This TED- Cambridge talk was posted 5 years ago but it is still applicable today. It’s always good to have a refresher on a subject matter or be exposed to a new way of thinking when tackling a current issue. This TED Talk by Dr. Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist at the University College London, provides “3 key ingredients” on how to change your behavior, however, some of the examples she provides are organizational behavior change and customer behavior change.
The 3 key ingredients are:
Social incentive;
Progress monitoring;
Immediate award.
One big take-away I got from this is fear appeals, shaming, threatening, warnings, etc. on the whole are not effective in changing behavior. Many impact evaluation studies have shown where negative messaging and fear appeal marketing campaigns are ineffective in changing behavior, however, some fear appeal social marketing campaigns have proven effective in road or driver campaigns. I think this is something we really need to dive deeper into. Think about social norming of face masks during COVID-19. What if 99% of people are wearing a face mask in a grocery store but one person approaches a non-face mask user and yells at them for not wearing a face mask. What happens? Do they decide to wear a mask next time? Ummm, no. What if they are told that they may have a pre-existing condition in the future or may pass the disease unknowingly to a loved one later. Does this change their mind? Probably not. Now what if the manager goes over the intercom and says, “Congratulations shoppers at so and so grocery store, we are at 99% compliance for wearing face masks and we are outperforming the grocery store so-so five miles down the road”. Does this change the non-mask user’s behavior? More likely. What if the manager says, “we are passing out $2.00 off your coupons for all mask wearers”. We got a winner. The messaging is positive. It demonstrates social compliance, progress monitoring and incentives. The benefits are immediate.
We seek positive information! We want to know we are okay and WE CAN change the outcome. Positive intentions are REWARDED and socially ACCEPTABLE.
“Kids and teenagers are the worst at learning from bad news”. Plug for the ever growing trend towards positive behavioral therapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy, in schools. How does this work in real life? “Son, you are getting better at picking up your toys, could you finish the job so we can go outside and play?” vs “Son, you still haven’t picked up your toys and you can’t play outside until you do”.
We get too much information and filter out what we don’t want or need by focusing on the positive information, giving us a distorted view of the reality. Self-denial anyone? I don’t know about you but my new thing is to tune out PEOPLE who don’t give me the information I want (anyone want to take a wild guess who it might be?). This is why it’s important for organizations to put out specific, timely, relevant and targeted messages with BEHAVIOR SCIENCE. Go beyond thinking about information or education.Don’t just put out anything to stay relevant. You won’t be.
Informational campaigns and education are not enough. We must get the word out to organizations and agencies that applying behavior science to impact change is a must-do and the more cost effective way to achieve results.
As you can see from my chicken scratch below, my initial plan was pretty ambitious. But you should have seen it before when I was planning a Washington to Santa Cruz trip! But with all travel, especially when you are traveling with children, flexibility is key.
Below I offer an outline of our
10- day California itinerary:
Day 1 (21st July): Flew into San Francisco- Explored San Fran. See below 10 day itinerary for our day details in San Francisco;
Day 2 (22nd July): Drove up the west coast on Route 1 stopping at or through Mt. Tamalpous, Muir Woods, Mendocino Beach and the Avenue of the Giants (Humboldt Redwoods). Night in Eureka, CA;
Day 3 (23rd July): Explored the Redwoods. Hiked Lady Bird Johnson Trail then visited Fern Canyon. Camped at Patrick’s Point State Park (total $42.99- Abalone site).
Day 4 (24th July): Drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park (4-5 hours). We traveled through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and stopped along the road for a stretch and breathtaking views along the river. We hiked the King Creek Falls trail at Lassen Volcanic Park (from Manzanita Entrance) then traveled down to South Lake Tahoe (3 hours). Night at Hotel.
Day 5 (25th July): Hiked Eagle Falls Trails to Eagle Falls Lake. Camped the night at Emerald Point (total $32.99 tent site at Lower Point). Dinner in town at @bluedogeatstahoeWe had pizza and my partner discovered his new favorite beer, Great White from @LostCoastBrewery in Eureka, CA.
Day 6 (26th July): Hiked on the Rubicon Trail from Emerald Point campsite to Vikingsholm and Kayak Tahoe. Drove to AirBnB (Coulterville) outside of Yosemite.
Day 7 (27th July): First Day in Yosemite. Hiked the “4-Mile Trail” and visited Bridal Veil Falls. Stayed the night back in Coulterville at AirBnB.
Day 8 (28th July): Second day in Yosemite. Drove down to Mariposa Grove and hiked the Mariposa Grove Trail to the Mariposa Grove Cabin. The evening camped out at Cedar Bluff inside the Sierra National Forest (total cost- too much-charged for 2 sites).
Day 9 (29th July): Drove to Santa Cruz and straight to AirBnB. Explored Santa Cruz Wharf and harbor. Dinner at The Crow’s Nest and night at AirBnB.
Day 10 (30th July): Drove to San Francisco and flew home 😦 Depending on your flight time, there is the possibility to do at least one hike in Santa Cruz or highlight in San Fran.
Mariposa Grove Trail, Yosemite
Be sure to check out my other posts for more in depth details about each stop along the way!
Cost Breakdown
This is the first time I have posted a cost estimate of my trips but for this trip I kept better notes on expenses and I want to show people that you can accomplish a lot with a little, even in an expensive state like California (gas prices were insane!). This is not an exact price list but it can give you a good idea for a starting budget.
Plane tickets from Florida to San Francisco- $ 394.30 /per person
Travel Insurance for flight – $51.26
Car Rental for car pick up and return at San Francisco airport (10 days) – $ 440.44 (not including insurance, insurance was included with my personal car insurance policy);
Total accommodation costs including 3 camping sites, 1 hotel and 4 Air BnB’s (1 for two nights) – $1335.06;
Day 1 (21st of July): Fly into San Francisco- We arrived at 9:40am and went straight to the Golden Gate Bridge. We hired a rental car from the airport and compared to Tampa, FL, the driving was stressless. We checked out Fisherman’s Wharf and grabbed an expensive but delicious panini from the Round House Cafe, right near the visitor center.
It was July and it was windy/cool, so bring a jacket. There is a mild hike near the bridge and we did see one homeless person but other than that, it was beautiful, and we felt safe. This was the only homeless person we saw btw. I think San Fran gets a bad rap for homeless people but I honestly have seen a ton more homeless people in San Diego. I only say this for any safety concerns. Personally, I use it as a teaching lesson.
Next, we met up Kara from Chinatown Food Walk: Tea & Dim Sum experience from AirBnB. This was the first time I tried an AirBnB experience and we really enjoyed it. Of all the things we did for 10 days, my son said this was his favorite! Granted, he is a foodie like me. We went to a tea shop, a temple, THE Fortune Cookie Factory and three food stops. We tried dim sum, a moon cake, pork roll, boba tea and tons of tea! From this experience, my son and I became hooked on Boba Tea. I thought it was like Thai Tea and I find Thai Tea too sugary so when we tried traditional, Chinese black boba mile tea, I was pleasantly surprised. You don’t know unless you try things! When we got home we immediately scoped out the best Boba tea shop in Tampa. I won’t specifically name where we went on the tour, you’ll need to contact Kara for that 😉 https://www.stretchy-pants.com/sf-food-tours/chinatown-food-tour-san-francisco/
Pork Roll. First stop. Not Vegetarian.
Side note: this tour is not for vegetarians. Contact @stretchypantssf if you would like them to try a vegetarian menu. They might be able to accommodate. I generally don’t eat meat but I make exceptions for special occasions. My child has a shrimp allergy and they were able to help us with this.
From top left to right- Tea Shop, Cookie Factory, Moon cake, Boba Tea and China Town!
After our tour we went to our AirBnB. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay out late due to flying in from the East coast and London so we were exhausted. We stayed at Jonathan and Sally’s AirBnB in the Twin Peaks area. Not much to eat within walking distance but a nice and safe area. The home was clean and cozy and offered a rare, second closed bedroom for an AIrBnB.
Next morning we hit the road up Route 1!
Tips and Tricks
If you don’t read any more of my posts about this trip I wanted to make you aware of a couple key things that you may not see on any official website or in a book.
At the San Francisco airport the cell phone waiting lot is not at the airport! It was about 6 miles away further down the interstate. Don’t make the mistake I did!
Showers are NOT included in the price of your camp fee at California State Parks. Some required quarters, some tokens- one had no shower at all (though it might have been a federal camp ground?)! So please, please do yourself a favor if you are camping and contact each campsite to see what they require to take a shower.
Gasoline prices are no joke. In areas outside of major cities, like Shasta, the cost per gallon was pushing $5.
Not all restaurants have bathrooms. Not sure how they got around this but we learned this to be true. AND the public restrooms at gas stations are NASTY. The majority of ones we stopped at didn’t even have soap. I can’t imagine the situation now with COVID-19. So while you are at stopping for supplies, grab some toilet paper, disposable wipes, soap, gallon of water and hand sanitizer!
Please continue reading my other “10 Day California Road Trip posts” to see fun photos, honest reviews and good details from each major stop!
Thanks for reading and please feel free to ask questions in the comment section. Happy travels!
On days 5 and 6 we traveled to South Lake Tahoe from Lassen Volcanic Park and spent two days exploring this beautiful area. The drive from Lassen was about 3 hours. The road into Lake Tahoe was windy. We arrived late our first night and stayed at Beach Retreat & Lodge Tahoe https://www.tahoebeachretreat.com/?utm_source=google%20my%20business&utm_medium=listing&utm_campaign=visit%20website. I don’t remember the room being especially nice. It was outdated but clean. However, the staff were really nice and there was a nice laundry facility right beside the pool. Since we got there late, parking at the hotel was difficult to come by. Even though we didn’t experience this, I would guess this is a great place to stay for a bunch of young friends in the winter, where they ski during the day and enjoy the night life at the end of the day. It is close to shops and restaurants/bars.
We were not out the next morning very early because I had a call and still managed to find street parking somewhat close to Eagle Falls Trail. The parking lot definitely does not hold enough visitors so plan to park on a windy, steep road and walk to the entrance of the trail. I believe there is a fee to park on the road or in the parking lot. I don’t remember paying it but we also had a national park pass decal so that may have been why. We hiked from the parking lot to Eagle Falls Lake.
Warning: the bathroom facility in the parking lot is a hole in the ground. I opted not to try it. Despite the scary bathroom, my son said it was his favorite hike of the whole trip.
It takes about 1/2 mile to get to the cascading water itself. When you cross the bridge there are some stones to rest on, cool your feet off and take a freezing dip if you are so inclined. We rested for a minute or two and then headed on to the lake.
While we were hiking up a little chipmunk followed beside us on the rocks. I think it thought we had some food.
Pretending I had food in my hand. As you can see, it was not shy. It was however, cute as can be!
Clearly some people are feeding them. Please do not do this. Later we discovered some carry the plague.
This is posted at Emerald Lake Trail bathrooms. Oops.
This hike is beautiful. It was a little steep in places and some of the footing was tricky but overall it is a pretty moderate hike with water to play in and stunning scenery.
The lake itself is not for the faint at heart. It is FREEZING. And you guessed it, all of the people in it were from Northern Europe or Canada. Except for my son, the island water baby and my poor freezing soul.
Cold water shock is real so make sure you read up on it ahead of time and expect to burn twice as much energy swimming in freezing water. BUT the reflection of the mountain on the lake and the scenery will leaving you feeling #blessed and invigorated.
You get great high up views of Lake Tahoe and big boulders to warm up on after a freezing swim in the mountain lake. This trails is about 1.8 miles one way.
Our second night we checked in at Emerald Bay State Park. The campsite was very clean and there is a nice spot to hop into the lake, HOWEVER, you need coins, not quarters to use the showers. After our first fiasco at Patrick’s Point where we discovered we though needed quarters to use showers, we came prepared with at least $20 in quarters. And after a long day of hiking and swimming we were ready to shower up and headed to the showers with a bags of quarters only to discover you needed tokens to shower. It was dark when we went so if there was a machine outside to change quarters for tokens, we did not see it. And of course, because either we aren’t the only ones who didn’t know this or some people don’t want to pay, the one big sink outside the bathrooms was busy with people cleaning up. I guess at least they offered that big sink? The showers were not very close to our campsite but there was a small bathroom across our site with 1 stall for women and 1 for men. If you don’t like bugs, than don’t go in. That’s all I can say. Also, bears are a big deal here so make sure you don’t leave any food or “smellies” aka deodorized toiletries out or in your car. You need to use the bear-proof storage lockers provided at each site.
On day 2 we tried the Rubicon trail that starts inside the Emerald Bay State park (near the entrance/exit). It was an easy, hike down and back to the lake and Vikingsholm.
At the time, Vikingsholm was undergoing some reservations so we did not go inside and do the tour but there is a little guest shop and neat restroom (complete with stalls and toilets) nearby. The guest shop was able to tell us a little bit about the family that built and lived in Vikingsholm, which was informative and free.
Then we headed down to Kayak Tahoe https://www.kayaktahoe.com/index.htm. There is a line, or two lines, to rent kayaks so go early and be prepared to wait a little. I don’t believe we waited long because we opted for paddle boards instead of kayaks, which seemed more popular. They are very friendly and can take card payments. You get a few minutes instruction and life jackets.
Children are not allowed beyond a certain point and must share a paddle board with a parent or guardian so my partner and I took turns riding with my child so we could paddle out to the little island in the middle. If you haven’t guessed yet, the water is cold. If you have never tried paddle boarding, this is a calm, relaxing way to give it a go. There are boats on the water with you but we didn’t witness any speeding so balancing on the board was not hard, but you can also lower down and paddle on the bottom or knees. #kayaktahoe is open 10-5pm with the last rental going out at 4pm. It is $25/hour or $35/hour for 2 hours on a paddleboard. UPDATE: Please check their website before going as locations, hours and renting times are constantly changing due to COVID-19.
Raccoon? What do you think?
For more of the 10 day California road trip adventure continue onto the Yosemite post or day 7.
TigerlillyMama 