“New year, new me” is such a common phrase that is thrown around easily as we ring in the new year. Along with this “new me” idea comes New Year’s resolutions. This year, I decided that my New Year’s resolution was going to be focused on self-growth and bettering myself. I wanted to be able to look back on my year and have pictures of some of my happiest moments, and why they made me happy. I recorded my first month working to achieve my New Year’s resolution of doing something every day to make me happy.

My happiest place is at the beach. So far in January, I have gone to the beach nearly every day, and have explored many new places along the California coast.

Driving out to the coast on a daily basis can be very time-consuming, especially when calculating the traffic that comes into play, as well as the time spent there, but overall, it is worth the time. Living in Redwood City, the drive over the hill to Half Moon Bay can be anywhere from twenty minutes to over an hour. For me, the amount of time is well worth it because of how happy driving alongside the ocean with the windows down and music blaring makes me feel.

In the past month, I have discovered wonderful places as a non-local in Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, and other cities along the coast.

Ross Cove Beach is just inside the well known Mavericks area in Half Moon Bay. Hiking from Airport Boulevard, up, around, down to the beach, and back totals exactly four miles, making it a good way to get a hike in with a reward at the end of the adventure.

Another place that I visited with my family was down in Santa Cruz. Moran Lake Beach was just outside of Capitola and seemed to be a good place to surf.

Finally, the last place that I spent a lot of time in was Pacifica. There, I got to go on a few hikes and picnics, where you could see the beach from higher ground, as well as walk along the state beach and down by the pier.

In accomplishing my goal of spending more time doing things that made me happy, I got to spend a lot of time on the beach. Getting out and away from the house can be hard especially with taking safety precautions in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but I am glad that I was able to achieve my goal in the first month of the new year.