A quick recap of where I have been -
I finally, finally went to Israel. A place that I dreamed to go ever since I heard about it. For details of my trip to Israel, here is the post about it. All I can say is that it was a life changing journey for me.
I wanted to move back to the east coast - New York to be exact. But after living there for a few weeks I realized NYC is probably not the best place to continue my much loved tech career. However, it's still not out of the question, because I love my friends there and of course, the city.
From May to July, I came to Chile the first time. I volunteered in a village four hours south of Santiago. I haven't told people much about it except close friends, but right there, being far away from everything else and isolated, I think I finally had come to terms with a lot of personal issues that were bothering me for a long time. Epiphany? Not quite. Peace of mind? Definitely.
So why am I here in again? Because I won a startup grant from the Chilean government! Startup Chile gave this 40k, no equity grant for entrepreneur to start their business in Chile; in exchange, we have to stay in Chile for 6 months. For most people in the industry, 40k is a small change. It would not be hard for me to get that amount to seed my startup idea in the Silicon Valley, but I chose to come back to Santiago because I wanted to have another opportunity to live in a foreign country. I like Chile, and I have no problem (well, beside the language barrier) living there for another six months. And I hoped that I could be more focused in Chile because I just had too many activities and fun stuff at home that I got distracted super easily. However, at this point, I feel like my calendar in Santiago is even fuller than the one at home. :/
Santiago is not a cheap place to live. It feels like Portugal - a modern country but is still not fully developed. It is not as pricey as San Francisco but the cost of living here is definitely higher than most other South American countries. This time I am staying in a bohemian district where I can walk to a lot of restaurants, shops, galleries, and I can even hear street opera from my apartment. This is exactly what I wanted! And thank god the government pays for our rent and all other basic expenses. I was tired of my American life of 18 years and I needed a change. My place is Emeryville is very hip and trendy, but I still couldn't get away with the suburb feel. San Francisco is always going to be home, but now I just want to go somewhere else for a bit.
I am revived. It feels great to leave the corporate world and take the plunge. There will be a lot of challenges ahead, and I probably will fail many times before I succeed (or not). To me, life is all about experience. I figured this is probably my last chance to do something crazy like this before I settle again. I look forward to the challenges and learn about running a tech business from scratch.
Last but not least, I do very much miss my friends and family in California.
