As I stand there, crowds of people rush around me. I can’t keep my eyes off of this one frame of artwork; the strokes enthrall me and the overall beauty of it renders me speechless. The murmurs of the other people in the room serve as white noise as I stare into The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light.

It’s a simple piece, but it has come to be my favorite. And the fun part about having a favorite painting is that you’ll always want to return to stare at it and admire its beauty. Some quick facts about my painting-crush: The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light was painted by Claude Monet, who gave the Impressionist movement its name with his 1874 painting Sunrise. He has also come to be my favorite artist. The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light itself was created in 1984 and was one of his 30 different takes on this one building, capturing the building on different days at different times in different lighting. Now it resides in one of the many wonderful rooms of the Getty Center.

Why am I rambling about this one painting? Because I love it. Simple as that. I love the place that it inhabits, too, because there is so much history packed into this one painting, and each and every frame hanging on museum walls has the same rich history. All those stories are waiting for you to come and discover them and, hopefully, come to love them so much you could write an article about them.

And where is somewhere that is close to home and bursting with museums? Los Angeles.

The drive up to L.A. is more than bearable with a friend and a good playlist, so don’t use the “it’s too far away” excuse. If you’re worried about money, the Getty Center, the Getty Villa, and the Griffith Observatory all have free admittance, as long as you pay the 15 dollar parking fee at the Getty Center and Villa. If you go with a friend or two, you can split the cost amongst yourselves.

And last but not least, the “it’s boring” excuse is invalid for multiple reasons.

When you’re stressed out about getting good grades, or making that sports team, or you’re waiting on that letter from your number one college — go to a museum. Personally, I’d recommend the Getty Center. Isolated from L.A. and nestled into the very top of a hill, it’s a quiet place to think. Also, being surrounded by the eye-opening panoramic view of the second most populated city in the United States makes all your problems seem a whole lot smaller and manageable.

When you’re all the way up there, just a few steps away from something that’s older than your great-grandmother, this sense of welcoming serenity embraces you. Breathing seems a bit easier when all your day-to-day worries are left at the bottom of the hill. Sometimes, you might not ever want to take the tram back down to reality.

If you’re not the type of person to stress out about life, museums are still the place for you; they’re the place for everyone really. When you find yourself bored on a weekend morning with no plans for the rest of the day, head up to L.A. for an afternoon hike to the Hollywood sign. It is a great way to keep your body moving and right after that, you can head over to the Griffith Observatory, another great L.A. museum. You can sit on the roof with your feet dangling above the city as you watch the sun sink into the ocean. It’s incredibly rewarding.

You can see L.A. sprawling out below you and you can admire how the streets look like veins with the flashing lights of cars pumping through with a vital pulse. You can’t help but stare out and fight the urge to see it all.

Don’t worry, you’ll come back. Soon enough L.A. will hook you.

Sometimes though, you just want to relax and soak up some sun. I have an ‘easy-peezy’ fix for that craving. Head up the coast to the sprawling beaches of Malibu and get your tan on. The Getty Villa — the expansive former ranch house of J. Paul Getty, which was turned into a museum focused on a collection of Greek and Roman antiquities in 1953 — is perched right above the beach. You’ll need a reservation for this one, though they do hand out extra tickets occasionally. So if you land a later reservation, you can spend your morning hours on the sand.

The Villa is a regal place to see, and it gives off the vibe of ancient Greece. The pure white pillars, the intricately decorated ceilings and the beautifully sculpted stone are all show-stopping and jaw-dropping. It’s relaxing to walk from room to room with the sunshine only a few feet away, since most of the house is centered around the courtyard.

Those are only three of the numerous museums that fill up the wonderful city of L.A., and if you can tell me that a day trip in which you can do almost anything on is still boring, then go up to L.A. yourself and find somewhere that fits your description of a day well spent. There’s a place for everyone.

Museums used to be this place we went instead of school for field trips, and then they became this place that is always cold and boring and full of irrelevant things. Now?

Museums, to me, are places you can go for an escape. I can drive somewhere new and look at artwork that is old, sometimes older than I can comprehend. I can see the brushstrokes of a long-dead artist right in front of me. I can learn new stories and meet new people all because someone decided to take out a canvas or a block of marble and make something that could change someone’s world.

So I encourage you to go out on a new adventure and search for something that makes you stop and think. I encourage you to find yourself within the walls of a museum.