LA on a Shoestring: My Budget Student's Tale

just got back from la and my feet are still complaining. it's one of those cities that slaps you awake at 6 am and keeps you buzzing till 3 am. as a budget student, i had to get crafty with my cash, so here's the unfiltered lowdown.

the weather's currently doing that thing where it's 6 degrees with humidity that feels like breathing through a wet blanket. pack layers unless you enjoy shivering while pretending you're not cold. i learned this the hard way at Griffith Observatory when my hoodie doubled as a pillow for a pigeon.

wandered through silver lake for days and found this *vintage bookstore that smelled like old paper and regret. the owner gave me free coffee because i looked "desperately broke." turns out he was right. also discovered a taco truck that charged $3 for breakfast burritos - basically liquid gold when you're living off ramen.

when you've had enough of the city buzz, neighboring spots like santa monica and pasadena are within driving distance. but gas costs more than my dignity, so i stuck to the metro. which brings me to this gem: someone told me that the metro runs on pure magic and broken promises. true. it took me 90 minutes to go 5 miles once.

heard the wildest gossip at a dive bar in koreatown: apparently the magic castle* has secret elevators and serves finger food to ghosts. also, some drunk local warned me that the Venice Boardwalk is just "circus people on vacation." they weren't wrong about the clowns.

for free fun, hit up the losangeles.craigslist.org - found a free yoga session in a park that was actually people watching other people do yoga. meta. also checked yelp for cheap eats and found this Ethiopian place that charged $10 for a feast. best decision since deciding against buying that $8 avocado toast.

if you're broke like me, skip the fancy stuff. the real la smells like stale coffee and broken dreams - and it's beautiful.