1. It's Not Just Beaches & Cities
I put this one first, as this is by far the most common misconception, and as a geographer, it is one that absolutely drives me nuts. To all those people who think every Californian owns beachfront property, grab a map and look at how wide California is. As a matter of fact, if you cross the California border in Nevada, it will take you at least another four hours, before you reach the coast. Our beaches and cities make up only a small portion of the state. Even so, a lot of our coastline is quite rugged and inaccessible. But aside from ocean, we also have mountains, forests, desert, prairie, lava fields, marshlands, volcanoes and alpine tundra. Basically any type of habitat you can imagine, aside from tropical rainforest. Have you heard of Death Valley? Yeah, that's in California. Oh, and we also have the world's smallest mountain range. And we're also the country's leading agricultural producer. In fact, there's a large area in the center of our state that's nothing but cities and farmland. The state is also home to some not so friendly wildlife, such as bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes. We also have some impressive historic sites, including ghost towns, petroglyphs and Spanish missions. Also, the weather on our coast is actually quite cold and crappy for most of the year, and the water is actually quite cold. So unless you're visiting San Diego, you might wanna pack more than a bathing suit and flip flops, which brings me to my next misconception.
2. YES, It Snows Here
I don't know if you people have ever heard of something called "The Mountains", but we have them in California. In fact we have the highest mountain in lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney. It's 14,500 ft. high and it's located in the Sierra Nevadas, and in the winter, it gets a TON of snow. In fact, so does Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, the Cascades, the Coast Range, the San Gabriel Mountains (those are near L.A.), and all the other mountains we have. In fact, some mountain roads get so much snow during the winter, that they become completely impassible. Have you heard of the Donner Party? Yeah, those guys were killed by the California winter. You'd figure though that people would know we have snow since we hosted the winter Olympics, and some of the world's top snow boarders train in California.
3. It's Not All Liberal Hippies
This is another one that really drives me nuts. Just because I'm from California, doesn't mean I voted for Hillary Clinton. Okay it's true, California has more Liberals than any other state in the country, but almost all of them live along that narrow stretch called "the coast." They also happened to make up the majority of the state's population, which is why Republican presidential candidates never bother campaigning in California. However, if you were to look at an election map, you will see that area wise, most of the state is actually red. Once you get away from the coastal counties, it's actually pretty conservative and "country", even in the cities that have high Latino populations.
4. Not Everyone Lives In Mansions
Okay, I kind of blame our entertainment industry for this one. Pretty much every movie or television show that's set in California is either set in San Francisco, or the most high end neighborhoods of Los Angeles. But the reality is, only a very tiny percentage of Californians actually live in mansions and gated communities. The majority of us live in small suburban homes like this one. Hell, even most of Los Angeles looks nothing like what you see on TV. Let's just say, "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" is not a good representation of California life. And speaking of the Kardashians.....
5. It's Not All Glitz & Glamour
This kind of goes along with the previous one. In addition to having the highest number of celebrities in the country, California also has the highest number of homeless people. Okay, unless you go to the East Bay or certain parts of Los Angeles, you most likely won't see large scale tent cities like this. However, you're bound to come across a some homeless people at some point during your visit. A lot of these are war veterans, but also mentally ill people or former drug addicts or criminals, who have been abandoned by society. Although most of them are harmless and only want food and work, some of them can be quite aggressive. But the homeless problem isn't only limited to poor communities. Many tech employees in Silicon Valley who earn six figure incomes, also sleep in their cars, due to the high cost of the Bay Area rent. In addition to a high population of homeless, the state is also home to numerous street gangs, including the notorious MS-13. Most of these gangs operate in Los Angeles and the East Bay. Although most tourists visit California safely without experiencing any crime, one should be extremely vigilant in major cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. The few instances where innocent tourists have been killed by street gangs, was because they were wearing a particular color and were mistaken for a rival gang member. It's best to research the local street gangs and avoid wearing certain colors in cities with high gang presence, But even Hollywood, which is a popular tourist destination is actually quite dangerous, and violent incidents have occurred even in broad daylight.
6. We Don't All Wear Expensive Clothing
This one was inspired by an Estonian tourist who said she went to a store in Las Vegas, and was shocked and terrified by how poorly dressed the people were. She was even afraid one of them would pull a gun on her. As ridiculous as I think it sounds now, when my family first moved to rural California, we were also terrified of the poorly dressed people we saw. First time in my life had we seen someone wearing slippers and pajamas out in public, even to school. After a while, we got used to the fact that this is simply how people dress here. It doesn't necessarily mean they're dangerous. This is another one of those things that's more prevalent in the rural counties. If you visit the major cities along the coast, you will see most the people dressed as elegantly as you see on television. But don't expect all Californians to have good fashion sense. And take my word for it, not all California girls are hot.
7. We're Not All Friendly & Laid Back
This is probably the one that surprises people the most. Californians usually have a reputation for being very friendly and hospitable people, but having lived here for 20 years, I have to say this isn't really the case. They are friendly in the sense that, they LOVE to talk. If you ask them something or sit next to them on the bus, they will most likely strike up a conversation with you. Well, maybe not so much in Los Angeles. However, when it comes to friendship, Californians treat friends like police, they only call you when they need you. And when they get bored of you, they'll find other friends. And just because someone is friendly, that doesn't mean they want to be your friend. If you still don't believe me that Californians are rude, Google "Malibu Surf Gangs." Those assholes will throw rocks at you, for surfing "their waves."
BONUS FACT: A true Californian will never called their state "Cali"
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