New York to San Francisco

Starting Over at 40

My fiancé got an amazing promotion and we’re moving to San Francisco. Leaving behind an entire life in New York City. A routine, a comfortability.

We were never hip, cutting-edge New Yorkers by any stretch but we mined this city for everything we could. We chased down and checked off the tourists traps as well as the truly New Yorkian landmarks like the Met (Ballet, Opera,& Museum) The MoMa, Museum of Natural History, The Zoos and Botanical Gardens, Broadway, restaurants and food trucks.

We ate our weight in pizza and bagels. We became best friends with the guys and girls at our neighborhood Duane Reade.

And we walked. Boy did we ever walk. Crossing Manhattan from the FDR to the West Side highway. From the Battery to Yankee Stadium, Wave Hill, Harlem and more.

This was my Manhattan story.

Before anyone has a conniption about me not being a real New Yorker because I live in Manhattan let me quickly dispel that disillusion by saying I had a previous life in Brooklyn. Two in fact. As well as one in the Bronx. But these last two plus years, this was all about Manhattan.

And now tomorrow it will end. We will watch our movers drive away and then board a plane for the Bay.

It’s different then my previous moves to the West and back to the East again. On those journeys I packed what I could into my Ford Focus and hit the road.

Life is a little different now. Starting with what will happen later today. My fiancé’s company is paying for our move so in order for their insurance to cover everything we have to let them pack.

Which granted is a nice feature to be sure. But sitting idly by while other people touch all of our things is not and never has been our strong suit. For me I think it’s more the fact that we live in a one bedroom so I’m just not sure what I’ll do with myself.

Sit in the tub?

By tomorrow evening we will be in San Francisco. I think that is the hidden benefit of making the drive. You really feel the largeness of it. Your life, right along with the geography, feels as though it’s shifting. For me it always felt as though driving west was literally driving into something big. Like the Rockies. And returning home was a descending from the clouds to something more stable, more familiar, more real. Now granted a large part of that was just the feeling that LA is La-La Land.

San Francisco feels different. Or I’m almost certain it will. It’s always felt a bit like an adult fairytale. Some foggy, bridge-filled, advanced Super Mario Bros level. When we’ve mentioned it to others almost everyone has a severe opinion. ITS GREAT! has been met with just as many, I HATE IT!s

For us though we’re ecstatic. The allure of this new undiscovered city is more than enough to make us ignore the people who have harped on the city’s homeless, the constant overcast weather, the potential quaking of the earth, and the expense.

Granted we’re beyond fortunate that we find ourselves in a place to handle the expense because San Francisco today is nothing if not a volatile hot-bed of tech-fueled gentrification. I’m sure if there is the socioeconomic gap we’ll be placed squarely in the ‘haves’ camp. But I’d love to think that as I move once again West. With a new start and a new life I can help. That maybe I can help do something to improve the situation. Or at the very least not just sit idly by and act as if it’s someone else’s problem.

It’s funny how much I love a city that I’ve never lived in. I’m not sure when my personal infatuation with San Francisco began. It was either when I was a kid and my sister showed me film, Big Trouble in Little China.

Or, like so many other east coasters it was when I first heard the opening lines of Casey Jones by the Grateful Dead.

I’m sure there were other things too. The allure of Alcatraz. The memory of the Giants/As earthquake World Series. The Oakland Raiders. Berkeley. Silicon Valley. Our very first Apple Computer.

Hell, if I had to really think about the first time I had a feel for the mystical side of Northern California I could point directly to either E.T. or Ewoks.

Ah Wicket! My old friend! Many adventures we have had together. I hope this finds you well.

My love of this part of the country has always been strong and as I said it’s odd considering I’ve never lived there.

I suppose that carries with it some cause for concern. I know as well as anyone that idolizing a place or a person usually leads to disappointment or at least a marginal let down.

But as we go out there now and try to start fresh maybe that’s exactly what’s needed. That city has the potential to be whatever we make of it. It’s not to say there won’t be highs and lows but we can make it as wonderful as we want and we’re excited for the adventure!