I’m tired. The good kind of tired. We just got back from an impulsively-booked 11 days in SF.
Instead of writing an actual blog post, I’m going to just copy and paste the notes I took during the trip.
Enjoy. Or don’t. I dunno.
SF is paradise or torture or everything in between, depending on how much money you have… a condensed microcosm of American disparity
It’s too easy for us to pay $500 for travel insurance (so we don’t have to worry about medical bills) and work remotely (so we don’t have to take any time off work) and run around the city without a care in the world, then just fly home to safety. Not so easy for everyone to do this. We are the lucky ones and we know it.
The fleeting urge to move back whenever we visit = being torn between wanting to be in the thick of it, be faced with the problem every day, more motivated to help fix things, but knowing that staying (and staying in tech) is also kinda being part of the problem.
This impulsive (in every way) 11-day visit was one of the best decisions we made all year. Coming back with a random tattoo, new piercings, a bunch of Baggu shit, sun exposure, and overflowing with love.
Every day (except one) was hot (like, hot hot) and sunny (nice, but not normal)
the universe is smiling hard on my 40th year!!!!
When we left in 2018, I said I would never want to live in SF again. When I visited in 2023 I realized I could live there again (if life conspired in some way to force me). This year I’ve realized I could totally live there again by choice.
It’s sad sometimes having friends, family – and friends that are basically family – in such disparate places. Also really fucking fun and mind-blowing to be able to fly across the Pacific and have a second home with a second set of found family. “Bittersweet” is probably the word I’m looking for
Why is the Mexican food in Australia so fucking bad?*
*rhetorical, I know the answer.
I don’t get offended when people say they hate SF. I get it. It’s really not for everyone and it’s equally as broken as it is wonderful.
I love Melbourne, but the highs are higher in SF.
The lows are also lower.
Being with Jesse in SF feels like nostalgia and honeymoon and surprise and delight and fear and everything, and it’s kinda weird having a city be kind of a third wheel in your relationship, but I’m really not mad about it?
I don’t want to leave this feeling but I can’t wait to go home and I think I wanna do this every year
I posted a few more pictures on Instagram: