It's official! Time to create my new "perfect bubble" in San Francisco!
I love the change. I am adventurous and open for new experiences. That means, for example, that I always try to order a new item from the menu when I go to the same restaurant. But that also means that one day my husband and I were able to pack our stuff, accumulated over the last 10 years in Boston, into a shipping container and a couple of suitcases and move our family across the country to San Francisco. To be more precise, after 2 years of entertaining the idea of living on the West coast, we finally made it happen this week. While my hubby decided to do his 'manly thing' and drive across the country, our daughter and I opted for an easier and much quicker 6-hour flight. And here we are, excited to call San Francisco our new home, at least for the nearest future!
Creating my "bubble" from scratch
As much as I love the change, I am also a perfectionist. I work hard on creating my "perfect bubble" wherever I am, such as finding my favorite grocery stores, vegetable deliveries, trusted doctors, hair stylists, activities, developing my social circle and, of course, creating my perfect exercise routine. It is extremely important for me to have a smooth and satisfying exercise routine, which involves a conveniently located gym with great fitness class offerings, a few great studios nearby , and a couple of exercise buddies. I shared my two-year "trial and error" journey to finding a perfect gym setup in one of my earlier posts.
Moving to San Francisco means that I have to start it all over again. For example, it is very important for me to find top notch trusted health care providers for my family, as well as some other services. However, those are the services we don't use very often. So I'm willing to go a bit out of my way for a better service. The situation is different, however,with a gym. Since I go to the gym 4-5 times a week, it's location is one of the deal breakers for me. I know I can be overly paranoid with my perfect gym and exercise routine. But I've been in a situation before when I couldn't find a good gym nearby and it made me very unhappy. So I'm not willing to settle with imperfect here.
Time to expand my boundaries
I got quite concerned when I realized that there was no Equinox (my gym in Boston) in the area I'll be living in. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be a big gym here at all, but rather a bunch of smaller specialized studios. So here is my new project for the next few weeks as we settle down in our new home - to explore workout alternatives in the area and come up with my new routine that will make me happy, keep me fit and will work well with my schedule and other priorities.
On the bright side, even if I'm not able to recreate a routine similar to the one I had in Boston, this gives me a chance to try new things. There is such a wide variety of classes and physical activities that I've never done before, such as cross fit or rowing, for example. Or who knows, maybe I get into marshal arts? I will do my best to stay open minded and explore what this versatile city has to offer.
What was your biggest fear or challenge when moving to a new place? Besides friends and family, what did you miss most right after your move?