WFH Indefinitely

I’ve accepted it – I’m probably not going to be going back to the office until 2021. In my last blog, I naively thought shelter-in-place/quarantine/social distancing would only last three months tops. Hilarious. Since then, I decided to move out of the Bay Area for a little while.

Bay Area Exploration History

To give some background, here are the areas where I’ve been living ever since I moved to the Bay for my job and why:

Sunnyvale: My corporate housing was placed here. It was a clean and safe area close to some of my friends. But I found myself heading up to the city every weekend. I wanted to find a permanent place that wouldn’t depend on a 1.5-2 hr caltrain ride each way to and from the city.
Fremont: So I chose East Bay where the Union Station Bart was nearby! The townhouse that I was in was beautiful, new, and spacious. The crazily low rent also didn’t hurt. Plus, the shuttle into work without traffic took only 12 minutes. But after a bit over half a year, I was ready to move to a more bustling place.
San Franscico: And that’s how I ended up in SF! I found two roommates on Marketplace looking for a third person to fill a room in the Mission. It was a 102-year old house and you could feel it. But I loved the convenience of seeing friends, getting food, and meeting new people. This is also where I began my quarantine and WFH.
???: One day around the four-month mark of WFH, I decided that I’ve had enough paying so much rent for so little in a sketchy neighbourhood of San Francisco.

So Where?

I booked a place in San Diego for two months and left the rest undecided. This will give me some time to decide if I want to stay in SD beyond the two months, or to try living in another city.

First Impressions

While walking to a grocery store on the first day here, I was shocked by how some SD residents handled COVID-19: It was clear that there are fewer people here wearing masks in the public than in SF. In-restaurant dining was also open and people were definitely closer than six feet apart.

On July 4th long weekend, an entire street on Little Italy was closed down for pedestrians to access bars and restaurants. There were free masks being offered by the city throughout the street, but there were still several groups and families walking through crowds without masks.

After a Week

Aside from mask-related observations, it’s beautiful here! I’m still staying indoors most of the time, but I occasionally head out on bike rides around the block. The houses here generally look really well-maintained and give off a patriotic American vibe, whatever that means. Most houses have a huge Amerian flag waving somewhere on their front porch.

I’ve still got a lot to see over time here, but at least it’s nice to have a change of scenery! ☀️