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Many of us who have made trips to the US, have done so on a shoestring, finding the cheapest flights on offer and flying at silly o'clock in order to have more money to spend once we get across the pond. Then we've slept on a friend's sofa, taking them for dinner or drinks to say thanks because it was so much cheaper than a hotel, amirite? (Thanks again guys, you know who you are).
The thing is, travelling to America on the cheap so you've got more money to party with is great – so great you might end up with a tattoo to prove it – but spending a bit of money on yourself and your holiday, especially in a place like Southern California is a different experience altogether.
It means having a hotel room to yourself and being able to sleep when you feel like it, splashing out on a high-end restaurant instead of eating tacos from beach shacks everyday, and travelling to do a little wine tasting rather than drinking out of red paper cups at night.
When you're not sleeping off a hangover during the day there's more time to take a long hike through one of the canyons and appreciate the expansive green landscape where you'll barely see another soul. Or you can join in with the surf culture, which, for the uninitiated, is best explored on calm water instead of the sea, and you can try out paddle-boarding.
Think less the teen angst and the California party culture we lived for while watching The OC (long live Sandy's eyebrows), and more the laid-back, well-deserved self-indulgence that comes with holidaying like a grown up. Ahead are five tips on how to travel around the Golden State in style...
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