Why I Just Moved Out Of London
Jul 10, 2024 10:06 am
Hey 👋, Enrico here
recognize this room?
this is the room in London where I shot most of my videos in for the last year ..and it's now empty and all packed up.
Yes, I moved out of London
During my 2 years in London I:
- Met dozens of cool people working at DeepMind, Apple, Google, OpenAI and the craziest new startups
- Met up for coffee with someone that worked on the Google Glass project
- Drank free beer at events with VCs managing XXXM$ funds
- Was invited to YouTube creator events (with more free beer)
- Met artists, including an up and coming international DJ who invited me at a private DJ set in a cake shop
- Met brands and sponsors, which led to brand deals for my YouTube channel
On paper, London had everything.
So, why 🤔?
Why leave the most attractive city in Europe for tech, which is what I do for a job as a Product Manager and what I talk about in my YouTube channel?
When I moved to London from Milan I thought I should go to the place that maximizes opportunity for growth.
And it did.
But overtime I realized that I was missing something, because despite all the amazing opportunities it didn't feel like Home 🏠.
I met tons of people, true, but..
🌎 London is a global city where people come and go and don't stay for the long term. So I would meet people I was excited about and become friends, only for them to move somewhere else after a few months
🚴 London is a gigantic city and meeting people requires planning, there's no such thing as the spontaneous "let's meet at the bar in the center of town" if you live 1.5hrs away by transit
📈 People come to cities like London, New York, or San Francisco to make it. That included myself. But this also means that making friends, especially if you already have a group, is not a priority.
London gave me everything I thought I needed career-wise and tech-wise.
But especially working remotely I realized that
Home is not about the city, the buildings, the weather, how many the events there are..
..it's about the environment of people you create in that place.
I'll come back often to visit (thank you 30€ Ryanair flights) and I have already some projects in the works in London, but I just won't live there anymore.
And so.. What now?
I'm currently in my hometown of Lazise in Italy:
where I'm spending time with hometown friends and enjoying part of the summer
and in a few days I'll be leaving for some digital nomading for 1 month to somewhere I've never been to.
Here's a hint -> 🐒🏝️🇮🇩
(Don't worry I'll tell you all about it in the next newsletter)
Personal Life videos?
I've always shied away from making videos about my personal life, on topics such as this one, but something I love is to help people out with my stories and experiences.
So, would you be interested in more videos about my personal life?
Let me know by replying to this email 📧
📹 Learn how I make my videos
If you missed, I launched Storybehind, an practical hands-on look behind the scenes of my most successful videos that got millions of views.
You can check out Storybehind here
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See you in the next one!
- Enrico