Visiting the Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge has reached a rare status as a global icon—a distinction few places on Earth will ever achieve.

Like when I visited the Statue of Liberty or the Taj Mahal, it felt almost surreal in its familiarity. Yet seeing it in person is compelling for different reasons: to appreciate the physical structure, the immense scale, the dramatic setting, the story behind it all. And on the flip side, it’s also fascinating to see a global icon surrounded by the everyday—tourists taking selfies, traffic inching across the span, fog rolling in to obscure the towers.