![that same beat-up convertible, melted ice cream, seagull stealing my damn Cheetos, you know the one]](https://worldtraveltalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/3-2-1068x610.png "that same beat-up convertible, melted ice cream, seagull stealing my damn Cheetos, you know the one]")
It’s 2:13 a.m. bad bunny is blasting through the wall again. whatever these weekend trips from LA under $300 are my therapy. i’ve done them all. some twice. one while crying.
why i keep doing weekend trips from LA under $300 even though i’m bad at adulting
Rent went up again and therapy is expensive, next question
1. joshua tree (obviously)
$58 gas (filled up in LA like an idiot). airbnb split four ways. still have cactus in my butt from 2023. no regrets.
2. big bear but make it depressing on Weekend
Went in april. it snowed. civic died. chad pushed me out of a ditch. cup noodles for dinner. 10/10.
3. ojai because i wanted to “find myself”
$46 on pixie tangerines. cried in a $5 meditation garden because a bee scared me. host left passive-aggressive recycling notes. very chill.
4. san diego on the struggle bus
flixbus $29. couch surfed. spilled a $14 michelada on myself at petco park. smelled like baja blast the whole way home.
5. palm springs motel roulette
$89 motel that definitely had bedbugs. pool was green. candy (retired stripper) gave me life advice and half a joint. legend.
6. tijuana (yes i’m that friend)
walked across with $80 in my bra. $4 cactus tattoo now looks like a green bean. someone stole my left shoe. best weekend ever.
7. solvang because i’m danish on my mom’s side or Weekend Trips
ate too many aebleskivers. threw up behind a windmill. stole a ceramic rooster from the airbnb. sorry karen.
8. malibu camping (never again)
$35 campsite, raccoons unionized and held my cheetos hostage till 4am. Woke up with a squirrel in my sleeping bag. romantic as hell actually.
9. idyllwild, my emotional support mountain town
Cabin with hot tub $260 split three ways. saw a deer and whispered “same” because we both looked tired. spent $28 on coffee and $12 on a rock that “has energy.” i hate myself.
10. channel islands
$10 ferry wait no it was $62 because i can’t read calendars. packed a peanut butter sandwich that got warm and weird. saw a fox and cried because it was living better than me. came back covered in guano and happiness.
look none of these weekend trips from LA under $300 were instagram perfect. my car still smells like tijuana mariscos. i lost three water bottles, two left shoes, and whatever was left of my dignity. but i also laughed until i snorted in the desert, made out with a park ranger (allegedly), and watched sunrises that made me text my mom “i’m okay actually.”
