourite areas were Cow Hollow and North Beach. Cow Hollow, had a great little community vibe with a cluster of nice restaurants, bars and little boutiques. It was probably one of the least touristy areas we visited too and I like how it gave a sense of real San Fran living.

North Beach is another area I loved and although a lot more touristy, there are still lots of spots away from the most obvious and popular places, which are also great to explore.

One night, after previously being suggested by a local (whilst in a wine bar in Cow Hollow actually), we found ourself heading into a little local jazz bar up in North Beach. It was a pretty unassuming place (I unfortunately forget the name), and likely a place we wouldn’t have ventured into if we hadn’t been prompted by the local we’d got chatting to the night previously. I always love getting suggestions from locals when exploring someplace new, because otherwise it can often be all too easy to wind up in the most touristy place ever. This place was definitely not touristy, it was a proper old dive bar…and we loved it!

Soon we got chatting to a local at the bar and she took us around her favourite spots in the neighbourhood. It was such a fun night and although it was followed by a terrible hangover, I’m so glad we got to experience a night with the locals in San Fran.

THE FOOD

I won’t go on too much about what we ate in San Francisco, or else I’m afraid that will take up a whole other blog post. But what I simply will say is that we ate, a lot. I feel like whenever someone from overseas visits the US on holiday, they go with the intention of super sizing everything and eating their bodyweight in carbs and sugar (please tell me I’m not alone here). San Francisco was no exception to my, when in America rule of, ‘go big or go home’…and that’s exactly what we did until it finally was indeed, time to go home.

So there we have it. A somewhat prolific blog post about my first ever trip to San Francisco, which I hope you could find someway informative, or if not that, then at the very least entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, as did Damien and I’d definitely be keen to go back again. From San Fran, we actually went on to visit Portland, where we stayed for several nights for our friends’ wedding, before flying back to San Fran for one more night, and then home. I vlogged quite a bit of all of our trip, so if you’d like to see more of what we got up to, you can scroll down to the bottom of this page and watch the vlog there.

Anyway, that’s all for now and I’ll leave a quick low down of everything below too!

Samio x

THE LOW DOWN

When We Visited: June to July 2018
How Long We Stayed: 4 nights, then flew to Portland for 4 nights, then back to San Fran for another night.
Accommodation: Hotels
Area We Stayed In: 1st The Tenderloin, 2nd Hotel The East Cut
Favourite Areas: Cow Hollow and North Beach
Would Recommend: Hiring a bike to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito and having some lunch whilst you’re there. Visiting Alcatraz (make sure you book in advance ahead of your trip to San Francisco).
Food To Try: If you’re in the Cow Hollow Area and you’re a fellow pizza lover, try the margarita pizza with burrata, you won’t be disappointed! Also there’s lots of good seafood in San Francisco too.
Would I Visit San Francisco Again: Yes

July 29, 2018
From San Fran To Sausalito

This post is sponsored by The Sports Edit

Obviously when in San Francisco, it’s a must to go and visit the arguably most famous bridge in the world, The Golden Gate Bridge. When exploring a new place, I like to see as much of it as possible and one of the best ways to get about in San Francisco is via bike. Of course it was a no brainer for Damien and I to take a bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge, and we knew it would be a great way to see more of San Fransisco and some of the surrounding areas.

As much as I enjoy wondering around a new city, I’m quite outdoorsy and so love any chance to get active and explore outside of the busy city centre. I’m so glad I came prepared with fitness gear for this trip and I’m a bit obsessed with this outfit I got from The Sports Edit.

I was long overdue a sportswear update, as I’ve been wearing the same black leggings and top combo for a while now and this time wanted to opt for something a bit more fun. I always find good sportswear is worth the investment, because if you’re like me you’ll want something that’s comfortable, form-fitting and great quality that will last through constant washing and wear.

The Sports Edit stocks some of my favourite sportswear brands and their well curated selection makes it easy to pick from. I was instantly drawn to these Nimble snake print leggings and crop top. I knew these would be great for whilst away but also for back home at the gym and I’m happy to report the sports bra is both comfortable and supportive.

The Sports Edit has a good selection of footwear and accessories too and I went for these Adidas running trainers and I knew they would be comfortable and also look great with the leggings and sports bra. I also went for the Fact + Fiction backpack because I was in need for a new gym/sports bag and this one was just what I was after. It actually really came in handy on my trip as it was great for travelling, as well as taking along with me on our bike ride.

And how was the bike ride you may be wondering…It was great and I’d definitely recommend it if you do take a trip to San Fransisco. We took the route across the Golden Gate bridge and over to Sausalito and along the way took a slight detour up a (very) steep hill, to get some great views of the bridge and San Fransisco. I loved our little visit to Sausalito and would really like to spend more time there again as it’s such a picturesque and chilled place. Our legs were well worked by the end of the day but it was worth it and good to get active and explore just outside San Francisco.

Samio x

July 12, 2018
Reflecting on June

And breath…

The month of June was a bit of a whirlwind and so much happened that I don’t feel I’ve been fully able to process it all yet. I’m now back home, sat at my little make shift work area, with my freshly poured coffee, my laptop open in front of me…and I’m not quite sure where to start.

I’ve been away twice in the past month (3 times if you include the weekend trip I took to Wales) and whilst I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, it’s left me feeling slightly off-kilter when it comes to my blog and work…and although I ended up working throughout my holidays, I still can’t help but feeling behind and somewhat overwhelmed by the amount I need to catch up on. So I thought I’d start here and cathartically share some of what I’ve been up to this past month and why the month of June has been such a momentous one for me.

The start

I really hit the ground running at the start of June (or should I say, hiking), as myself and some of my close girlfriends took a trip to Wales to climb Mount Snowdon. This was a pre-birthday celebration for my birthday the following weekend, and something we’d been looking forward to for months. I don’t usually do much for my birthday but this year I felt the urge to celebrate it doing something that was very me. It’s probably a sign of my age, but I’d much rather a long hike followed by a wine night in, than a night out clubbing these days. Times really do change and I joked with my girls at how we’d come a long way since our birthday celebrations in our early 20s. It couldn’t have been more perfect for me though and it was one of those girls trips where you find yourself laughing from start to finish.

The Snowdon hike also reiterated to me my love for hiking and the great outdoors. It’s something I don’t share much here on my blog but I’ve loved going hiking since I was young and it’s something Damien and I have got back into doing more of recently. I want to share more of that adventurous side and I’d love to plan some more outdoorsy trips in the future too.

My Birthday

I’m not someone who frets too much over their birthday, but then I’m not 30 yet, so we’ll see how things change when that one comes along…but for now I’m blissfully enjoying each year as it comes along. I could end up eating my words in years to come and long for the days when my tits were perkier and I saw a fresh faced 20 something year old staring back at me in the mirror, but for now I’m not too worried about getting (slightly) older.

With age comes wisdom, as they say and I do believe that. Not necessarily that just because you’re old means you’re wise, but with each year comes new lessons. I definitely know a lot more than I knew a year ago and I’m grateful for that knowledge I’ve gained and the lessons I’ve learnt. We all live and we learn, and birthdays can be a good time to reflect on what we’ve learnt during that particular age. For me this birthday coincided with lots of changes and things being ticked off, so it was a reflective one for sure and one that made me feel grateful for where I’m at right now.

Trainers – Adidas | Shorts – Uniqlo | T-shirt – & Other Stories (sold out, similar here) | Bag – DVF (sold out, similar here) | Necklace – Pernille Corydon | Sunglasses – Taylor Morris (same style in different colour, here)

The End of An Era/New Beginnings

I decided to make the (not so easy) decision to leave my agencies and quit modelling after 6 and a half years of doing it as my full-time job. It’s crazy to think that it really is the end of an era for me, even as I type these words it still sort of feels strange to be saying it. I’m no longer a model and I’m now solely a full time blogger/creative…and this is the first time I’ve properly announced it anywhere.

For me it’s something that has naturally been transitioning over the past eight months or so. As my work load as a blogger/Youtuber/creative increased, I was finding less time for modelling, and it was like a tip of the scales one day where I just thought, something has to give. Modelling was a dream I pursued for a long time and got to fulfil so many goals through it. It gave me some incredible opportunities that I’ll forever be grateful that I got to experience, and through it I met some of my best friends. I think there comes a time in many life chapters where as much as you’ve enjoyed it for a time, yourself, your life and your goals change so much that you know that it’s time to move on.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make but if I’m honest I felt relieved once I’d plucked up the courage and decided to make it final. I no longer had to keep wasting anyones time when I wasn’t available for castings and modelling jobs, or try to juggle it all as my workload outside of modelling was increasing…and I instantly felt free to put 100% into my creative work, which is what I feel most passionate about.

A big Tick off The List

In March I decided it was time to finally start having driving lessons. It’s something I’d put off for years and I’d never really been that interested in driving in the past. Only when it felt like it would be really beneficial (like when I’d get booked on a modelling job in the middle of the country side), did I really wish I could drive. This year I made a personal list of things I’d like to achieve and one of those was to finally learn how to drive. I still don’t particularly need to be able to drive, however I finally felt ready to take on lessons and had the mindset that I wanted to get it done and pass!

I’ll be honest, I didn’t love driving lessons. I had an amazing instructor who was very patient and such a good teacher but I still found myself feeling incredibly anxious before every lesson. Sometimes I’d actually be filled with dread the night before a lesson and although I knew I was being irrational, I just couldn’t help but worry about having to get into the car. It’s funny because as soon as I’d be in the car and driving about on my lesson, (aside from the obvious minor nerves) I felt fine, yet still it was like a cycle and before the next lesson I’d be feeling anxious all over again.

I can’t say it was easy breezy for me, and so I did have to work at it. When it finally came to the date of my test I knew deep down I could do it but I was worried that my nerves would get in the way. It was a surprise to me that I passed first time, so much so, that I burst out crying as soon my test examiner said the words ‘you’ve passed’. Not the usual reaction I’m sure, but I was just so overwhelmed and I couldn’t believe it was over. Thank goodness I don’t have to do that again, that’s all I can say.

To add to it, two days later Damien and I went to pick up our new car and that afternoon I drove it on the road for the first time as a newly passed driver. It still feels quite strange that I can now say I can drive and that there’s a car on the drive that I’m actually legal to drive about in.

New Hair, Who This

I got box braids for the first time. This might not seem like the biggest thing ever but for someone who has had near enough the same hair style for the past 6 years this is quite the change. Obviously box braids aren’t forever and my afro is sitting tight, having a much welcomed rest whilst in these plaits, but I’m seriously loving this style more than I expected. It’s just nice not having to worry about doing my hair, which I now realise is actually so time consuming. I feel very me with this style, which is strange because I didn’t think anything could feel more ‘me’ than my afro. But it’s nice to have a change once in a while and settle in to something new. I’ll actually be sad when it comes time to take them out but this is a hairstyle I will be returning to for sure.

A Long Overdue Girl’s Holiday

I love girl time and girls holidays are my fave. I went to my friend’s villa in Spain and had such a fun four nights away. We laughed, we drank, we ate, we chatted, we even made up a dance routine and it was just what I needed. Sunshine, sangria and girl time.

Exciting Collaborations

Although this month has been my month for going on holiday, it’s ironically been one of my busiest work months. Out of office unfortunately doesn’t always mean much when you’re self employed and as much as I tried to step away from the work load, it’s hard to completely switch off from it when important emails need to be answered and content needs to be shot.

Luckily I really enjoy the creative process and shooting (can’t say the same for emails), so I didn’t mind taking some time out of one of my holidays to shoot some collaborations, but it has all been rather non-stop. I’m definitely not complaining though as I’ve got to work with some of my favourite brands during June and one of my biggest blogger collaborations so far, that I shot with Oasis, went live at the end of the month too. I’m feeling incredibly grateful for the opportunities that have been coming my way and June was a month of seeing some of my hard work paying off.

First Time a Bridesmaid

I’ll end on the most prominent part of June (although it’s hard to decipher what’s been most prominent during this crazy month)…but my trip to America was definitely a highlight. Damien and I went over for my friend’s wedding and it was my first time not only being a bridesmaid, but a maid of honour too! I felt so honoured (pardon my pun) to be a part of our friend’s special day, I think I’m as excited to see the wedding photos as the happy couple are!

The trip overall was so much fun. The wedding was in Oregon city, just outside of Portland and Damien and I flew to San Francisco for four nights, then to Portland for four nights for the wedding. We then flew from Portland to San Fran for one last night, before returning home. I plan on chatting much more about our San Fran and Portland trip in a separate blog post but for now I’ll just say that we both had a brilliant time and it was great to be reunited with my friend and see her walk down the isle on her special day.

And that’s about it. It’s been a full on month. I feel like I’ve gone through a range of emotions and took on so many different experiences that my brain is only just starting to process everything properly now. June has been quite the stand out month for me and in more ways than one. It’s funny how it’s mid-way through the year too and it’s been quite the momentous half way point. It’s a prime example of how sometimes everything can come at once, and a lot of things have paved the way for the rest of my year to come.

Samio x

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July 10, 2018