Are there things that you have always wanted to experience or do for as long as you could remember? Something that may seem a bit trivial to others but that somehow sounds amazing to you? Well, roller-skating on Venice beach in Los Angeles is exactly this for me.
Ever since I was a young teenager I had this idea in my head of how fantastic it would be to roller-skate in Los Angeles. And it is probably the first thing I put on my all-time bucket list, the first time that I thought “I really want to do this at least once in my life”.
Why is that? Well, honestly I don’t know and I can’t remember. If I had to guess now I would say that it has probably something to do with video clips watched on MTV and the Red Hot Chili Peppers songs that I had just discovered. Also, the idea of roaming around freely by the beach, under the warm sun, in a place where everyone could do what they wanted really spoke to me in a way.
Maybe that’s exactly what the American dream is all about, and while I wasn’t dreaming of Hollywood and big movie stars, I certainly dreamt about the laid-back and chill vibe of Santa Monica and Venice.
That’s why, when the opportunity presented itself to go to Los Angeles last year, I knew that I absolutely had to go to Venice and roller skate there and finally tick off this item that had been on my bucket list for so long.
Crossing something off my bucket list
In my teenager mind, I would go to Venice, roller skate with some music blasting from my Walkman, while wearing a yellow swimsuit and jean shorts. I know, this is very specific and honestly I have no idea why I had this idea in mind ahah 😄
Now, almost 15 years later, I obviously don’t have a Walkman anymore and definitely felt too self-conscious to roller-skate in a bikini, on top of the fact that I’m far from being a confident skater… but I wouldn’t let this stop me from ticking this off my all-time bucket list!
So, on my birthday, I put on jean shorts and a Gilmore-Girls-inspired t-shirt in place of a yellow bikini, and me and my boyfriend headed to Venice, that we had seen a few days before, and found a place that rented skates for me and skateboards for him – it was surprisingly hard to find!
With my cute skates on and massive kneepads just in case – spoiler: they did serve their purpose very well – I took my first hesitant steps on the sidewalk and bike path, holding on to my boyfriend’s arm until I felt comfortable enough to skate on my own, and off we went along Venice beach!
While the picture I had in my head of Venice and Santa Monica was very different from reality, I absolutely loved every part of this experience: cruising along the beach, passing by palm trees, listening to the music playing on the background and feeling the warm Californian sun on my skin.
Ecstatic that I could finally make this long-awaited dream a reality, I took it in as much as possible, noticing everything in my surroundings to have a clear memory of it. We stopped a few times to take pictures and remember this amazing moment, then with tired legs and smiles on our faces, we headed back to return the roller-skates and skateboard.
I feel so grateful and lucky that I was able to check this off my bucket list and make my teenager self happy in the process. It is definitely an amazing memory I will hold on to for my whole life!
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What about you? Is there something on your all-time bucket list that you can’t wait to experience?
Sunny Days with Juliette 
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