Make like Kerouac in his time after publishing On The Road and escape to the wilderness for quietness and time alone with your thoughts. Draw inspiration from Susan Cain’s talk on the power of introverts and dive nose first into a book for an extended stretch of time, letting your mind drift from the page to your most inner thoughts and back to a blank page as you write down your epiphanies. Then reward yourself with a barefoot stroll along the beach, digging your toes deep into the sand, feeling how the hot soft surface becomes cooler and more rigid the further down you burrow.

Collect pinecones in the nearby bushland to take home as additions to your homemade Christmas wreath or simply as a keepsake of your time by the sea. Gather the shells that speckle the beach early in the morning, making sure to pocket a large one, so you can hold it up to your ear upon your return home and still hear the sea lapping the shore.

If you would prefer to implement your California dreaming from the comfort of your abode, plant a palm tree (or two) in your little plot of land and laze back in your hammock with a copy of Off the Road by Carol Cassady. And when your appetite strikes, reach for recipes like Baja fish tacos, lobster rolls and this California-style quinoa salad to sate your hunger.