Eat Bike Explore

​Welcome to Eat Bike Explore! The blogs on this site is a combination of my experiences traveling, as well as my opinions on public transportation, airports, credit cards points, hotels and food!   

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A Little About Me

In late 2000, I moved from the suburbs of Orange County, California to the City of Los Angeles. Although the two places are only about 1 hour away, depending on where you are, the two places could not be more different.

 

Living in Los Angeles

When I first moved to the City of Los Angeles, I lived in the Miracle Mile neighborhood. I was on the 11th floor of an apartment tower with an amazing view of Downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign. 

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​Living in Miracle Mile helped me, for the first time appreciate being in a walkable neighborhood and the plethora of local shops, cafes and bars in the area. My appreciation for walkable neighborhoods soon led me to wonder how many places I can get to without a car (which also means less money towards gas and maintenance).

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The first time I got back on a bicycle as an adult was when my employer at that time charged me for parking. I thought it was ridiculous I had to pay for parking. So, I was encouraged by a friend to ride my bike to work. I didn't have a bike at that time, so I had to purchase one. Once I started to ride, I realized there are so many places I could easily get to by bike. The only issue was safety. Most places do not make biking safe. This made me realize how much I valued urban designs that put people before cars. My view of Los Angeles was changing again. First, it was my appreciation for walkable neighborhoods. Now, it was my frustration that riding a bike, or taking public transit, was such a challenge in the city. This also fueled my desire to visit other cities that were further ahead in active transportation (walk, bike, public transit). 

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2023

In July 2023, I sold my car and moved from Los Angeles to Portland, OR. In hindsight, Los Angeles was a jumping off point for me. I am excited to be in the Pacific Northwest and looking forward to exploring more of Portland, mostly by bike.

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International Travel

Around 2015, I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although I've been international before, this was the first time I traveled with an urbanist lens on how I viewed cities. How walkable, bikeable and transit friendly is the city? My values changed as I became more invested in cities focused on peoples' quality of life over the status quo of building car-dependent surburban sprawl. I now mostly focus on traveling with public transit, biking and walking as a focal point. 

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                                                                                                       "Be a traveler, not a tourist"