As I finalize my move to San Francisco, I realize I’m scared.

I’m not afraid of San Francisco.

I’m not afraid that I won’t be successful.

It’s the overwhelming thought of the unknown in a new city that causes butterflies in my stomach.

photo credit: M Skaffari

I’ve just started reading Annie‘s book, “Knit With Courage Live With Hope” where she shares her journey of moving from New Jersey to Minnesota and her husbands sudden health battle with Multiple Myeloma.

She blogged all this. I found myself devouring the pages; curious to see what would happen to the Modesitt family next.

I’m struggling with this fear and I’m going to do my best to share my moving progress here on the blog.

Stories

Today I talked with my friend Brad, asking him for advice on where to hold a going away party. He’s the life of the party. Even if he doesn’t know anyone, just give him 15 minutes and he’ll have an entire section of the room laughing out loud. I love his laugh. It sounds like a happy fish gurgling a although he probably would wouldn’t want me to share my thoughts on his laughter sounds!

He shared to San Francisco stories with me today.

Story one

He-man woman in San Francisco. They laughed. They talked. She said, “Hey! Do you want to meet my friends?”. He said yes and they went off to hang out with several of her friends. He had a great time. He stayed in contact with this woman for several years afterwards and remembers the warm, fuzzy feelings of just being welcomed in even though he was a stranger.

Story two

Another time in San Francisco, Brad got lost. He was walking and finally stopped after directions. The people were so concerned that he had lost his way, they actually walked him back about half a mile and made sure he got his destination.

Brad says that the people in San Francisco are some of the nicest, friendliest, warm, helpful people he has ever met. He should know. He travels all over the United States talking with doctors because he sells drugs. He’s good at it too *smile*

We learn by listening. Through the stories of others, there are valuable lessons that we can apply to our own lives. We can feel inspired, concerned and most importantly hopeful.

What’s different this time

I’ve moved a lot in the past. Pretty much every couple of years. But moving from Minneapolis to St. Paul isn’t like moving across the country.

What if I forgot something in Minneapolis?

I’ve been here for 26 years. I came here in 1984 when I was six years old. The Twin Cities have been home for a while.

Last year, I did a lot of traveling. I was scared of traveling last year. And year before that. It was for the same reasons that I’m feeling now. The unknown.

Last year, something happened. I began to look forward to traveling. I felt excited about my next trip. The frustrations that I used to experience while traveling occurred less often. A big part of this was GPS.

Self-sufficiency through GPS

I used to print out a lot of directions. I would then constantly refer to these printed directions as I was driving. I can’t understand when people would say, “Go north 2 miles”. How was I supposed to know what direction north was and what 2 miles look like on the road?

Sometimes I would cry. Yes, I would pull over on the side of the road and just cry. Cry because it was late. Cry because I was lost. Cried because I had no idea how to get back on track. I guess you could say I cried because I felt powerless.

GPS changed all that for me.

My first GPS device was a Dell Axim running Windows mobile 2003. I had time installed on it and had purchased a Bluetooth GPS receiver which transmitted data from the satellites to the Dell Axim and into the Tomtom software. I got this because of the deep friend of mine who suggested it. At first, I didn’t think I needed but then I realized just how essential it was too empowering me.

That was 2007. I’ve come a long way.

Now I use GPS on my iPhone. Even when I take public transit in other cities or in a taxi, I’ll pull Google maps and “track” myself.

I no longer cry because I don’t get lost anymore. In fact by using GPS devices for the last few years, I have a much better sense of orientation and surprise myself!

What I’ve heard about San Francisco

Everyone says I love it. Everyone says it’s very expensive.

I welcome the next chapter in my life and the work to share with you here.