Backpacking in San Francisco
This has been an educational adventure. We rode a train then bus from Sacramento to San Francisco. We booked an Airbnb about a mile away from the Moscone Center, where my husband was going to be attending a conference.
These are the things we learned.
Sometimes, when you book an Airbnb, everything goes well.
Sometimes, when you book an Airbnb, they don’t actually have your reservation and you were left without a place to stay.
Sometimes, you book a 2nd place on Airbnb that’s slightly further from where you need to be however you are desperate at point and your backpack is heavy.
Sometimes, when you call that second Airbnb they tell you there’s no way that you were able to book it (it was a timeshare) they’re overbooked.
Fortunately, we found a place and it worked out just fine. The hotel employees were super nice and let you check in early and everything was clean.
Lesson 1 It never hurts to get in touch with the Host on Airbnb one more time before you check in. The way we found out we didn’t have a reservation is because we went to check our bags in early, which was an option on this particular Airbnb reservation. The host had a personal emergency and we were told he cancelled all of his current and future bookings…hopefully he’s ok and everything works out for him.
The hotel we ended up staying at was a budget hotel so…
No refrigerator
No microwave
No extra anything (including forks)
We used Door Dash to order salads because my husband was super tired when he got to the hotel. The experience was not great because they did not include forks. Nobody had any forks!
Lesson 2 If you can maybe bring a fork or too, even if you think you may not need it.
We met the owner of a local pizza place that we went to twice. He was super nice and the food was really good. This does not really come with a lesson, just wanted to say something else positive.
I love to walk around as much as possible, especially in a city. I mean, come on, observing people is the best. (It just feels like saying people watching is sorta creepy?? Maybe I am over thinking this.) Anyway, I walked to the Embarcadero, MOMA and China Town. All of these places were clean and safe and I thoroughly enjoyed myself but I would like to be delicate here and just say…
Lesson 3 Be cautious where you walk, especially alone and don’t stop to take pictures and look like a tourist/target unless the circumstances are safe.
I am definitely not expert in anything SF related however it was cool to see the same places we visited 20–30 years ago and relive the happy memories.
Not much to look outside but Clean and the employees are friendly and helpful!
This is part of the free second floor part of the MOMA. I didn’t know if it was ok to take photos, so I just got this one since it’s free anyway.
GF breakfast from Proper Food, I don’t normally eat breakfast because of ridiculous allergies but I wanted to try it. It was good.
Chowder Hut : Grilled Fish Tacos (only gf option) delicious 😋
So many stairs…and many miles into my walk 😅 but worth the view.
I sit here, just a few hours from getting back on the bus/train back to Sacramento so I will wrap this up by saying. Carrying a bunch of your possessions on your back and walking around a city, up hills and stairs is fun and worth a try. Just wear good walking shoes, check the weather before you go and bring a fork…you never know.
