It feels crazy to write, but on July 17th, I am moving to San Francisco with my wife and two young boys.

When I was 10 years old, my parents visited the University of San Diego for an academic sabbatical. My sister and I left our UK schools for a year and joined a junior school called Del Mar Heights. We lived in a house right next to the beach in Del Mar and often joked that we could go for a morning swim if we wanted, even though we rarely did.

I don’t remember how I felt when my parents first told me we were doing this. I just knew at some point that this was the plan and that it was happening, but I don’t remember feeling nervous at all. I was the “English kid” in California. That’s even how I eventually introduced myself to the kids that I met.

I quickly made friends. Having some from a formal school environment in the UK where I was being bullied, this was a fresh start. I loved it. I was popular. I discovered I was actually quite good at ‘soccer’, joined a football team that played in a state league on weekends, had a crew I hung with, and the cutest girl in the year by far was my girlfriend. I was living the English dream like Colin from Love Actually.

That was the first of many special times visiting California, having been there a dozen or so times since. Each time, I felt a lingering sense that I should stay longer.

In July 2025, I spent the full month road-tripping around California with my wife and two young boys. We arrived in Palo Alto, drove up to Mill Valley, Stinson Beach, and Sonoma. Then stayed at Lake Tahoe, continued through Yosemite and down to Los Angeles before driving back up the coast. It was magical, and it was when we first had the thought that maybe we should try spending some time living here.

A lot has been written about what makes that place so special, and I don’t think it’s just the weather, although that helps. Somehow, the boundless optimism we Brits often deride as delusional creates a melting pot where people believe in themselves far more than elsewhere in the world. Many times, the delusion label is right. But just about often enough, it is wrong!

We are getting better at this in the UK, but we still have a long way to go, in my opinion, to unshackle ourselves from the natural cultural scepticism that can hold us back. I certainly felt this when interacting with people on more traditional paths while starting Sano 10 years ago, and I know that the path of betting on yourself to build a company is much more accepted now, which is a great thing.

For now, I am riding the AI wave as part of an amazing team building new experiences in the gaming industry. I’m looking forward to sharing more about it - but I’ll save that for another time!