I\u2019ve been very lucky to have a supportive family and a few friends that are always there to give advice. When we embarked on this trip one year ago, it was San Francisco that I thought would bring me happiness. My dream of working in tech (even if only for a short time) and making a difference (and some money) was my key to happiness. This was an important time because what my father told me as a kid was validated that happiness is more than where you live and who you know.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a kid from a small country town with a knack of development or engineering and SF has turned into your \u201cescape\u201d or chance to change your life, that may be the case but it\u2019s not going to magically happen quickly and without a ton of hard work and you won\u2019t magically become happy now that you\u2019re living here.<\/p>\n
To be frank, I moved to SF with a healthy amount of acquaintances who made things a little easier but it\u2019s friends and relationships that bring happiness and enrich your life. Paychecks, acquisitions, inventions and creations are great but the happiness isn\u2019t sustainable.<\/p>\n
As far as quality of life, SF can be wonderful if you live in a neighborhood that\u2019s clean, crime free and spacious so choose where you live carefully. I was blinded by technology, people with like interests, the golden gate bridge and possibility of finally fitting in. All of this was great but it\u2019s a quick high that subsides. Laura and I still don\u2019t have \u201cbest friends\u201d in San Francisco and I foresee this being far off given our work schedule but we are strengthening non-work relationships every day and building friendships.<\/p>\n
I had a family friend who would go to Ireland once a year to \u201cclear his mind\u201d and if he didn\u2019t go, it would cause his work performance to drop and his stress level would be out of control. He needed that escape to \u201csimpler times\u201d and SF to me was a year long getaway from \u201clife\u201d but I was looking at things the wrong way. I know know that there\u2019s a young person like me looking to get away for a change and SF isn\u2019t that city. There are other cities that are \u201csimpler\u201d while still being large and I suggest you travel the world before settling down someplace. I know this section is kind of going on and on but it\u2019s hard to truly explain what I mean.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m happy here but I didn\u2019t \u201cfind\u201d happiness. I created happiness and that\u2019s my point. You can create that anywhere and it has nothing to do with geography.<\/p>\n
Celebrities, Tourists & Homeless<\/p>\n
San Francisco isn\u2019t Los Angeles or New York and that\u2019s part of what makes it great. The title of this section does explain what the three have in common. First of all, celebrities to visit San Francisco and a few even live here. The great thing is, you\u2019ll never see them and camera crews don\u2019t follow them around. Celebrities are just like you when in SF and that\u2019s why I enjoy it here.<\/p>\n
Tourists are impossible to miss. I\u2019d like to help you not be a tourist. First of all, don\u2019t ever visit Fisherman\u2019s Wharf unless you\u2019re going to In-N-Out Burger. Also, don\u2019t buy a shirt, hat, wrist strap, jacket or thong that has \u201cSan Francisco\u201d written on it. Trust me, it\u2019s no cool and you\u2019re a total tourist if you do. Don\u2019t go to Union Square for any reason because it\u2019s all tourists. Finally, don\u2019t wear a camera around your neck, ride the cable car stop on the sidewalk to stare at things. Over a dozen times, I\u2019ve been walking on the sidewalk as a couple of tourists stop randomly to look at a building. Move to the side before you stop please because if you don\u2019t, you\u2019re a tourist.<\/p>\n
When our current mayor, Gavin Newsom was elected to SF city office, one of his primary goals was reducing homelessness in San Francisco. Well, it\u2019s up and still rising. Over half of San Francisco is to the point where you can\u2019t walk a single block without being asked for money. I\u2019ve given money but I can\u2019t always give since I\u2019d be broke by the time I got to work. It\u2019s a city problem that must be fixed. All I can do is warn you. Don\u2019t give, say now, don\u2019t play along if someone starts singing to you and always keep your eyes open for suspicious characters, especially at night. I\u2019d go in more detail on this but there\u2019s not much to say for the sake of this post.<\/p>\n
I only wrote 15 pages and really was looking forward to writing more of this but there were some things more appropriate for a separate blog entry and others that I\u2019ll save for a special occasion.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been very lucky to have a supportive family and a few friends that are always there to…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-one-year-in-sf","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-5J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3071,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/09\/07\/one-year-in-new-hampshire\/","url_meta":{"origin":355,"position":0},"title":"\u2605 One Year in New Hampshire","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It was always my intention to share with you a post that could measure up to my experiences and emotions around the last 12 months. 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