Thriving in a new city alone; a list

Aug 23 2023 · 2 min

Throughout the past 4 years of my university career, I’ve worked 3 internships in 3 drastically different cities - remote from Vancouver, hybrid from Toronto, and hybrid from San Francisco.

San Francisco has been my favorite experience by far, simply because I was forced outside of my comfort zone. I had nobody in my rolodex in SF, yet I felt completely at home after 10 short weeks. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some activities, experiences, and methods to meet people that I hope can inspire you.

DMed a guy on Reddit who was responding to a “How to meet recent college grads” in a r/askSF thread, who eventually introduced me to my two best SF friends.
Rented bikes and explored Golden Gate Park, Land’s End, and the Presidio. Loved the West Coast nature.
Tried to ride the subway to a 12km run (Bay to Breakers) at 5 am. Incorrectly assumed it was open — but I did meet a Stanford professor who let me ride in his Uber!
Drove 4 hours in complete darkness through the California desert to make it to our Yosemite Airbnb.
Experienced the beautiful, purely-American Alamo Theatre, which was leagues better than any Canadian theatre.
Met a drunk start-up founder outside the club at 2 am, who subsequently bought a tab of acid off a random dude and popped it with zero hesitation.
Enjoyed a sleepless night at my flat in the Mission because the Verizon across the street was robbed and the alarm was going off all night.
Had an amazing clubbing night at Monroe (stay till the end for the fog) until I realized my shirt was inside out the whole night… by the way, you can pay $20 to skip the line.
Worked until midnight… my manager was also online despite being in EST, which really put things into perspective.
Had a “beach day” where it was completely overcast, windy, and the sand was cold — but hey, there was a lot of beer!
Got to ride a motorcycle for the first time; looking back, the SF hills might’ve not been the best spot to start.
Didn’t cook a single meal.

I am leaving for Barcelona to study abroad in two weeks. Another dimension shift!