No welcome sign hangs along the wall, nor is there much else to indicate the next country – just tiny Mexican shops trying to sell the last authentic tacos to anyone passing by. The border guards make you feel that warmth and hospitality are no longer free of charge here.
The land of endless opportunities definitely does not welcome us with open arms – at least not at the Mexico–US land border – yet they let us in at least. And so, we drive down the highway straight into the future, into the Golden State of California.
A look back, a look ahead
The sandy tracks widen, turning into tarmac and growing broader and broader. Entering San Diego on a ten-lane motorway is a massive contrast to the isolation of Baja California. We try to make sense of the present (or is it already the future?). To do so, we look out from the most expensive car park of the trip – which at least comes with an excellent view – at the oldest modern aircraft carrier, the USS Midway. At the exact same time that the largest aircraft carrier ever built, the USS Gerald Ford, is stationed in the Middle East, we are brushing up on where the whole thing actually began.
They certainly know how to do museums, the US-Americans; that is the realization of the day. The USS Midway impressively demonstrates the sheer military might this country already possessed at the end of the Second World War. Veterans who actually served on the ship when the average age of the soldiers on board was barely 19 recount how the days in the brightly lit yet gloomy lower deck felt never-ending. Only the privileged aviators ever saw the sun, right when the aircraft were catapulted into the air. Things probably aren’t much different for young soldiers at sea today.
In the evening, a never-ending shooting star illuminates the sky over San Diego. But the largest vapour trail we have ever seen is not of natural origin. It is a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is sending the next batch of Starlink satellites into orbit; just like every week, two 20-year-old night walkers explain to us. The very first day makes us realize: the tracks of the future are being laid here – whether we like it or not.
A human zoo and ghost train rides
Driving along immense motorways so wide that blue whales could comfortably sunbathe sideways across them, we head towards Los Angeles. And promptly mutate into a different kind of zoo visitor. We walk from Venice Beach along the famous boardwalk all the way to Santa Monica Pier.
A true urban adventure where you never stop marvelling: we watch skateboarders practising their balance and muscle-bound gym-goers heavily bracing for another repetition. Hippies with wild, overgrown hair and punks with hair so garish you’d think an exotic bird had lost its feathers. Sunworshippers wallowing on the beach like sea lions, and joggers practically steaming from the heat. Weaved between them are tourists fleeing from seagulls as if Hitchcock were directing the scene. With the sheer scale of this human zoo, we nearly miss the actual, stuffed giraffe standing in the middle of a two-storey gallery.
And us? Utterly fascinated, we navigate our way through the concrete jungle, almost like searching for snakes in a rainforest at night. What might be hiding around the next corner?
The journey back then turns into a genuine ghost train ride. Cora’s school friend, who grew up in LA, has organized everything: a quick hello via the app, the doors unlock, and we climb in. A silent intercom seems to whisper to us: “Make yourselves comfortable on the velvety soft leather seats of the Jaguar. Don’t forget to fasten your seatbelts.” The modern ghost, guided by sensors, radars, lidars, and cameras, accelerates and smoothly merges into the traffic.
The Waymo taxis are an absurd highlight. The creepy part isn’t how they drive – they drive shockingly correctly, defensively, and pleasantly. The truly spooky part is looking at the empty driver’s seat and seeing the steering wheel turn as if by magic. And yet, you get used to it far too quickly.
This sci-fi feeling fits perfectly with the colourful bustle around the Hollywood stars. On the Walk of Fame, we don’t stumble over any real celebrities due to the security presence, but it is a proper obstacle course dodging delivery robots rolling along the pavement like Wall-E.
Escaping to the General
In the evening, we are glad to be chauffeured home by a friend. Waiting for us there is the Chinese-Vietnamese mum with spring rolls – the best dinner we will have in the entire USA.
We are buzzing with new impressions of everything modernity has to offer. But after this high-tech world, we feel drawn right back to nature. We flee to where, for easily 2000 years, General Sherman has been watching over things to ensure everything is as it should be: to the giant sequoias in Sequoia National Park. It turns out we haven’t quite mutated into city people after all.