I enter the United States sooner than expected. Technically, I think I’m still in Canada. But the sign on the desk welcomes me to the US.

I contemplate bringing this up with the immigration team, but in typical style, they are too busy pulling funny faces, joking, singing, laughing and dancing to notice my quibbling expression. As I squeeze my way through business class, it seems most of the passengers are in need of the extra room.

Yes, American Airlines Flight 1311 to Chicago is indeed ‘fully loaded’. By contrast, the most expensive seats on the connecting flight to San Francisco are occupied by a rather different sort of passenger. Most are working away on shiny laptops, bopping away to brightly coloured iPods. It seems that the destination makes a bigger difference than I thought.

Readers of Tim Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week will probably be having this column read out to them, or summarised by an overseas assistant. Outsourcing everything is just one of the core tips in this excellent book, which I’m recommending you have a look at, or have someone look at for you.

In it, Tim encourages us to take mini-retirements throughout life, and so, depending on where your next one takes you, I thought that you might like to check out any or all of the following: www.dopplr.com helps you plot where you’re going to be travelling to and see how that overlaps with friends and colleagues; www.trippit.com is a similarly natty service with a clever function that allows you to forward them your travel confirmation on email, only to see it appear magically online within minutes. Finally, www.hospitalityclub.org is a free network of people around the world offering advice, accommodation and guided tours in their home cities.

You see, the kindness of strangers is alive and kicking across the word. So what are you waiting for? My first lunch on the west coast is with two Brits: author of Bringing Nothing to the Party, Paul Carr, and Richard Moross, founder of mini-business-card phenomenon, Moo.com. They help me to notch up my weekly calorie intake in just one sitting, making that sympathy upgrade on American more likely by the mouthful.   

Feeling guilty that I’m not schmoozing with some genuine locals, the least I can do is to look up a couple of Brits abroad. Surely Ex-Oxford entrepreneur and Clickpass founder Peter Nixey will be around for coffee. And Michael Birch, having recently sold Bebo for £400m, is bound to want a the break from plotting his next adventure. But both are out of town – in London!

In LA, everyone wants to be an actor. In San Francisco it’s an entrepreneur. Wherever you are, you can enter entrepreneurship sooner than expected. Even though, technically, you might still be in another world. So let’s not gaze longingly across the pond in search of enlightenment. Because what I’ve noticed about Britain, is that we’re welcoming the journey into entrepreneurship more than ever before.

In the wake of the Apprentice and Dragons’ Den, the titters and sniggers of years gone by have given way to intrigue and encouragement. Regardless of their background or previous experience, I’m meeting more people than ever who are taking the plunge. As I have been discovering, it’s where they’re headed to that makes all the difference.