That kind of trip almost doesn’t count as California, yet in a weird way it absolutely does. In-and-out work travel before smartphones really was its own era. You experienced the state through airports, highways, hotels, and a narrow window of tourist reality before being pulled back into responsibility. Seeing Alcatraz from a distance, walking Fisherman’s Wharf, grabbing one solid meal, then heading inland to Tracy feels exactly like how early-career corporate travel went. You were technically there, but not long enough to absorb it. No photos just makes it feel even more dreamlike now, like something you remember clearly but cannot quite prove.

The Dow consulting work is actually a great backdrop for this story. Fresh out of college, suddenly flying cross-country, touching massive corporate networks, and watching how mergers swallowed entire companies overnight. That kind of exposure shapes how you see work and scale forever. Those trips gave you confidence and perspective, even if they cut into the fun parts. Cutting San Francisco short stings even more because you almost had the perfect balance of work and exploration. One extra day could have turned the trip from a blur into a memory with weight, and you can still feel that disappointment years later.

California fitting Three Tune Tuesday so easily almost feels ironic given how fleeting your actual experience there was. The state dominates music in a way few others do, and narrowing it down to three songs is borderline impossible. Going with mood instead of overthinking it is the right call, especially for a place that has been mythologized this heavily. And starting with “Going To California” is basically unavoidable. Zeppelin captures that restless pull the state has, the promise of something just out of reach. It fits the story perfectly, because your California experience was exactly that. Close enough to feel it, but never quite long enough to stay.
!BBH
!ALIVE
!PIZZA
!LADY