How a pandemic and a city taught me to slow down
Sometimes the best things start without a plan. Rewind to 2021 – a year into the COVID pandemic. I was living in San Francisco, doing my best to find joy in everyday life when the world felt like it was at a standstill. With nowhere to be and nothing to do, I started exploring the city on foot before and after work. Every neighborhood, every viewpoint, every hidden staircase. I was looking for beauty in the ordinary, and somewhere along the way I found it.
From Southeast Asia to SF to lockdown – my winding road to blogging
A little backstory: I had just moved back to San Francisco in late 2019 after a solo backpacking trip through Southeast Asia – a few months bumping around in hostels after buying a one-way ticket to Thailand (story for another time). I was still finding my footing in the city when March 2020 hit and everything changed. I started a new job the second week of March and then, just like that, we went into lockdown.
So I did what made sense at the time – I walked. New parks, new neighborhoods, hilltop viewpoints, streets lined with painted Victorians. My previous blog, SF Gal, was born out of that restlessness and curiosity. I didn’t have a grand plan – I just wanted to document what I loved about the city and share the honest experience of trying to make San Francisco feel like home. After a while, people started reaching out on Instagram to say my neighborhood guides and personal stories actually helped them figure out where they fit in the city. That meant everything to me.
Then vaccines rolled out, life picked back up, and somewhere in the busyness of it all I left the blog behind. When I moved out of San Francisco in late 2023, I deleted it entirely and closed that chapter.
Starting over in San Diego
San Diego feels like home to me now.
I know a lot of you are trying to figure out whether San Diego is the right move, or just searching for the place that finally feels like “yours.”
This is my story of getting there.
Not just finding a place to live, but finding somewhere that actually fits. Somewhere that doesn’t feel like you’re trying to force it to work.
A little bit about me
For those who don’t know me – helllloooo, I’m an early 30s SD gal who packed up her life, loaded her two cats into an SUV, and moved to San Diego from San Francisco a few years ago not knowing a single person here. Zero connections to this city. I just had a gut feeling and went for it.
I fell in love immediately and never looked back. (Read more about my moving story here).
In early 2026, I left my business development career in tech to become a real estate agent. It felt like a natural next step – I’ve always enjoyed helping people find the right place to live. I’ve also started over in a new city myself, so I know how much it matters to land somewhere that actually fits your life.
These days I live a block from the beach with my boyfriend Dave and my two Siberian cats, Binky and Mishka. Life is good.
This blog is my little love letter to San Diego. You’ll find more on neighborhoods, moving advice, local favorites, my personal stories, and the unfiltered version of what it’s actually like to live here. Follow along. 🤍
→ Follow on Instagram: @karenxding
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