THE BRIEFING | ITINERARY
AFTER MORE THAN 15 YEARS LIVING IN SANTA BARBARA, I’ ve developed a knack for finding the places with real staying power. Not what turns up in a quick search or a chat with an AI bot, but places the community supports because of their lasting legacy. That matters here; this is a town where work and life blur. Our first office sat across from several apartment blocks, so each morning I’ d arrive and say hi to the neighbors having their coffee on the porch. I’ m the CEO and co-founder of Madecraft, a professional learning company that creates expert-led video learning libraries for world-class brands. I could have set up anywhere. I chose Santa Barbara, where every kind of industry co-exists side by side; aerospace, defence, a research university, Google’ s own Quantum AI lab, all within a few miles of the coast. Add in a laid-back culture where jeans are the uniform, strangers strike up conversations just because and senior, global, ambitious people who never take themselves too seriously. My first tip – I say this as a pilot as well as a passenger – is to skip LAX. It’ s around 100 miles away, so book the short hop into Santa Barbara Airport instead. It feels less like an airport and more like a grand Spanish casa with sweeping coastal views.
ARRIVE
Santa Barbara Airport
REST
El Encanto Drift Santa Barbara Palihouse Santa Barbara The Craft House Inn
DINE
Maiz Picante Barbareño Third Window Brewing Ospi
WORK
Handlebar Coffee The Sandbox SB Brass Bird Coffee
LEISURE
Santa Barbara Courthouse Stearns Wharf The Funk Zone Lama Dog Tap Room Hendry’ s Beach Boathouse bar Douglas Family Preserve
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