I had never been to Los Angeles before. I had never even been to the United States in all my 23 years of living in close proximity to the border. But there I was, set on an irreversible course—alone—to the second largest city in all of America.

There are some things that maps just can’t tell you. Google Earth is more revealing than traditional maps, but you can’t even rely on it to tell you all you need to know about a new city. I zoomed in and scoured the Google-mapped community of Westwood to see what I could see. It looked like a nice place—a quiet-looking area with plenty of green, and there were inviting, open sidewalks (an important detail). There wasn’t anybody on the sidewalks (which would have been more comforting), but there sure as heck were sidewalks. It was a sunny day in Google-photographed Westwood, so all in all the map indicated good things.

But maps don’t give you the human perspective. They show you the topography, but not the character. So I did a quick online search and stumbled upon a forum for LA Q&A. “I’m moving to such-and-such area; what should I know?” “I’m going to be visiting LA; what should I see and what should I avoid?” This was perhaps not the most confidence-inspiring discovery I could have made, and much of the advice on the forum turned out to be fear-mongering, unfounded or inapplicable to my own trip. But this is the way you learn about the city, not just the urbs, and the advice opened a fascinating window into Los Angeles culture.

What colours of clothing you shouldn’t wear in order to avoid gang warfare (red and blue, FYI). What areas of town you should steer clear of if you’re Hispanic, or if you’re Black, or if you’re White (know the safe territory for your skin colour). In which parts of town you do NOT want to take a turn into a no-exit side street. Motorcycles will be “white-lining.” The boundaries of various unsafe areas. These are the things you don’t learn from maps.

Then again, these things are largely inapplicable to tourists. Don’t be paranoid.