£2.40

Ben — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:15:07 +0000

This week I didn’t buy my usual Oyster 7-day season ticket. In the knowledge that I’d only be traveling from my home in Bethnal Green to Yahoo’s offices in Shaftesbury Avenue a few more times, I let the credit run down. Over the course of the next few days I’d pass through the gates of Bethnal Green and Tottenham Court Road and the card balance would tick down. An obscure countdown toward the single biggest change in my life so far. 2.40, it turns out, represents ‘zero’.

On Monday I’ll be driven to Heathrow airport (Terminal 5) and fly direct to San Francisco. It’s a one-way trip. I’m leaving Yahoo! Europe to embark on a whole new adventure, switching over to our Brickhouse team, currently responsible for building Fire Eagle.

It’s been a hard week. Whilst I’m uncontrollably excited about moving to the US and having an incredible adventure, this week has been full of abrupt good-byes. On Monday night I got an email. Kelly (a fantastic woman who’s been looking after all the details of my relocation) has found me somewhere to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, starting August 4th. Within an hour I had a flight booked and the next morning a van came to ship away most of my belongings.

Sub Standards Ben was my last Pub Standards event in the UK. Surrounded by the best friends I’ve ever had, it was an absolute pleasure. Friday night we had some quiet drinks after work and then this morning I packed up the last of my belongings and said goodbye to David (Best. Flatmate. Ever. This year in our flat has been a joy.)

It’s like the calm before a storm, perhaps. But it’s odd, being torn in two directions. If I’d not been given this incredible opportunity to move to San Francisco I know that I would carry on in London very happily having the time of my life. No matter how great San Francisco is, I’m really very sad to be leaving so many great people behind.

I’m a little sad and a little introspective, but fundamentally optimistic. Also a little lost for words, but that is perhaps clear from my rambling attempt to articulate it all. I’m just aware of needing to take a moment to breathe and pause before the rush of moving thousands of miles engulfs me. I’ve had wonderful experiences here and every one of them is worth thinking about. This year in London, with these friends, has made me.

You know who you are. Thank you.

I’m Leaving Home!

Ben — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:14:25 +0000

As may have been noted lately, I’m leaving the UK and moving to San Francisco this summer (sometime early August). To celebrate the fact, and try to engineer the opportunity to see Everyone I’ve Ever Known one last time, I’m declaring the weekend of July 26th and 27th to be Ben’s Great Getaway Weekend. Two days of festivity that basically consists of meeting up in some pubs, oscillating between said pubs and a nearby park, eating, drinking, and having a good time.

I’ve not picked the venue for Saturday yet, but it’s going to be a pub somewhere in very-central London. It should be easily accessible from the underground so people from far and wide should be able to find it without having to brave Zone 2. Sunday is going to be a more local affair at The Dove in Hackney, and probably include a lot more Belgian beer.

Comedic self-hype aside, I would really, really love to see as many people I can before I leave. I don’t know how often I’ll be back on British soil, so this might be the last time for a while.

Let me know if you can come by flagging yourself attending on one or both of the Upcoming events. Space on the beanbag/sofa/floor of my flat is available, if you ask nicely.

Leave comments to let me know roughly what time you’ll be in, and I’ll try to sort table reservations, too.

Ben Ward » London

£2.40

I’m Leaving Home!