A month in America

I recently got back from a month-long trip to America.

I’ve been looking forward to returning since my last San Francisco trip in September. That trip sparked an idea: “what would it be like to move to the US?” and before the end of last year, I was ready to seriously consider the idea.

A lot has changed since then, enough to make me rethink the idea entirely. By the time I boarded my flight to New York, I was convinced I had erased that thought for good.

But of course, coming back home, I haven’t stopped thinking about the trip. Especially what it might be like to actually live where the heartbeat of tech still pulls at my curiosity.

A thought to seriously entertain another time maybe. 🤷

---

New York City

I hadn’t been back since my first visit in 2017 where I mostly covered the main tourist spots for 10 days.

I was excited to return to make some new memories and spend as much time with my long-distance friend and fellow OG blogger Georgie who I hadn’t seen since 2022 in Greece.

When I landed at JFK, you bet there were tears and screaming as soon as I saw Georgie. It was a special trip for both of us: we’d each been going through it in our own way.

We jokingly called this our redemption trip, but deep down we meant it. A much-needed reset. A chance to feel like ourselves again.

Highlights

• Exploring different neighbourhoods more like a local (rather than just doing touristy stuff)
• Visting Cornelia Street, the Friends apartment and Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment
• Getting matching Polène handbags with Georgie
• The variety of dinner spots! My favourite was at Gramercy Tavern 👌
• Going to my first ever comedy show with TéJaun
• Meeting Marie for the first time IRL after being connected on Instagram since 2017 and having incredible Filipino food together at Naks
• Attending our Vercel Developer Community meet-up, organised by the wonderful Kap and meeting our community and NYC Vercelian crew

See also: New York in 30 seconds.

I was so sure that nothing could have beat the epic 10 days I spent in the East Coast. My calendar and heart was full: I was quite literally running around the city meeting friends, exploring and working during the day.

And then…

San Francisco

This was my third time in the city, and I don’t know how, but somehow it keeps getting better. The moment I landed, I felt it like I was returning to a place that could easily be home.

It was odd to see the lack of people in comparison to New York (especially in the neighbourhood I stayed in) I swear I saw more Waymos roaming around at one point.

For the next two weeks, I spent most of it in San Francisco.

As usual, I went into my Twitter/X mutuals DMs and reached out to connect.

Not everyone likes to talk tech, after a certain point I hate it too, but there is something special diving in deep about tech with people who obsess over it as much as I do.

Of course there’s a balance, but it really is energising for me (maybe that’s why I’m not bad at my job, eh? 🫢)

Highlights

• Keeping up with the energy that comes from working West Coast hours
• Co-working with Sam on a Sunday because we’re so locked in
• Seeing Rhiannon again, and yapping about tech communities, travel and life. What’s new?
• Visiting GitHub SF HQ. Thank you Rebekah for the tour!
• Meeting Tarlon for the first time after following each other on social media for years
• My good friend Joe also made it on this side of the world. We spent time a lot of together exploring the city one coffee shop at a time, and prompting v0 in a Waymo on our way to have dinner with tech friends. Yep, you read that right.

Monterey

The main reason for my visit to the States was actually Vercel’s company offsite (or ORTBO) in Monterey. My friend, colleague and Vercel Community logo designer, Riz, wrote this great summary which is well worth a read!

Highlights

• Presenting the Community team‘s ambitious plans for 2025
• Having a team meeting by the beach with Amy
• Co-emceeing the offsite alongside Greta. I’ve done a lot of public speaking in the past, but this was my biggest crowd. I even got a couple of laughs from my bad jokes.
• Winning a Vercel Values and team award 🥹
• Trying to meet all 550 Vercelians in person – I think I got to about 100!

Honestly? I’m having the best time I’ve ever had in my career so far. And when I’m having a great time, I usually produce my best work. I think it’s showing. 😇

Yosemite

The weekend after the offsite, I went on my first American road trip to Yosemite.

It was also my first time visiting a National Park, and it was so worth the long drive especially after such a full-on few days.

I just needed a weekend away from tech, people… everything, really. 🤣

After spending time road-tripping around California, I realised why I love it here so much: it reminds me of my favourite places in the UK (like the Peak District) and even bits of Athens in Greece.

A surprising mix, but California…really got me this time.

See also: California in 30 seconds.

---

Just move.

The plane ride back to London sucked.

My iPhone was running out of memory from all the photos I took, my suitcase was stuffed with gifts and trinkets from both coasts, and I’d been rotating the same handful of outfits… none of which I liked anymore. 💀

Despite the uncomfortable 10-hour journey, I felt full of energy again. Something I had briefly lost back in early March.

The week in March was probably my worst one of 2025; I completely crashed, over something I truly don’t even remember now. 😅

Whoever says travel can’t fix your problems is probably right btw. But what travel can give you is perspective.

Outside your comfort zone and day-to-day routine, sometimes you just need a reminder of what really matters.

For me? It’s the love from friends all over the world, doing mysterious and important work that lights you up and realising life’s far too short to stay exactly where you are (if that’s your calling… 💜)