Knowing that I wanted to be in the bay area for about a month, I had hunted for a sublet on Craigslist before leaving my brother's place in Delaware. Among my findings were a studio flat in Normandy Village, a small part of Berkeley that was built in the 1920s and intentionally designed to look like a rural French town. No, I'm not making this up. Though I'd much rather live in something more modern, I thought it would be interesting to try something quirky and quasi-vintage, especially since it would be for only a month. I contacted the landlord and secured the flat for July, which was a huge weight off my shoulders since no one else on Craigslist was emailing me back.
The village was as rural European in person as it looked in the photos: rounded doorways, heavy wooden doors, curved staircases, lots of brick, uneven side streets, and the like. In fact, on my last day there, I was walking back to my flat with arms full of laundry when I saw a fully grown deer walking on the other sidewalk in the opposite direction. He stayed only on the sidewalk too, as if a deer out for a casual morning stroll is completely normal. We both stopped, looked at each other, exchanged "Good day sir!" looks, and then continued on our ways. I found out later that the deer and his family live in the village. I guess the American Dream of a white picket fence and two-and-a-half kids is not just for humans anymore.
With a comfortable base of operations that was close to BART, I spent a lot of time (more than I care to admit) dealing with my storage unit full of "stuff". My most pressing task was to move everything to a storage unit in Oakland. The storage facility I used in San Francisco was well run and very convenient with respect to my old SF apartment, but was way too expensive. I found a similar unit at a similar facility in Oakland for half the cost and wasted no time in hiring movers to relocate everything across the bay. The cost of the movers will be recouped in less than three months, so I'm very happy with the move. The new facility is only a block from BART, so it's been very convenient for me to visit, which I do periodically.
I took this opportunity to audit some of my possessions and decided to sell or donate a number of things, even though I had already gone through a period of selling and donating before I left for Asia. Traveling for such a long time had resulted in some interesting revelations.
For instance, I wasted no time in unloading all of my DVDs and records and most of my books. With respect to DVDs and books, I've found that I no longer have much of a desire to re-experience them; I'd much rather spend that time watching or reading something new. (Or better yet, getting out of the house and actually doing something.) Reference books are something of an exception, but the topics relating to my profession (namely, programming languages) are well documented on the Internet. In fact, with the speed at which technology changes, software reference books can sometimes be obsolete relatively quickly, so online documentation becomes a requirement rather than just a convenience. And speaking of obsolescence, DVDs are steadily being replaced by Blu-ray, so it makes sense to me to sell them now while they're still worth something.
Another contributing factor to this purge is the fact that music, movies, and books are all available digitally, usually on-demand via Internet streaming (or torrenting). With a laptop or tablet, I can have easy access to any media. This dovetails quite nicely with my increasing sense of minimalism; rather than keeping a large library of physical media, I need only a small computing device and a pair of earbuds. It's not quite the 100 Thing Challenge, but I've enjoyed reducing my footprint to something I can easily wrap my head around.
When I wasn't dealing with my personal inventory, I spent the month trying to get a lot of quality time with friends. I had some very fun nights at a few old haunts and a few new spots in the east bay, a happy hour reunion with some old Riverbed friends, and even an outing to AsiaSF, which had been on many friends' bucket lists for some time now.
I finally had time to spend a day wandering through the entirety of Golden Gate Park, the last item on my San Francisco bucket list. I spent most of the day in the western half of the park, an area of the city I never really saw when I lived here. There were many pleasant discoveries and photo opportunities, including two windmills, an anglers' lodge, men playing with remote-controlled sailboats, a big cross on a hill, and two waterfalls. Who knew?
I took advantage of my time back in the bay to also work through a photographic to-do list that has lingered for a while. Based on my photo archives, I've been trying to photograph Pier 7 in San Francisco for six years. The first photo below was taken with a point-and-shoot on my 2008 trip to the city, the second was taken with my first real camera in 2012, and the third was taken about a week ago with my new camera. It's a very satisfying feeling to see tangible improvements in my photography.
As I do every once in a while on my blog, I'll make a brief mention of my current reading. I had started A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius while flying to Florida and finally had time this past month to finish it. Once again, I found parts of my current reading mirroring my own life, as the memoir takes place in Berkeley and San Francisco. The book certainly has its moments but is a little slow and long-winded in parts; nevertheless, it's a worthwhile read.
As is probably evident from everything mentioned above, this past month was quite productive for me in a variety of ways. One of the biggest surprises was how much I enjoyed exploring Berkeley and Oakland, either by myself or with friends. San Francisco is and will always be the king of the mountain in the bay area, but it was eye-opening to discover other places, something I was admittedly not good at doing while I lived here.
It's been really cathartic to work through all of my SF to-do lists since I didn't have enough time to do so before I left for Asia. One of the main reasons for this is that my priorities and outlook have changed since traveling and I no longer imagine myself settling back down in the bay area. The novelty has worn off, it's way too expensive, and it's clear that it's time to move on to something new. San Francisco has been very good to me and was unquestionably the right place for me during that period of my life, but that chapter has been written and now it's time for the next one. That said, a piece of me will always be here. It really is true that you leave your heart in San Francisco.
While I've very much enjoyed cooling my heels the last couple of months in Delaware and Berkeley, I can feel myself getting a little too comfortable and certainly too complacent. The next bit of traveling will probably be a small shock to the system, but a shock that's necessary. Tonight, I'm kicking off my Pacific Northwest rail adventure by taking an overnight train to Oregon. For the next week I'll be enjoying Crater Lake, Portland, and very healthy amounts of street food and microbrews.
Full photo albums: Normandy Village, Golden Gate Park
The village was as rural European in person as it looked in the photos: rounded doorways, heavy wooden doors, curved staircases, lots of brick, uneven side streets, and the like. In fact, on my last day there, I was walking back to my flat with arms full of laundry when I saw a fully grown deer walking on the other sidewalk in the opposite direction. He stayed only on the sidewalk too, as if a deer out for a casual morning stroll is completely normal. We both stopped, looked at each other, exchanged "Good day sir!" looks, and then continued on our ways. I found out later that the deer and his family live in the village. I guess the American Dream of a white picket fence and two-and-a-half kids is not just for humans anymore.
With a comfortable base of operations that was close to BART, I spent a lot of time (more than I care to admit) dealing with my storage unit full of "stuff". My most pressing task was to move everything to a storage unit in Oakland. The storage facility I used in San Francisco was well run and very convenient with respect to my old SF apartment, but was way too expensive. I found a similar unit at a similar facility in Oakland for half the cost and wasted no time in hiring movers to relocate everything across the bay. The cost of the movers will be recouped in less than three months, so I'm very happy with the move. The new facility is only a block from BART, so it's been very convenient for me to visit, which I do periodically.
I took this opportunity to audit some of my possessions and decided to sell or donate a number of things, even though I had already gone through a period of selling and donating before I left for Asia. Traveling for such a long time had resulted in some interesting revelations.
For instance, I wasted no time in unloading all of my DVDs and records and most of my books. With respect to DVDs and books, I've found that I no longer have much of a desire to re-experience them; I'd much rather spend that time watching or reading something new. (Or better yet, getting out of the house and actually doing something.) Reference books are something of an exception, but the topics relating to my profession (namely, programming languages) are well documented on the Internet. In fact, with the speed at which technology changes, software reference books can sometimes be obsolete relatively quickly, so online documentation becomes a requirement rather than just a convenience. And speaking of obsolescence, DVDs are steadily being replaced by Blu-ray, so it makes sense to me to sell them now while they're still worth something.
Another contributing factor to this purge is the fact that music, movies, and books are all available digitally, usually on-demand via Internet streaming (or torrenting). With a laptop or tablet, I can have easy access to any media. This dovetails quite nicely with my increasing sense of minimalism; rather than keeping a large library of physical media, I need only a small computing device and a pair of earbuds. It's not quite the 100 Thing Challenge, but I've enjoyed reducing my footprint to something I can easily wrap my head around.
When I wasn't dealing with my personal inventory, I spent the month trying to get a lot of quality time with friends. I had some very fun nights at a few old haunts and a few new spots in the east bay, a happy hour reunion with some old Riverbed friends, and even an outing to AsiaSF, which had been on many friends' bucket lists for some time now.
I finally had time to spend a day wandering through the entirety of Golden Gate Park, the last item on my San Francisco bucket list. I spent most of the day in the western half of the park, an area of the city I never really saw when I lived here. There were many pleasant discoveries and photo opportunities, including two windmills, an anglers' lodge, men playing with remote-controlled sailboats, a big cross on a hill, and two waterfalls. Who knew?
I took advantage of my time back in the bay to also work through a photographic to-do list that has lingered for a while. Based on my photo archives, I've been trying to photograph Pier 7 in San Francisco for six years. The first photo below was taken with a point-and-shoot on my 2008 trip to the city, the second was taken with my first real camera in 2012, and the third was taken about a week ago with my new camera. It's a very satisfying feeling to see tangible improvements in my photography.
As I do every once in a while on my blog, I'll make a brief mention of my current reading. I had started A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius while flying to Florida and finally had time this past month to finish it. Once again, I found parts of my current reading mirroring my own life, as the memoir takes place in Berkeley and San Francisco. The book certainly has its moments but is a little slow and long-winded in parts; nevertheless, it's a worthwhile read.
As is probably evident from everything mentioned above, this past month was quite productive for me in a variety of ways. One of the biggest surprises was how much I enjoyed exploring Berkeley and Oakland, either by myself or with friends. San Francisco is and will always be the king of the mountain in the bay area, but it was eye-opening to discover other places, something I was admittedly not good at doing while I lived here.
It's been really cathartic to work through all of my SF to-do lists since I didn't have enough time to do so before I left for Asia. One of the main reasons for this is that my priorities and outlook have changed since traveling and I no longer imagine myself settling back down in the bay area. The novelty has worn off, it's way too expensive, and it's clear that it's time to move on to something new. San Francisco has been very good to me and was unquestionably the right place for me during that period of my life, but that chapter has been written and now it's time for the next one. That said, a piece of me will always be here. It really is true that you leave your heart in San Francisco.
While I've very much enjoyed cooling my heels the last couple of months in Delaware and Berkeley, I can feel myself getting a little too comfortable and certainly too complacent. The next bit of traveling will probably be a small shock to the system, but a shock that's necessary. Tonight, I'm kicking off my Pacific Northwest rail adventure by taking an overnight train to Oregon. For the next week I'll be enjoying Crater Lake, Portland, and very healthy amounts of street food and microbrews.
Full photo albums: Normandy Village, Golden Gate Park
