(I tried to make it a different number, but it was destiny.)
1. From the highway (1), the only way to get there. The one that keeps being crushed by mudslides, worsened by climate change. When the ground is dry and the rain comes hard, the land weakens. The land needs something we don’t offer: consistency.
2. Beat playground Kerouac’s playground, Henry Miller’s too. A place to be inspired, irresponsible, irreproachable? What happens in Big Sur stays in Big Sur–even the trash. Except for the stories that the getting-famous tell.
3. A place to see music, to see Vieux Farka Toure. Under redwoods, stars. At Henry’s library. This is the only place, the only coast, in the world with coast redwoods. And we can touch them listening to music that grows tall. I might have thought the stars were different in Mali, but actually I find out the dippers are still there. And Cepheus, a king. Trees too. The karite tree, which makes shea butter, grows in Mali. What do redwoods make but houses, furniture, the stuff of life indoors??
At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa, covering an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of the continent. Mali was also one of the wealthiest countries on earth, and its emperor at its zenith, Mansa Musa, is believed to be possibly the wealthiest individual in history.
4. Somewhere to camp. (If you can get a reservation.)
5. Somewhere to hike. (If the trails aren’t crowded.)
6. Somewhere to leave your trash. (If you’re an asshole.)
7. Somewhere to go to the beach. (It’s growing, thanks to climate change.)
8. A romantic getaway. (If you can afford $2,000+/night, Mansa Musa style.)
9. Somewhere to find yourself in the legacy of misfits and ruffians who came before.
10. An impossibility–where does everyone live who works there?
There are already climate refugees in Mali. Internally displaced persons. We have economic refugees here–people who can’t get work. Internally displaced persons. Floods come. Crop yields drop. Hillsides buckle. It’s coming. People are commuting to Big Sur from Seaside, Salinas. There is nowhere to build housing and plenty of regulations to say you can’t. There is nowhere for the people to live, barely anywhere for people to stay. If what makes Big Sur so great is nobody being here, why are so many people here?
11. Mali has a flood that makes a town (Djenne) into an island each year. Big Sur has climate change that makes it into an island when the highway’s out each year (or so).
12. Views views views vieux vieux vieux
13. A scam?
As corny as it sounds, there really is something special about Big Sur. There is something in all of us that can’t help but respond to undeveloped nature. It is, ultimately, where we’re meant to be–where we’ve evolved (if you will) to be. There’s nothing so compelling about offices, desks, glowing screens. If you showed somebody from back in the day a laptop they’d say, get out. We’re warping our minds as fast as our climate with this glow, and maybe it’ll be all that rescues us once the world’s too warm to be in. Until then, drive to Big Sur, park on the roadside, squeeze out of your car, take that selfie, hope you don’t tumble to that premature death while documenting the special scenery in the same way everyone else has.