You might be someone who likes to meticulously plan every little step ahead. In my case and based on my extensive experiences in traveling and moving, I like to arrive somewhere knowing that I have somewhere to stay for the first couple of nights, and then slowly find my way around town and get a better picture of what is actually going on.

This is also exactly how I’ve (not) planned a lot in regard to my arrival in the Valley. I was lucky enough to find friends of friends who would offer me a couch to sleep on for a couple of nights – this was basically the only thing I really knew for certain when I boarded my plane in Vienna and left for Heathrow, London, where I would stay for a few hours and get transferred on my next flight to San Francisco Airport.

Arriving at SFO airport was an amazing experience in itself. I had left Vienna at around 6:30am and my plane touched down in California at around 2:15pm. However, my entire journey took for about 16 hours, so back at home (and in my mind) it was around midnight when I finally steps out of the airport and saw the bright sun and the blue sky for the first time which has since then kept my company for pretty much every day.

It was actually the first time I’ve experienced a proper jetlagg and I have to admit, it felt as if my brain was only running on about 60 per cent capacity. If at all. With this in mind you can maybe imagine how confused I was looking around the airport, trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to get to downtown SF. The answer is BART, as in Bay Area Rapid Transport, and it basically gets you right to Powell Street / Market Street, downtown San Francisco.

Image: sfoopssec.flysfo.com