I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to move to San Francisco last year and build my startup.
I moved all the way from New Delhi – and now when I look back, I realize there are some simple experiences that have become everyday for me that I never could get in my previous life, regardless of how much money I spent.
1. Infinite Sum Tech Thinking
I wrote about this before, but this entire city of 800,000 people breathes tech. And everyone encourages startups.
Since everyone has seen the startup life up close, they encourage the spirit and help through difficulties.
In India, during the early stages, most of the people in my life couldn’t comprehend what it feels to want to be a founder and were actively discouraging.
2. Clean Air
Air quality in Delhi goes up to 1,000 AQI in the winter months.
No, that’s not a joke. Air like that is as bad as tens of cigarettes per day and shaves off years off your life.
In fact, it is so bad, that there has barely been any human research on what the impact it – I looked into this a few year ago and the best trials then only went up to around 200 AQI with data from China.
In San Francisco, I regularly get AQIs of < 10. It’s amazing, and running to Dolores Park and breathing this in is pure joy.
3. Silence
I like living in cities1 but I don’t think I ever experienced pure silence in Delhi, ever – there’s always some street noises and cars honking, basically 24x7. The only way I got close to silence was through noise cancelling headphones, which I used basically all day.
Admittedly, SF isn’t perfect. The previous neighborhood I lived in2 has a huge noise problem, there are ships or factories blaring every morning.
My new one (Noe Valley) is much better in that regards – I can often meditate in my balcony to a complete and pure silence, just the (in)famous SF wind.
4. Pleasant Driving
This is actually a realistic view of the type of traffic I used to regularly drive in.
Everyone generally follows road rules here, drivers generally don’t use the horn and every follows lane driving rules.
I have one great friend who let me drive his cool car around to help me experience that, because affording a car in SF is pretty much impossible. Skyline Blvd in California is a transcendental joy.
5. Cultural Mixing Pot
India follows a much more homogeneous culture than San Francisco.
Back home, I primarily met people who had been born and grown up in the northern part of India, like I had.
Just a few minutes walk away from my new place, I can stumble into an authentic Japanese Izakaya, an Indian fine-dining, and a Palestinian place.