How to get friends to visit Hermosa Beach

“Who’s coming?” Kyle asked.

“Right now just Malik, but we’ll see.” I was planning a weekend trip to Hermosa Beach to watch beach volleyball, and didn’t know who else would want to come. I wasn’t concerned, though — it would work out even if it were just the three of us, but I figured I could find other fun people to join.

I went to Hermosa Beach by myself for the first time in 2015, and I had such a great time that I resolved to go back, with friends if possible. In 2017 AVP hosted a tournament there, so I asked my friend Allen to join me on my pilgrimage to the mecca of beach volleyball. In 2019 I convinced a group of volleyball friends to go watch AVP there, and again, it was an amazing time. Even though my expectations were sky high I decided to try and organize the same exact trip this year, just with different volleyball friends. Would it be as good of a time as in previous years? (Spoiler: yes, it would, minus some regrets.)

Earlier this year I was randomly scrolling through the work volleyball slack when I saw Andy’s message about being new to the Bay Area and wanting to find a good group to play with. Since I’m always on the lookout for volleyball talent, I reached out and invited him to my organized volleyball meetup (it was essentially a tryout). Andy turned out to be a friendly, funny, and solid volleyball player who gave quality RSVPs, so he made the cut. One day he remarked to me how he loved watching AVP Pro Troy Field play on a recent livestream, so I invited him to come down to Hermosa Beach with us.

I met Spencer in pre-Covid times at a local volleyball meetup, and quickly incorporated him into my organized volleyball meetups and game nights. We hadn’t connected for several months when I randomly reached out to see if he’d come down from San Francisco to play volleyball. As serendipity would have it, he was free and able to come, so we met up and chatted for a bit. Without prompting he mentioned how he’s been watching international FIVB beach volleyball tournaments, so I asked him if he would want to come watch AVP in Hermosa Beach.

And with that, the group was set. There were so many things I enjoyed about the trip, but as with most things, the biggest factor is the people involved. It was the first time Malik, Kyle, and I had traveled with Spencer and Andy, so the trip was great for not only building upon existing friendships, but also creating new connections. In addition, going with friends who had never been made what was a familiar trip to me a new kind of fun.

It’s also interesting what you learn about friends when you travel with them. In addition to just learning a lot more about Andy on the drive down, we found out that he sprays water on his clothes to “smooth out wrinkles” (meanwhile, Kyle, Malik and I don’t own irons). Spencer showed us some of the magic tricks he learned growing up. I learned some drinking games should I ever need alternate ways of entertaining people at a game night.

As always, the tournament was super fun to watch, and the overall weekend reminded me why I loved Hermosa Beach so much: it’s beautiful, the beach is way better than anything in Northern California, and it’s a great place to visit with friends. My friends thanked me for organizing the trip, but honestly I was just glad they joined and loved it too (plus, I literally copied the same itinerary from 2019). If it’s one thing I learned from Covid, it’s to cherish travel and relationships — and this most recent weekend getaway just made me want to organize and go on more trips with friends.

If anybody has suggestions on where to travel to next, I’m all ears.