This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Charlie Walker, a 35-year-old product manager for Yelp. Insider has verified his employment and rent and mortgage payments. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.
We lived in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco in a 500-square-foot apartment with a roommate and our pretty large dog. We rented a double-wide trailer for a few months after moving in January 2021. It was the only option. Then in April we were able to buy a house here. Now we have a much bigger space than we did in San Francisco, with a garden. The woman who owned it previously was an excellent gardener.We've also saved some money because we don't go out for dinner or drinks as much as we did before; there are fewer options here. In San Francisco we'd go out to eat about twice a week.
I knew that Yelp would keep working remotely full time as an option after the COVID-19 lockdowns but that some people would probably opt to go back into the office. I was a little nervous about what it would feel like to have most people in the office while I was working remotely.in June 2022, it was a relief. Moving here was a leap of faith. But knowing that the company was fully remote has unlocked a lot of opportunities for our family.