India, April 15 -- Despite my 40-plus years of living in California, I have yet to tire of city romps and off-the-beaten-path adventures in the Golden State. Even as a younger person, I knew a good thing when I had it - to live here is to have enviable access to some of Earth's most spectacular places. In fact, the state's wildly diverse geographies are part of the reason why the film industry moved to Southern California at the turn of the last century.

I didn't really leave California (or the country) until college. A proud book nerd, I registered for a Shakespeare-focused study abroad program that let me read and watch plays in England for four weeks. Budget sprees in Italy, Ireland, and France soon followed. It wasn't a luxe Europea...