I love California, I love Ventura, California has been my home for over 34 years. Originally, I am from Virginia, but I lived in a number of spots on the East Coast: Atlantic City -the first summer they opened a casino, Alexandria, VA, then Westchester, NY. I love to travel, meet new people and explore their cultures. As a child my family always took local vacations, but as an adult I took my first international trip to Montreal for the Olympics with my brother and his college roommate. I wish we had Airbnb then. Luck favored us when we found a local family that rented us their bedroom. They spoke French, and did not know much English. I spoke very little French, so we sat down with an English/French dictionary and talked most of the night. A few years later, I was working with a fellow that asked me to take something to his family in Peru while I was on vacation. Little did I know that it was a TV screen, and not a small one. I flew it to Columbia and Rio, before we ended up in Peru. His family was so gracious, they invited us to lunch one day. I loved getting away from the hotel and exploring the non tourist sights. I took two years of Spanish and was able to communicate with them with the help of a dictionary. All great fun. They served us ceviche with sweet potatoes. Yummy. I hope to get to know you and your culture when you come to California. Welcome.