Moving to another country is exhausting. I think I probably heavily underestimated the toll it would take on me mentally and physically, because I came here with so much enthusiasm and excitement that I forgot to take a moment to breathe.

Only this week, after a couple nights of me time on the sofa with some comforting home made dinner, I started to realise that moving to the other side of the world, to a crazy expensive city you’ve never been to and a country you’ve only seen on television, is no easy feat.

Social life in SF

Socially, life here has been great. To put it simply, the people really match my vibe. Planning last minute or just not at all, always open to inviting friends of friends and up for a spontaneous night out. I’ve organised an accidental dinner with 20 people for Chinese New Year, gone to an illegal techno rave in a bunker (there wasn’t even a bar or toilet) and multiple house parties.

It’s been over a month and I’m still in contact with most people I met via Craigslist viewings on a regular basis. People text or call me spontaneously to hang out or go surfing, unlike in the Netherlands where I feel like I always have to stalk the **** out of people to get them to go out with me.

People also seem more open to having random plus ones over and meeting new people, whether it’s for dinner or bringing people to a house party. Alix and I actually met via Colin, a guy that I met on a surf trip in Hossegor two years ago and haven’t seen since, but was she was still very excited to meet up. Same goes for Nick and his family. I’m not sure how open people would be to those types of introductions in the Netherlands and whether they’d actually be able to find time.

Surf’s up

I did it! I surfed Ocean Beach and had the time of my life (ignoring the fact that I spent half the time in the water feeling fairly cold and couldn’t really feel my hands at the end of the session). Ocean beach is right by San Francisco and known for it’s gnarly waves that can get up to 10ft high on a good day and where it will take surfers up to 30 minutes to peddle out with very strong currents.

It’s been on my bucket list for a while, but I’ve been waiting for the right conditions to try it out for the first time. It was a relatively small day for OB with waves between 4-6ft (1.2-2m), which I was worried would still be too much for me considering the long period and the powerful ground swell. It turned out great, the waves were clean, steep and fast, so it definitely took some adapting but it was awesome.

Other spots I’ve been to now include Half Moon Bay, Stinson beach, Santa Cruz and Pacifica, where the other notable surf experience was at Stinson beach, 20 miles North of SF. Not only because of the incredible route through the mountains with stunning views but also because of a mysterious heavy fog that swallowed the beach and any view I might have had beyond 5 meters such that I was looking into infinite whiteness.