Texas thunder storm

…or so they say here. The Texans are very proud people. How painful must it have been for the proud Texan soul when Alaska joined the union in 1959 and claimed the title ‘biggest U.S. state’ from Texas.
My Texas experience had some major surprises in store for me and I loved that. Initially, I had no intentions of going to Texas but when I changed my plans and decided to take a Southern route to go to California it was clear that I would be passing through. When I thought about Texas the first three (rather random) associations that came to mind were: the TV series ‘Dallas‘ that I watched a lot in my childhood, G.W. Bush and Big Oil. I did realize that probably a thing or two have changed in the ~30 years since ‘Dallas’ came out – and maybe that series was never an authentic depiction of Texas in the first place… But these were my random associations. Another one was that Texas is a very Christian state. When the Greyhound bus pulled into the parking lot upon my arrival in Houston in the middle of the night, the first thing I saw was a gigantic neonlight cross next to the bus station. I couldn’t see if it belonged to a church or hospital or something else. Thankfully I did not stay in Houston but transferred to a bus to San Antonio. San Antonio is in South Texas (some people claim it’s already Mexico). Although the city is very large it doesn’t feel like it at all when you walk around downtown. I was amazed how clean, pretty and walkable the city is. I arrived at 6 am in the morning and had a few hours to kill before meeting my couchsurfing host, Jake. He lived right in the city center in a former hotel that was converted into an apartment building. All the old hotel interior etc. were still there. This was the best couchsurfing experience in a while. Jake took me to a local brewery (some of the best beer I had in the U.S.), the riverwalk, the Alamo, Tower of the Americas and at the end of the day of course… margaritas (good, strong and too many)!

Trailer food

The next morning we went by car to Austin where some friends of his were having a poolside BBQ. One of the great things about couchsurfing, you get to a place you’ve never been before and the next thing you do is having a pool party with some locals… Austin is one of these places I knew little about before I got there but it had been recommended to me by various people. So I went. And wow, what a great city! Nothing like I imagined Texas to be. From all the places I visited during this trip, Austin was the biggest surprise, a real discovery. Many people who live in Austin are not from there which certainly adds to the diversity. It’s laid back, not too big, not too small, not too busy. Lot’s of alternative young people, the city has a slight hippie touch to it (think San Francisco) and is very gay friendly (that’s always a good thing, right?). Austin is known as the music city. Lot’s of good musicians and bands originate here and there is life music in many places across the city.

Street art in Austin

It’s also a college town and draws a lot of creatives. The SxSW festival that takes place here every year is big and I was briefly considering to go earlier this year (but went to F5 in NYC instead). Finally, there is lots of good food. I learned to appreciate the TexMex cuisine and I had a taco or two every day (sometimes exotic ones like spicy mango chicken or Korean BBQ). Lots of the good stuff is being served from trailers that move around the city. Unlike most American cities, central Austin has very few corporate stores downtown. I didn’t spot any Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. anywhere near the city center. Instead there are plenty of good independent cafes and restaurants.
Unfortunately for budget travelers like me, in many states in the South of the United States hostels are rare. In fact, Texas was the first place where several people asked me: “What’s that, a hostel?” Are you kidding me? But even some people who knew what a hostel was, could only associate it with the horror movie of the same name. Consequently, I got the question “Is it safe?” 🙂

Lake in Austin

It seemed the only hostel in Austin was closed over the summer. But luckily I found Scooter’s underground hostel. There I met Toby from UK. Haven’t met many European travelers lately, so that was a welcome change and we discussed lots about the U.S., Europe and their differences over a pitcher of Lone Star. The bartender at first didn’t want to accept my passport as ID “We do not accept a foreign passport as ID”. Are you kidding me? If not the passport what then? Toby and me also went kayaking on the Austin lake. Lots of animals there, I almost caught a turtle. I also met a bunch of nice people in Austin. I met up with Jennifer who I know from Knoxville and haven’t seen in years. And special thanks goes to Mr. Arbuckle for his guide tour through Austin nightlife and my first whip-cream flavored vodka. No kidding. This is the U.S.A. You can have anything the way you want it.
My intended 2 days stay in Austin stretched out to 8 days. It’s a special place and I hope I will be back soon.

When I left on the Greyhound bus westwards and the bus driver announced “We thank the lord for safely guiding us from San Antonio to El Paso …” At last, at least one Texas stereotype that turned out to be true…