You’re welcome to leave California. I’m staying.

The exodus isn’t what it sounds like in the media.

In 1993 I moved from beautiful Neuchâtel, Switzerland, to Mountain View, California. I wasn’t immigrating to America. I was taking a 2 year special assignment within SiliconGraphics as an IT manager in the European hub, coming for a stint to get some corporate experience at the HQ. After a year I was promoted to a more senior role that required immigration status, green card etc. I wasn’t immigrating to USA but to a country called Silicon Valley. The excitement overshadowed the marginal insanity of leaving my beautiful Swiss life, a 17th century city-center apartment by the lakefront, with stone walls and walk-in fireplaces in every room, and a work-life balance that a prince would envy. I snowboarded, windsurfed, played rugby, tennis and water skied, while enjoying great food, nightlife and stunning nature with my many great friends.

But the draw of Silicon Valley was irresistible. I was going to be the next Steve Jobs.

Well, I have not become the next Steve Jobs. But I’ve had a thoroughly lovely time living in the peninsula, then San Francisco, and now in Marin county. I love the beauty of the bay area, the rugged coast, the ocean, the golden hills and green oak patches, the foothills, Lake Tahoe, the hilly suburbs. I ride horses, ride road and mountain…