The Local Who Won't Stop Exploring
I'm Scott — a healthcare IT professional who moved to San Diego over 15 years ago and never looked back. What started as weekend beach runs and taco crawls turned into an obsession with knowing every neighborhood, every hidden surf break, and every hole-in-the-wall that locals swear by. After 40+ countries of travel, I still think San Diego is the most underrated city in America. This is how years of exploring America's Finest City became the travel guide I wished existed.
I've always been the person who plans the trip — the one mapping out routes, finding the restaurant nobody's heard of yet, figuring out where to park so you're not circling for 30 minutes. When I moved to San Diego, I thought I'd settle into a routine. Instead, I discovered a city that keeps revealing new layers the longer you live here.
I watched North Park transform from a sleepy neighborhood into a craft beer capital. I've seen the Gaslamp evolve, Pacific Beach stay forever young, and La Jolla remain timeless. I've surfed (badly) at Tourmaline, eaten my weight in carne asada fries from every shop that claims to make the best ones, and driven the coast from Imperial Beach to Oceanside more times than I can count. I've watched the craft beer scene go from a handful of breweries to 150+.
I'm not a travel blogger. I work in healthcare IT. But San Diego keeps surprising me, and I finally decided to put everything I've learned into something useful — a site with real local knowledge, honest prices, neighborhood-level detail, and an AI trip planner that builds itineraries from someone who actually lives here. Not a weekend visitor's highlight reel. A real guide from someone who calls this place home.
Every recommendation on this site comes from personal experience. I've paid the parking meters, waited in the lines, dealt with the summer crowds, and found the spots where locals actually go. This is the San Diego guide I wish someone had handed me when I first moved here.
15+ Years in the Making
Packed up and moved to San Diego. The plan was simple: be closer to the beach, escape the grind, start fresh. Within the first week, I knew I'd never leave. The weather, the pace, the tacos — everything clicked.
Pacific Beach weekends, North Park dinners, Gaslamp nights, La Jolla sunsets. Each neighborhood felt like a different city. I started keeping notes — the best parking, the hidden patios, the places tourists miss. The obsession had begun.
San Diego went from "good beer town" to the craft beer capital of America. I watched breweries pop up in every neighborhood — North Park, Miramar, Barrio Logan. I visited them all. The brewery crawl became my version of a pub crawl, and I mapped every one.
Exploring beyond the tourist trail — Encinitas surf culture, Coronado's quieter side, Old Town's real history, Ocean Beach's stubborn authenticity. 40+ countries of international travel, but San Diego always felt like the best-kept secret. The idea for a proper local guide started taking shape.
The guide I always wished existed finally becomes real — neighborhood-level detail, honest recommendations, an AI trip planner, and the perspective of someone who actually lives here. Not recycled content from a weekend visit. A real guide built by a local who won't stop exploring.
The Person Behind the Pages
Healthcare IT professional by day, San Diego explorer by every other waking moment. Moved to San Diego over 15 years ago and never left. Has explored every neighborhood from Imperial Beach to Oceanside, mapped the craft beer scene from its early days to 150+ breweries, and eaten at more taco shops than any reasonable person should admit. 40+ countries of international travel, but San Diego is home. Enjoys the trip planning almost as much as the exploring itself.
What You'll Never Find Here
Discover San Diego exists because I got tired of travel content that's secretly a sponsored hotel review or a press trip recap dressed up as honest advice. Every "Top 10" list reads the same because nobody writing them actually lives here. I wanted to build the resource I wish someone had given me when I first moved to San Diego.
ever
free hotel stays
San Diego
local knowledge
More Than a Travel Blog
Discover San Diego isn't a collection of "Top 10" listicles written by someone who visited for a weekend. It's a living resource built on 15+ years of actually living here — local knowledge, neighborhood-level detail, and technology that helps you plan a better trip. Here's what makes it different:
- Neighborhood guides with real insider detail — not just "visit the Gaslamp," but where to park, eat, and what to skip
- An AI trip planner that builds custom itineraries with real prices, not hallucinated estimates
- Craft beer and food guides from someone who's mapped the scene since before it was famous
- Beach and outdoor guides — every beach from Coronado to Carlsbad, with honest pros and cons
Get the Guide Before Everyone Else
I'm building new neighborhood guides, craft beer tours, and trip planner features every month. Drop your email and I'll send the good stuff first — no spam, no affiliate dumps, just real San Diego intel from someone who actually lives here.
I respect your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.