How I did it: I made a friend online from a web forum I frequent. We both had very similar interests and thought it would be lots of fun to live together someday. She was going to move to SF in four months for college, and I loved the west coast since I first visited a few years back, so it sounded like a great idea. We found an apartment, I saved up like crazy, and on New Year's Eve I found myself boarding the Amtrak from Chicago to SF with all of my stuff, it was such an adventure!

Lessons & tips: Be determined. Find a job and apartment before you go! Craigslist is the way to go for housing. You'll pay more living in SF, but there's so much to do, so many fascinating people, and the quality of life is great.

Jul 01, 2009, 11:14PM PDT | 1 comment | 3 cheers