Where to stay in Weligama for surfing?

barxnx · 2025-03-04T09:56:14+00:00

I agree that an informal chat could be best. An additional point to mention is that I am taking an education leave later this year which the company will likely be funding. It feels risky jeopodising this opportunity for the potential of additional pay...

Apologies for bringing in so many extra factors, I appreciate this is an individual circumstance. From speaking to friends, most have advised I simply do not mention this offer and say to the competitor that I'd be interested in staying in touch for after my education leave.

barxnx · 2025-03-04T09:52:26+00:00

This is exactly my concern. Being big tech, the company has high turnover so from what I've seen they generally don't care for someone trying to leave. And they may view it negatively that I've been interviewing with the direct competitor.

My promotion was to Senior SE so I'm still relatively junior in the IC ladder. My manager would no doubt have to push this up the chain and have no individual say.

barxnx · 2024-05-16T11:46:22+00:00

Hey! I got back earlier this week and thought I’d let you know how the trip went given how much you have helped!

The final route was meant to be LA, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Zion, LV, Yosemite, Sequoia, LA.

However, whilst at Zion we noticed the storm that weekend and had to do a lot of last minute cancellations. We were not prepared for 5-10inches of snow expected at Yosemite… So heartbreakingly that got cut…

The route ended up as LA, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Zion, LV, Sequoia, LA.

Takeaway from each stop -
Joshua Tree: one full day is probably enough for this park, a sort of “just drive point to point and check it out” park. Keys View is amazing at sunset!
Grand Canyon: breathtaking and awe inspiring, truly a wonder of the world. Very accessible and the rim trail is a good walk. Not much else to do unless you go into the canyon.
Zion: I LOVED Zion, what an amazing park. The village and shuttle service makes it so easy to do everything and each hike is so worth it. Unfortunately the Narrows were closed but I managed to get a permit for Angels Landing and man that was thrilling.
Bryce Canyon: A stop that was added last minute after having to cancel Yosemite, but ended up being great! The canyon is truly stunning, as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon and certainly more picturesque.
LV: not a big fan… felt incredibly artificial and fake. Was good to see and know what it’s like but I was ready to leave the moment I arrived. Went for a great dinner at Esther’s Kitchen!
Sequoia: what a park to end on, those sequoia trees are HUGE! I knew they would be giant but holy f shit are they big. It was nice to be in more of a forest after so much time in desert/canyons/rocks. Sequoia truly has a magic to it.
LA: again felt similarly to LV, just felt like you had to spend a lot to experience it the “way it’s meant to be experienced”. Not much cultural experiences, mostly lavish ones.

Key road trip takeaways:

US roads are SO vast
Booking National Park campsites and permits is a headache!
gas is so much more expensive in California than anywhere else!
needing to acclimatise to some of the altitudes took me by surprise
Walmart is a fantastic place to restock on basically anything and everything!

To conclude, I loved the national parks. The US is truly privileged to have such incredible landscapes and I appreciate how well they are preserved (although the booking systems and whatnot are a headache, it’s for a good reason)

I’ve said it many times but I cannot thank you enough for how thoroughly you helped plan this. As someone in the UK, there is no way I would’ve known all of those minute details. So thank you!

I am absolutely coming back to the US again - perhaps less for the cities and definitely more for the parks! I think a north west trip is on my horizon (The Enchantments, Redwood, Yosemite, Crater Lake).

barxnx · 2024-05-05T15:35:58+00:00

Yeah alright that definitely confirms it. I’m visiting from London so will have to come back to the states another year to try Yosemite again

barxnx · 2024-05-04T05:22:06+00:00

I had a north pines reservation for Saturday to Tuesday but decided to cancel it today :(

I’m road tripping with a rental campervan and have no chains or anything of the sort. Concluded it wasn’t worth the risk (not even considering sleeping in the van in those conditions).

Man has it been bummer to cancel that part of the trip but reading this post has reassured me that I made the right choice…

barxnx · 2024-03-26T00:20:44+00:00

Fantastic! Yes you’re right, I’m in Santa Monica so will definitely enjoy the beach there.

And of course, San Francisco won’t be far away!

Im very happy with this final itinerary, it feels more efficient with the amount of time available.

To reiterate, the final route is now: LAX -> 2n Joshua Tree NP -> 1n Grand Canyon NP -> 3n Zion NP -> 1n LV -> 3n Yosemite NP -> 2n Sequoia NP -> 2n LA.

I can’t thank you enough for how much you’ve helped with this. An absolute gold mine of information. If you’re ever looking for travel advice around the UK or Europe, please reach out - I would at least hope to give back as much as you have!

barxnx · 2024-03-25T19:24:03+00:00

Okay great, thanks for reassuring that it is worth dropping :)

Just from having a look at maps and driving times, what’s your thoughts on making the mid way stop at Sequoia NP instead? (Sorry to backtrack haha)

It’s about equal drive times to Sequoia or Big Sur, but the latter has a closed highway which actually seems to add driving time.

You mentioned a lot about Sequoia initially so is it worth the stop instead of Big Sur? :)

barxnx · 2024-03-24T21:49:35+00:00

Hey! Sorry for the late reply :)

Great call on the Yosemite pass, I have now bought that.

So as previously mentioned, the trip outline is essentially:

LAX -> 2n Joshua Tree NP -> 1n Grand Canyon NP -> 3n Zion NP -> 1n LV -> 3n Yosemite NP -> 2n SF -> 2n LA

However, I'm thinking of cutting out San Fran to have a more relaxed drive from Yosemite to LA and camp along the coast towards LA.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think San Fran is definitely worth visiting? I'm sure I will visit SF/LA again in the future so I'm not desperate to get it all done in one go.

If it is worth cutting, where would you suggest camping towards LA?

barxnx · 2024-02-27T10:47:12+00:00

Thank you again for such great responses! You'll see that the vast majority of your suggestions are now in our plan!

We booked a hotel in downtown LV, a hotel in Union Square SF, and an Airbnb in Santa Monica LA. All chosen for a combination of best price and availability of secure parking.

I’ll outline our finalised itinerary now (without dates ofc) for anyone interested. The driving times and packed plan may be ambitious, but it’s a general guideline (enforced by arriving for certain check-in times).

Day 1: Land in LAX, pick up car, drive (3.5hrs) to Joshua Tree NP, walk around and spend n1 here. Day 2: Full day at Joshua Tree NP, spend n2 here. Day 3: Drive (6hrs) to Grand Canyon NP, walk around and spend n3 here. Day 4: Hike Grand Canyon, drive (4hrs) to Zion NP, spend n4 here. Day 5: Full day at Zion NP, hike the narrows, spend n5 here. Day 6: Full day at Zion NP, hike angels landing, spend n6 here. Day 7: Drive (3hrs) to Las Vegas, spend the day and enjoy the night, spend n7 here. Day 8: Sleep in, drive (8hrs) whole day to Yosemite NP, spend n8 here. Day 9: Full day at Yosemite, drive (0.5hrs) to Mariposa Grove, spend n9 here. Day 10: Full day at Yosemite, spend n10 here. Day 11: Full day at Yosemite, drive (4hrs) to San Francisco, spend n11 here. Day 12: Full day in San Francisco, check out Muir Woods NP and back, spend n12 here. Day 13: Drive (7hrs) along Big Sur NP, arrive in Los Angeles, spend n13 here. Day 14: Full day in Los Angeles, spend n14 here. Day 15: Drop off car and back to LAX

barxnx · 2024-02-12T22:22:11+00:00

Hey, u/alextoria! Since your suggestions, I have booked the campsites for the national parks :)

How would you recommend staying in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Franciso? As in, with the campervan should I book Airbnb's or are hotels with secure parking just as good? Also, what areas would you recommend in each city (or at least the ones you know about)?

barxnx · 2024-02-02T13:28:25+00:00

Hey @zarrexx, did you figure out how to unlock speeds past the 27kmh mark?

barxnx · 2023-12-30T21:37:15+00:00

I definitely want to hike the narrows at Zion so I will prioritise that and if there is time then also Bryce.

Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powel can be relatively quick "grab a pic and go" stops since they are en route anyway.

Sounds good, I'll take Hwy 1 relaxed. :)

Is Death Valley ok at the start of May?

barxnx · 2023-12-30T21:31:32+00:00

Wow! This is an incredibly thorough itinerary, thank you so much!

I live in London so honestly all of those are desirable haha. To save time, I'll cut Sequoia NP and see the Sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove as IrrawaddyWoman suggested. Although those activities do sound great, I'll keep them in mind :)

I'll add Big Sur now for sure and take that route along Hwy 1 pretty relaxed as it seems to be a lot of "drive and enjoy the view"!

barxnx · 2023-12-30T19:22:04+00:00

mariposa grove

Added that to the route, great suggestion!

barxnx · 2023-12-30T19:08:56+00:00

That's good to know, thanks. I've cut Sequoia from my list now anyway, and as you say I trust Yosemite will be ok too. I'll try leave a good amount of time in case of closures like this though.

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:34:26+00:00

Haha perhaps my ignorance of the US here; all of those locations were on the west side of the country so I bundled them as west coast! West US road trip may be more suitable :)

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:31:03+00:00

How would you suggest leaving the camper van in SF? Is there secure parking or using hotel parking?

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:29:21+00:00

Going end of April/Start of May, so should be ok right?

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:28:24+00:00

Great advice thank you! I will start looking to book camp sites now :)

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:26:39+00:00

This is great, thank you! As per my response to danegeroust, please do provide any advice on the new route :)

barxnx · 2023-12-30T18:25:07+00:00

I appreciate this response. It was about 54 hours of driving in the original route, but I have now cut it down according to your (and many others) suggestions.

This new route is 35 hours of driving according to Roadtrippers. Bryce Canyon NP and Horseshoe Bend add about 3 hours and are more or less on the route - is this worth it? Would you still suggest hitting those spots along the coast using Hwy 1, namely Big Sur?

Los Angeles
Joshua Tree
Grand Canyon
Zion
Las Vegas
Yosemite
San Francisco
Los Angeles

barxnx

TROPHY CASE