When I moved from San Francisco to New York, I realized that I never truly appreciated San Francisco for its amazing access to coastal escapes and inland parks. There are so gorgeous many possibilities for day-trips from San Francisco, and all of them have different flavor of activities to offer.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, a lot of my friends are heading out to San Francisco for vacation. Even if you’ve only got a long weekend in San Francisco, I highly recommend driving out to the coast or the wine region for a taste of what locals like to do do on the weekends. Here are my 10 favorite day-trips from San Francisco. 

All photo from Death to Stock Photo - they are a unique startup that offers rich imagery for brands. (And they didn't pay me to write that)


Pacifica
A laidback beach town with great hikes and surfs, Pacifica is a hidden gem just 20-minutes away from San Francisco. If you find yourself there, make sure to hike Mori Point, and walk the Pacifica vintage Pier, and then, of course, hike down to the Pacific State Beach. Surfers will want to check out the NorCal Surf Shop where beginners can rent equipment.

Muir Woods
12 miles north of San Francisco is the Muir Woods National Monument, a National Park that’s part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There’s plenty of hikes in the old growth of redwoods. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon getting lost under canopy of redwoods.

Point Reyes & Tomales Bay
One hour outside of the city is stunning Point Reyes. I’d first heard about Point Reyes because a colleague had gotten married there, and one look at the Point Reyes lighthouse and you’ll know why it’s the perfect backdrop for holy matrimony. Once again, there are plenty of hikes to be had but make sure to also stop by the many diary farms and Tomales Bay Oyster Company, very famous with SF locals for its shellfish.

Monterey and Carmel
Head down south along the coast and you’ll find yourself at Monterey Bay. Once there, you can take the scenic 17-mile drive along the coast and see the quaint town of Carmel-by-the-sea. There’s a lot of boutique shops and galleries in town, and you’re never far from white sandy beaches.

Sausalito 
The best way to get to Sausalito is actually to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. This town across the bridge has plenty to offer in terms of shopping and dining. Once there, wonder the art galleries and shops around Caledonia street, and browse Heath Ceramics factory store. To get back to San Francisco, you can take a ferry that goes back to Fishermen’s Wharf - this is a very popular option for tourists.



Berkeley
Sometimes I think East Bay doesn’t get enough love. Berkeley, home to the University, is actually a great place for the gourmet tourist. When I was living in San Francisco, my jaunts to Berkeley were all for the purpose of food. Must visit places to eat include The Cheese Collective and Love at First Bite Bakery. Of course, you really can’t go wrong with Asian cuisine in Berkeley either.

Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay is always first on my list when I want to take a day trip out of San Francisco. The stretch of beach there is just beautiful and there’s plenty of things to do from hiking to horseback riding. I love to stay at little Bed & Breakfasts along the coast so I can go for a run by the water first thing in the morning.

Napa Valley
For something different from hiking and the beach, you can’t miss Napa Valley. The famous wine region of North California is home to a plethora of wineries offering tastings and tours. My favorite winery is Castello di Amorosa, an authentically-built 13th century tuscan castle and winery.

Sonoma Valley
I think SF locals actually prefer to go to Sonoma Valley for their wine-tasting jaunts. Sonoma is also a major wine-producing region north of San Francisco, with beautiful rolling hills and valleys. Although Sonoma has less offerings in terms of spas and fancy limo treatments, Sonoma is preferred by locals since the area is far less crowded.

Big Sur
Last but certainly not least, my favorite getaway of all - Big Sur. Big Sur is a whopping 85 miles of stunning twists and turns along the coast. It’s a rugged stretch of the Californian coast line, and home to the oft-Instagrammed Bixby Bridge. Really do take your time in Big Sur, although you don't necessarily have to stay there overnight, don't be in a hurry to rush out either - the beauty is really in being in the area and taking the opportunity to enjoy the California lifestyle.

PS: Once again, all photos are Death to Stock Photo - a wonderful stock photo subscription service showed us what to do in Nashville not too long ago. 

My mantra in life is to live for experiences, not things. I moved around a lot growing up and after a while, it felt a little insensible to own a lot of things as it just made moving a lot more work. I think those childhood experiences very much set the foundation for my minimalistic lifestyle. I’m very good at limiting my shopping, but like kyrptonite to superman, I have one weakness - gadgets. I’m constantly looking at photography-related toys, lo and behold, here is the camera gear I’m checking out this month.

• Sony Alpha a7 II Mirrorless
• Moment Wide Angle Lens
• Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Lens
• Lo & Sons The Claremont
• Langly Decoy
• ONA Bags The Clarendon
• Gorilla pod Focus Camera Tripod
• Fuji film Instax Mini 7s White Film Camera
• Herringbone Heritage Leather Camera Hand Grip

I'm guilty of spending hours on the Internet searching for beautiful images, lusting after destinations near and far. In particular, I love checking out food and interiors, and getting to know a place from a design-centric perspective. And as a result, I probably spend more time than I should curating my subscription list on Feedly based on these travel niches. Here are the food and design-centric travel photography blog I’m loving this month:

Photo by Nicole Franzen

La Buena Vida
Nicole Franzen’s blog, La Buena Vida, was one of the first travel photography blogs I discovered when my interest in travel shifted toward food and design. A professional photographer whose work has an almost documentary influence, La Buena Vida is simply a great source of restaurant and hotel inspiration.

Photo by Alice Gao

Lingered Upon
Alice Gao’s photographic style has a recognizable chic elegance. The online diary of a travel and still-life photographer, Lingered Upon is a collection of fashion, food, and travel stories that Alice stumbles upon in her personal and professional life. Lingered Upon has inspired me to branch outside of my travel repertoire on Just-in-Time and expand into the realm of lifestyle as the curiosity for travel is, more than anything else, a way of life.

Photo from Paris in Four Months

Paris in Four Months
Anyone who follows travel photography blogs has probably heard of Paris in Four Months by Carin Olsson. The blog started as a travel diary for the Carin’s friends and family back home when she first moved from Stockholm to Paris. Now, it has become a destination for fashion and street photography. As a fashion photographer, Carin hasn’t lost sight of the blog’s beginnings as she continues to capture her travels around Europe.

Photo by Sivan Askayo

Sivan Askayo Blog
Sivan is a travel photographer and splits her time between Tel Aviv and New York. I’m so glad to call Sivan my friend and has enjoyed watching her career grow over the last few years. As her work has expanded, I’ve enjoyed seeing more food and interior work gloss her blog. In particular, I love seeing Tel Aviv through Sivan’s lens. She offers a local perspective of her stylish and contemporary hometown.

Photo from Farfelue

Farfelue
I stumbled upon Farfelue quite recently and immediately found myself drawn to the distinctive clean and minimalistic style of Faye’s work. With a focus on strong lines and architecture, Farfelue is the second Paris-based travel blog on this list, and captures the city of lights truly at its best.

Urban Pixxels
Urban Pixxels is another blog I discovered rather recently. Jacintha, the talent behind this London-based photography blog, has me lusting after much of her travels with clean imagery of interiors and restaurants. In particular, I really enjoyed seeing Jacintha’s perspective on CitizenM NYC - a luxury boutique hotel in Manhattan where I found myself not too long ago.

Photo from Line x Shape x Colour

Line x Shape x Colour
I’m incredibly jealous of how much Gemma of Line x Shape x Colour gets to travel. An Australian textile designer and photographer, Gemma travels a lot for work and for leisure - her images from her jaunts around the globe has me hooked. My favorite images on Line x Shape x Colour are of Ethiopia. Having never been to Africa before, the images show a culture unlike anything I’ve seen in person and inspire me to keep traveling, to keep exploring.

I picked out my first pair of Warby Parker glasses a few years ago after learning about the startup from friends in the valley. Back then, I went through 2 home try-on’s (that’s 10 pair of glasses) before landing on a simple and classic Wilkie that has lasted me through the last 2 years - including a prescription change.

I wear my glasses quite often so I’m currently shopping for a second pair to be able to switch them up. Since I last shopped Warby Parker, they’ve added a lot of new styles to their line-up, which makes the home try-ons all the more fun. While I had these glasses with me for 5 days during the home try-on, I photographed them around the apartment to see which ones I liked best - both to wear and to style.

Warby Park's Home Try-On Experience
The home try-on experience is like guilt-free online shopping - you add a bunch of things to your cart and they ship it to you for free. The only kicker is you have to ship everything back in the packaging and order the actual glasses you want separately.

The tough part, for me at least, is always narrowing down the styles I want to try to just 5. I like to try on similar styles, or the same style in a few colors, until I narrow things down to the pair of glasses I want. The rest of the check out process is easy - must like any other checkout process on an e-commerce site. The glasses arrive in a week, and you get to play with them for 5 days until you have to send them back. The glasses that come in the home try-on box are all sample glasses, the lenses do not have any prescription. After you make your final selection and send the samples back, Warby Parker ships your glasses with the correct prescription. The whole thing is hassle-free, and the best part is that you get to have 5 pairs of glasses to play with for a week.

The 5 styles I'm currently trying at home are:

• Haskell in Crystal
• Laurel in Tea Rose Fade
• Burke in Sugar Maple
• Jennings in Whiskey Tortoise
• Bensen in Greystone

Fall is my favorite time to travel - the colors are changing and the air is crisp. I’m hoping to squeeze in a few short trips out of New York this fall, and these are the travel accessories I’m eyeing for my trip.

Friends with Benefits Headphones
A pair of stylish headphones is key for travel. This pair’s gold trimmings caught my eye immediately.

Denik ‘Hide Away’ Softcover Notebook
From trinkets to memories, travelers are collectors. Keep your travel memories in this sweet notebook.

State Bags Smith backpack
A good backpack is a must-have. You need something to take on flights and trains, or even day trips. State Bags have an awesome model - for every backpack sold, STATE bags gives a backpack stocked with school supplies to a child in need.

Marble iPhone Case
I’m crazy about all things marble this season, including this oh so stylish marble iPhone case.

Vince Camuto Square Jacquard Scarf
A big scarf is versatile accessory for fall travel - it can be a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket.

Pebble Time Round
This stylish time-piece is so much more than that: it’ll alert you to the weather and keep you updated with your train/flight/bus schedule.

David & Young Felt Fedora
I have always liked the idea of hats, but always been hesitant to making the purchase as I can’t imagine myself getting enough wear out of it. But this fall, I’m determined to get out of my style comfort zone and invest in a short brim fedora.

Kate Spade Leather Passport Holder
My passport is a wreck - I once dropped it in water and it’s been wrinkled ever since. To make things worse, the custom stamps I’ve been collecting all faded when it dried up. But you can keep your passport safe with the passport holder. Don’t be like me.

Dior 'So Real' Sunglasses
Sunglasses are a must in the fall - the leaves might be changing color but the sun is still out. Stay cool with these beautiful Dior sunglasses.

The 50mm f/1.4 lens was the first lens I purchased after my kit lens. A few years later, I got the 35mm f/1.4 lens - I have not looked back since. I rarely use the 50mm lens now since the 35mm f/1.4 has become my go to lens; if I could only take 1 lens with me to go out and shoot just about anything, it’s my 35mm lens. Needless to say, I think the 35mm f/1.4 lens is better for travel photography than the 50mm f/1.4 lens. I think the choice between the 50mm lens or the 35mm lens is a common question posed by photographers. Here’s why I prefer the 35mm lens for travel photography:



Focal Length
I’ve read that the 35mm is the closest focal length to the composition of the human eye, which is why when shooting with the 35mm lens the results are more realistic. Indeed, for me, the composition with the 35mm feels much more intuitive than the 50mm. When shooting with the 3mm, I move my body naturally without having to think too much about the focal length of the camera. The intuitive feel of the focal length is really important when I’m photographing on a trip, as I’m always browsing and chatting as I am shooting.

Composition
The focal length leads, naturally, to composition. I find the 35mm much easier to compose with as the wider lens allows more context for me to work with. In travel photography, so much is said in the context and background to the subject. I don’t have to worry about losing that when shooting with the 35mm lens.

Depth of Field
It’s true that the 50mm have a larger depth of field, but given the amazing layers of context I’m constantly trying to capture when traveling, this depth makes it harder for the 50mm lens to focus on my subject when I’m using a large aperture, as compared to the 35mm lens. Similarly, if there are several layers of background to my subject, it’s easier to capture sharpness on all planes on the 35mm lens than the 50mm lens.

Distance to subject
This one is sort of a double edged sword - as I explain below. But the reason I like the distance to subject the 35mm lens provides me is that I can shoot the subject at the distance I’m usually standing at when talking to them and observing them nearby. When shooting with the 50mm, I find that I often have to take one or steps back in order to create the same composition.

This wouldn’t be a fair comparison without addressing the downsides of the 35mm as compared to the 50mm. For me, all these are worth it in order to reap the benefit of the images the 35mm produces.

Downside: weight
My 35mm is heavier than my 50mm. The 35mm f/1.4 comes in at 21.2 oz (601g). It’s a little bulky when compared to the 50mm f/1.4 which comes in at just under 10 oz (281g). Again, this is a tradeoff I can live with, especially since I’m quite content just carrying 1 lens around.

Downside: Price
You can pick up the 35mm f/1.4 for $1,696.95, the 50mm f/1.4, on the other hand, costs only $426.95. The 35mm lens comes at a hefty price point, no doubt. At this point, I have to admit I received the 35mm lens as a present from Alex, after I’d saved up my pennies to purchase the 50mm - my first lens purchase after buying my camera body. If you’re saving up for one lens, then I would still recommend the 35mm, but if the price point is a deterrence, then go for the 50mm and with the money leftover, you can probably put your savings toward some other nice camera gear.

Downside: distance to subject
Although I mention the distance to subject as reason for why I prefer the 35mm over the 50mm, I can easily see how some might find this to be a disadvantage of the 35mm. In essence, the 50mm lens allows you to shoot your subject from slightly further away (about 1-2 steps). For the shy photographer, or just those new to street photography and not yet confident approaching their subject, the distance might provide some comfort and still allow you to capture the shot you want. Although I think practicing and working up the courage to actually work with and get close to the subject is important, I concede that the 50mm might be easier to begin with for this reason.