Essay: The ultimate L.A. pilgrimage: I walked 89 miles to every Erewhon in town

The thought grew arsenic organically arsenic the purple cauliflower astatine Erewhon. One day, I walked from my spot successful Los Feliz to the beach. I stopped astatine 2 Erewhon locations connected the mode to refuel. I made a reel astir my travel and posted it to Instagram. My person Fish saw it and said, “You should locomotion to each the Erewhons.”

I thought: I don’t person clip to bash that. I’m a precise superior idiosyncratic who needs to constitute her novel.

But aboriginal I recovered myself mapping retired an 89-mile hike successful my Notes App, starting successful Pasadena and ending successful Calabasas, stopping astatine each 10 Erewhon locations connected the way. (My way did not see the Palisades, which is closed due to the fact that of the fires; nor did it see LACMA oregon the caller Glendale locale.)

“I request to constitute my novel” is simply a thought I person a lot. I usually heed this thought and beryllium astatine the table similar a soldier, imagining the fantastic time erstwhile I’ll merchantability said caller — for an magnitude that would astir apt beryllium comparable to a fraction of an Erewhon employee’s yearly salary.

Erewhon Trail representation illustration by Swan Huntley.

(Erewhon Trail representation illustration by Swan Huntley. )

I truly wasn’t successful the temper to constitute the novel, though. When I imagined myself pecking distant astatine the keyboard, I felt bad. When I imagined myself walking astir L.A. successful my Home Depot gardening hat, I felt good. So, I enactment connected my hat, got into an Uber headed for Pasadena, and texted my sister, “Carpe diem, bitch.” Or astatine slightest that was my intention. What I really sent was, “Carpet diem hitch.”

Over the summer, I hiked a small spot of the Pacific Crest Trail. A fewer years ago, I biked the Camino successful Spain. I’ve walked from Los Feliz to the formation a fistful of times. I’ve traversed the magnitude of Manhattan thrice. Before that, erstwhile I was a teenager, I utilized to trek from La Jolla to Del Mar portion drinking brew (I carried a cooler; yes, I’m sober now) and listening to Sarah McLachlan connected my Discman. I’ve ever been drawn to activities that galore radical find tedious. Like walking forever. Or penning a novel.

Starting successful the 4th century, pilgrimages were served up by the religion arsenic a mode for Christians to wage penance for their sins. They were hard and unsafe and a batch of radical died. Fast-forward to now: Such treks person taken connected an “Eat, Pray, Love” aura. Or a “Wild “ aura. They unrecorded successful the realm of self-help and of sport. They’re a mode to make friction successful an progressively frictionless world. By walking from Mexico to Canada, oregon from Erewhon to Erewhon, I wonderment whether we’re trying to get backmost to the portion of ourselves that wants to effort harder.

Or we conscionable privation to go much invaluable meal enactment guests.

What bash you do?

I bash truly agelong walks.

I ordered a Goddess Smoothie successful Pasadena, and past I repeated this contented astatine each store thereafter. The smoothie costs $19, tastes similar heaven, and it’s green, which my encephalon reads arsenic “good for me.”

It took maine a small implicit 3 hours to locomotion 11 miles to Silver Lake. I got a Vegan Avocado Sandwich for lunch, took an Uber location and posted a reel connected Instagram astir my archetypal time connected the trail. A batch of radical liked it. Some of them called maine a genius.

In the past 10 years, I’ve published 4 novels and 2 illustrated books for adults. I was naïve and conscionable wholly blindly blessed astir the publishing process successful the beginning. People wanted to bargain my work? Other radical wanted to work it? Cool.

The archetypal book, “We Could Be Beautiful,” did good due to the fact that the steadfast enactment existent wealth into the selling of it. Then that stopped happening. At a definite point, I realized that expecting excessively overmuch was unwise. It was up to maine to marketplace my books myself. Which meant: societal media.

They accidental you person to spot a publication screen six times earlier you bargain the publication — oregon see buying it. There are a batch of publication covers connected Instagram. Actually, there’s a batch of everything connected Instagram, and retired of each the everything, is simply a publication screen that exciting?

No.

My 2nd reel, which depicted my travel from Silver Lake to Studio City, went a small spot viral. To date, astir 10,000 radical person shared it with their friends. Why? I deliberation the reply has thing to bash with a tendency for levity.

If the ambiance of the satellite could beryllium depicted by an Erewhon beverage, it wouldn’t beryllium a vibrant, cheerful one, similar the agleam magenta Pitaya Smoothie. It would beryllium the acheronian and brooding Germ Warfare Shot. I find it perplexing that radical speech astir the apocalypse arsenic if it’s happening later. It’s happening now. If we were truly reasoning astir however clime alteration is affecting us, we’d beryllium retired successful the streets screaming. All the time. But we’re not doing that. We’re carrying connected with our accustomed lives. Apparently, for me, that includes walking to Erewhons.

Any long-distance trek is arsenic overmuch an interior travel arsenic it is external. As I continued the trail, I started to deliberation that possibly my endeavor was a absorption to my feeling of full powerlessness. I can’t prevention the polar bears. I can’t unit the president to spell to therapy. But I tin adhd immoderate levity to the brooding atmosphere.

Recently, idiosyncratic commented connected 1 of the reels, “Transplants marque LA locals look bad.” This person, and galore others, perceive the sanction Erewhon and presume I’m poking amusive astatine it. Erewhon has go a gag astir L.A. — a gag that was amplified aft Hailey Bieber invented her smoothie successful 2022 that Erewhon dubs the “Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie.” I’ve ne'er had it, but I tin archer you that it looks similar a entity afloat of strawberry clouds. According to an Erewhon worker I spoke to, this smoothie was a turning point. It aligned the marque with wealthiness and power. Now, Erewhon evokes the representation of smooth-skinned, health-conscious Angelenos with wealth to burn.

The Erewhon Trail, then, inevitably becomes a speech astir privilege, my ain included. Instagram hid my 2 favourite comments, due to the fact that it was disquieted they’d beryllium excessively rude to show, but I deliberation they’re the funniest ones.

This is what achromatic radical bash connected Prozac.

This is what happens erstwhile a wide arts teacher gets fired.

To some of these comments, I say: Yes.

I’m not connected Prozac yet, but possibly aft I get fired, I volition be.

In bid to get fired, though, I’d person to get an existent job, which mightiness ne'er happen.

The astir aggravated limb of the way was from Santa Monica to Calabasas. My person Fish joined me. Google said it would instrumentality 27 miles. After marching done the mountains, I decided to usage my ain quality to marque the way shorter. This chopped retired 4 miles, bringing the full to 23. For agelong stretches, Fish and I walked successful the motorcycle lane, oregon successful the bramble by the broadside of the road. That’s the punishment for straying from Google. Your sidewalks vanish and your chances of getting deed by a car spell mode up.

My legs were noodles by the clip we got to Calabasas. I crawled crossed the parking batch to amusement my viewers however anemic they’d become. The worker astatine the doorway smiled astatine maine and handed maine a basket, and I thought astir the symptom of my legs, which nary 1 could see, and astir each the concealed battles radical are warring each the time, and I wished that we cared astir each different arsenic overmuch arsenic Erewhon cares astir us. Multiple employees were perfecting the already-perfect plateaus of doorbell peppers and apples successful the nutrient section. Their thoughtfulness was the other of the vibe I brushwood successful astir nationalist restrooms, which is that the strangers who were determination earlier maine didn’t person galore thoughts astir my experience. As lame arsenic the information that an Erewhon smoothie costs $19 is that truthful galore of america request to beryllium paid to beryllium bully to each other.

When I archer radical astir my emotion for Erewhon, they either say, “Duh, I know,” oregon thing on the lines of, “That spot is ridiculous, right?” This is astir ever followed by the notation of a nutrient point and immoderate magnitude of money. Like, “Doesn’t a carrot outgo $12,000?”

Actually, I archer them, no. Although sometimes, yes. There is simply a Japanese strawberry that’s famously costly ($20), but that’s avoidable. I past explicate that contrary to fashionable thought, determination is simply a mode to store astatine Erewhon connected a budget. A jar of soup, for example, costs $15.50. If you instrumentality the bottle, you get $3 back. In my opinion, the crockery tin beryllium 2 meals, truthful that’s $6.25 per meal. A batch of the nutrient is either the aforesaid terms oregon lone a small spot much costly than astatine different wellness nutrient stores, and it’s successful consistently amended shape. The astir important portion of making Erewhon much affordable, though, is becoming a member. You get 10% off, a escaped portion of the period and discounts connected a clump of items.

You mightiness beryllium wondering: How galore Erewhon memberships has she personally sold?

She’s mislaid count.

The different crushed to spell to Erewhon is the environment. It’s visually appealing and the employee-to-customer ratio is notable, and the effect is that you consciousness similar you’re astatine a resort. And frankly, these elemental things — a bully environment, precocious prime nutrient — should beryllium disposable to everyone.

Back to the question of whether oregon not Erewhon is ridiculous — yes, of people it is. If you beryllium astatine immoderate of the locations and perceive to the conversations astir you, you’ll astir apt consciousness similar you’re an other successful a satirical movie. At Studio City, I overheard 2 moms successful achromatic pants and cashmere sweaters talking astir how, based connected their Instagram recon, they figured retired that so-and-so was sitting adjacent to so-and-so astatine a payment dinner. Another snippet I overheard successful Studio City: “You gotta marque euphony from the heart, man, and the statement volition consciousness it.”

It didn’t hap to maine to inquire for escaped merch until aft I’d finished the trail. Armando astatine the Santa Monica determination was the fortunate recipient of my request. I explained my uniquely heroic feat to him, and past wondered aloud if possibly I could get a sweatshirt, oregon astatine slightest a hat.

Sadly, Armando was unauthorized to springiness maine merch, but helium did connection maine a acquisition paper successful a tiny envelope. I was precise grateful. I assumed the paper was worthy $50 astatine least.

After we parted ways, I opened the envelope.

Ten dollars.

Enough to enactment a down outgo connected a smoothie.

My dreams present are truthful antithetic from erstwhile I was younger. Back successful grad school, I imagined that possibly I’d constitute a bestselling novel, and possibly it would beryllium adapted for the screen, and possibly my tombstone would read: She contributed precise superior lit to civilization.

What I ne'er accounted for was, of course, the unknown. Maybe 1 day, implicit a decennary aft schoolhouse ended, I’d get a batch of attraction for making show creation astir walking to market stores.

Huntley’s novels see “I Want You More,” “Getting Clean With Stevie Green,” “The Goddesses” and “We Could Be Beautiful.” She’s besides the writer/illustrator of the darkly humorous “The Bad Mood Book” and “You’re Grounded: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F— Down.” She lives successful Los Angeles.