Wow, what a fall it's been. In the last two months I moved from Tokyo to Texas, to San Francisco, back to Texas. This has thrown a lot of things into relief. I've had enough time to stew on what happened and its consequences.
Getting an offer to go to San Francisco was achieving a dream I had two years prior, at the end of grad school. The vision had been to move to Silicon Valley, join the internet business, do interesting things, and enjoy the wonderful quality of life that the area has to offer.
The timing couldn't have been better. I had just been priced out of Tokyo. Compared to my early days of working in the city, the yen weakened by roughly 30%. Here's a graph showing the relative power of the yen during the time:
This is bad when you hold staggering debt in dollars. Student loans become 30% harder to pay, relentlessly, every month.
I was already tired of life in Japan. My job's biggest challenge was to my patience. Friends were good, but I missed my oldest and best friends, and the main activity was heavy drinking. My liver was tired, too. As much as I adore sushi, my palate craved breakfast tacos. And I was also growing disinterested in Tokyo's dating scene - figures that I'd meet someone special at exactly that time.
Looming bankruptcy, or a fiscal bailout from family, or a grossly irresponsible lengthening of the terms of payment, was the final push out of Tokyo.
My first month home was intense. After a couple weeks adjusting from jet lag, I packed my possessions in the GTI and set a course for SF.
I spent a week in SF. It was great to be among old friends, but I had been ambushed. Based on previous experience in California, I knew SF wouldn't be cheap. But since I had last lived in the state, San Francisco had inflated itself wildly. I just received this direct comparison this morning:
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Tokyo are 15.53% lower than in San Francisco, CAMy options had effectively become to string myself along, paycheck-to-paycheck, commuting 90 minutes each way, all for the sake of Living in California; or return home, be nearer to more friends and family, start building financial assets, and spend time working on Musivu. As I woke up in a beautiful San Francisco apartment that wasn't mine, poorly slept, seemingly physically incapable of going to the office, the decision was a no-brainer. I've come back home again. At 29, I'm relieved that I'm still able to. The special someone, who even prior to meeting me had her heart set on living in San Francisco, is willing to give Texas a shot. I'm still processing what I think of life here, away from Tokyo, having walked away from an interesting career in data. If in name only, I accomplished dreams from a prior chapter of life. I'm sure that walking away from all that will have consequences that play out for years to come. It's time to reassess and think about the next set of dreams. |