Cityscape Bliss // UK lifestyle blog based in Birmingham: 8 reasons why you should move to Orange County, CA, USA

Why I want you to read my '8 reasons why you should move to my city' series

💭 if this is the first time you've stumbled upon this series please read the above post first

Can you believe that this year we've already travelled to Prague, Orlando, Geelong & London? And no, I don't mean by plane (I wish!) - it's been through the amazing guest posts in the 'Why you should move to my city' series here on Cityscape Bliss. Today we're travelling to Orange County in California with the gorgeous Maddy from Aloha Madz! Maddy has such a sparkly personality and is a real sunshine in the blogging world - if you love reading about that beach life, sea & sun, lots of laughs and adventures then you'll fall in love with her blog (and her) within a few clicks (if not less)! Hope you enjoy reading about Maddy's home - Orange County it as much as I have!

WHY SHOULD YOU MOVE TO ORANGE COUNTY?
🇺🇸 Warm weather (almost) all year long
I’ll be honest - I hate cold weather. I hate wearing pants and I hate putting on layers of clothing just to go outside. The few times of year I venture to the snow, I bring my flip flops! I’m not kidding haha I think it’s safe to say my body is acclimated to Orange County weather, where our definition of ‘cold’ is a crisp 65 degrees. All this warm weather means more beach days, more fun and just generally more happy people!

🇺🇸 Beautiful beaches
Our warm weather makes for some pretty epic beach days here too. My personal favorite? Heading down to Laguna for some crystal clear water and sandy adventures. Sure it gets a little busy during the summer, but the weekdays are when I like to bake my buns. And it doesn’t stop there…Head up a little farther north and you’ll hit Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach - home of the US Open of Surfing. Each has its own special perks and secret spots so there’s a little something for everyone.

🇺🇸 Close, but not too close, to LA
While I love everything Los Angeles has to offer - from museums to movie studios - I really REALLY hate driving to and around LA. The traffic is bad, drivers don’t pay attention and it’s just an overall shit show. Lucky for us Orange County is juusssttt far enough away from LA that we don’t get that overflow of traffic. Yes, we still have our own, but it’s definitely not as bad. And we’re still close enough to drive up to LA for the day and explore it’s attractions without actually living there. Win win!

🇺🇸 Food, and a LOT of it
America gets a bad rap for it’s crazy huge proportions and giant, unhealthy burgers. But if there’s one thing we have a lot of in Orange County, it’s food. In the mood for Italian, Mexican, Thai, Greek, vegan or just an acai bowl? We’ve got you covered! I can honestly say I’ve eaten a burrito, pho and Mexican food all in the same day. And let me tell you it was delicious. #NoRegrets

🇺🇸 Living that Fit Life
Walk around your neighborhood for an hour and you’ll see people out enjoying their days skating, jogging, kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing and more. And doing it all with a green juice in their hand. Sometimes I feel guilty for even thinking about eating an ice cream haha it definitely makes it a lot easier to stay in shape though. There’s tons of group fitness classes, juice bars, recreational activities for everyone of all ages to enjoy here!

🇺🇸 Disneyland, duh
Need I say more? I’m always surprised when I see people walking around Disneyland with a “first visit” button pinned to their shirt. Then I realize most people don’t get to visit Disney twice a month with their annual pass. Guilty! You can never have too many churros or dole whips - sometimes I even do a solo trip to the Happiest Place on Earth and grab some photos and snacks on a lazy day. It can get quite expensive when you bring the whole family, but I promise you it’s worth it.

🇺🇸 Dope companies = dope jobs
Orange County is home to some of the coolest company headquarters around. Ever head of Billabong, Hurley or Quiksilver? Guess where they’re based…yup, Orange County! There’s no shortage of awesome companies to work for around here. I was lucky enough to intern for Quiksilver in college and it was by far the coolest internship I had. You’ll even see some of their surf and skate team members walking around the halls some days. Shaka brah!

🇺🇸 Beachfront everything
Want to go for drinks? Heading to the gym? Need to get some work done? All of these things can be done by the beach. Whether it’s The Bungalow in Huntington or Graviti Fitness in Corona Del Mar, you can find beachfront everything. I love heading down to my favorite breakfast joint by the water and getting some work done while soaking up some rays. What could be better than that?