First week in San Francisco
General insights on staying here for a week
So I've recently flown to San Francisco (USA) to stay here for a month - mostly to attend tech conferences and events. Last year I was here for a week so this time I had decided to stay longer, in order to be able to “take in” the experience
I've structured this post in two parts:
Thoughts
Costs
Reflections after 1 week
Thoughts
Let me preface by saying that my experience is mostly that of an average person who comes here looking for tech-related things. I’ve spoken to quite a few people outside of this “bubble,” and their lives are quite different, they work in pharmacies, restaurants, or other regular jobs. They just happen to live in SF.
It’s amazing how many people actually come here for the exact same reason. I’ve been going to events and met so many others who are in the city for a few weeks or months, mostly for the same purpose. It’s a bit like visiting tourist spots: you mostly end up surrounded by other tourists.
There are events every day and every week. I came here without much structure, the plan was just to sign up for random events and start discovering. I’ve mostly used these three platforms:
Luma → Probably the best-known event-finding website here. Works quite well, you sign up, get accepted, and go. You’ll quickly notice there are events every day on tons of different topics.
Cerebral Valley → This one is more focused on AI but still gathers plenty of interesting stuff. It also lists some global events.
Starter to SF → I found this guide by accident, but it’s really useful. It curates a lot of the relevant things you should know before coming to SF.
This was my calendar for the first week:
All of these were through Luma, just signing up and waiting for an invite. One thing I’ve learned is that for most events, you can often just show up and see how it goes. If you arrive early without an invite, it’s quite possible to get in.
You never know who you’re going to meet. I’d like to think I’ve met at least one cool person at every event and that’s usually enough for me, since that’s the main reason I’m here. You need to be comfortable randomly chatting with people, it’s actually “expected” here. Overall, the people I’ve talked to have been kind and open. You’ll find some quirky personalities, but that’s normal anywhere.
Age-wise, there’s a mix, but most people I’ve met have been in the 20–25 range, which is interesting. Maybe it’s just the types of events I’ve been going to.
Also, a lot of people use events for free food, networking, job hunting, or selling something, which is quite normal. You start to recognize it after a few events.
Coffee shops
Coffee shops are a great place to work from - as long as you buy something. Someone told me: “Just get the $4 espresso or americano - think of it as rent.”
I’ve learned that there are strategic coffee shops near well-known companies or VC funds where you’ll often find people from those places. If you want to meet them, that’s where you go. I randomly struck up conversations with a VC from a famous fund and an angel investor just by sitting there.
Hacker houses
There’s also the concept of “hacker houses” or “startup houses”, big shared houses where people live and work together. The coolest one I saw was run by a European startup: the founding couple moved to SF, rented a four-bedroom place, and had their team live there too.
It’s a bit dystopian to think of living in the same house where you work, if you get fired, you’re literally homeless(?). But at the same time, rent here is extremely high, so not having to worry about that saves employees a lot of stress.
I also met quite a few young people who stayed in these houses just to meet like-minded people - definitely a different dynamic from what we usually see in Brazil.
Costs
Considering $1 = R$5.34
Pre-trip costs:
Flight: R$3347 ($626)
Hotel for 8 days: R$3559 ($666)
I'll be staying at a friend's house for the next week, and then I'm renting a room (cost TBD)
November 1–11, 2025
Costs for a week here: R$2208 ($413.61)
Food — $210.68
Meals were the biggest expense. I had dinners like ramen and casual spots like Chipotle and burger joints.
Keep in mind that for most of the days, I'm actually not having dinners because the events have food. Apparently this is quite a common tactic for a lot of “event goers”. Same goes for weekends where people go to hackathons just for the food - which is also interesting.
Drinks — $92.88
Coffee and water added up quickly. There were several stops at Walgreens for bottled water and plenty of café visits. I then learned you can drink water from the tap - but it's still a weird concept for me.
Examples: Starbucks bottled water, morning coffee → refer to the “coffee rent”
Transport — $103.55
Getting around San Francisco meant public transit and occasional ride-shares. Examples: BART ride from the airport, Muni bus fares, Uber rides, Lime scooter.
Other things such as laundry $6.50
A small but necessary line item—washing clothes during the trip. Examples: self-service laundry, Tide Pods.
My daily average is around $37, so extrapolating to the entire time, I'd expect to spend around ~$1k (R$5340).
Reflections After Week One
So far it's been good/interesting. I've met quite a few cool people (a few Brazilians too). People keep asking me if I think about living here and usually my answer is “I don't know".
I randomly met a friend from Chile at an event and he's been living here for a year now. He loves it. At the same time, you meet people who have had enough of the scene.