Tourists, Natives, and Expats

Big Sur is an island. Disconnected from the world to the east by a sea of Ventana Mountains and to the west by the Pacific Ocean, we are only connected to the mainland by one long, lonely, gorgeous stretch of highway.

Like any great island, Big Sur is made up of an odd mix of natives, expats, and tourists.

The tourists come for obvious reasons. The people, the culture, the art. But, most of all, of course, the insane visual feast that is Big Sur.

The expats come here to abandon the rest of the world and all it's nonsense for a little space and beauty that makes sense. To embrace that spirit of freedom, contentment, and individuality that can't be found in the busyness of life. Nature in all her mudsliding, forest burning, rainstorming, 4 wheel-drive-needing power reigns supreme here, slowing us down, shaking us up, and inspiring our awe. We are, like moths to a flame, drawn to this raw, furious beauty and the people it has spawned.

The natives have always been here and know everything about everyone, every event, and every place in this wild stretch of coastland. You can always recognize a local. Without being able to truly peg the Big Sur vibe in a short paragraph with a few adjectives, one can still definitively say they have their own way about them. If there were one word to describe what makes a Big Sur native recognizable, however, it is "individual". There is a flowing, comfortable energy of contentment with oneself that just exudes from a true Big Surian. It's a beautiful sight.