Austin: A Blue Dot in a Red Sea
Somehow, we lined up our flights almost perfectly. They landed at 11:30pm and I landed at 11:59pm.
I met up with my old coworker Kaylena and her husband Ryan at baggage claim, and after collecting our bags and exchanging hugs, we called an uber to our hotel. During our 15-minute uber ride into the heart of the city, Kaylena brought me up to speed with all of the drama from my old workplace. It seemed like the poor working conditions that made me want to quit still existed at the company, which made me really glad I quit when I did. Ryan, a natural conversationalist, sat in front of the car chatting away with the driver about how much the city of Austin had grown in the last decade. We were so excited to catch up on all that had happened since the last time we spoke, but it was already 1am and after a long day of work and travel, we were ready to sleep.
Day 1
Because we flew in so late the night before, we decided to take it slow in the morning. We made a rough plan for the day and soon we were off! We went to the geometric, rainbow mural that decorated the building on the opposing street corner from our hotel. I snapped a couple cute pictures of the newlyweds, and then Kaylena asked Ryan to take a photo of her and I.
He counted down…”3...2...1...Kaylena’s Pregnant!”
Overcome with a feeling of joy, excitement, and shock, I couldn’t even begin to find the words to say. The next couple hours were filled with me asking questions about this new chapter of their life.
For the rest of the day as we let our curiosity lead us around the town, being carefree in our ventures, I thought about how much Kaylena and Ryan’s life would change with the introduction of their new child. I’ve been friends with Kaylena through many milestones of their lives - from buying a house to getting engaged, and I even got to be at their wedding. I’ve been so thankful that my friendship with Kaylena hasn’t changed much through any of these big life events, but I couldn’t help but think about how our friendship would inevitably change this time around.
It made me reflect back on my life as well, thinking about all that had happened over the span of the time I had known Kaylena, and I was surprisingly overwhelmed. From being a chemist, quitting that job to go back to school, moving to Colorado, and beginning my new life as a software engineer, all of the circumstances of my life have changed over the span of our friendship.
But doubt about “if I’m on the right path” started to creep up as I started to think about how the decisions I’ve made in my life had led me to where I am now. As for the big “milestones“ that people tend to measure their life by, I haven’t hit any of them. For the rest of the day, I carried with me a heart full of joy and excitement for the newly pregnant couple and a seed of doubt about the life I’ve led so far.
We had a fun destination ahead - second “breakfast” (or perhaps it was lunch) at Gourdough’s Big. Fat. Donuts. We approached the gravel lot where a hip silver airstream sat surrounded by metal picnic tables and umbrellas. The space was lit up with industrial string lights wrapped on the corner posts and draped over tree branches. The airstream was branded with a fun cartoon donut and in front sat a large menu of savory and sweet flavor combinations. Unsure of whether we were having a second breakfast or lunch, we ordered a variety of flavor combinations - I chose to go with their classic cinnamon sugar donut that came with a honey butter dipping sauce. We grabbed coffees from the cafe across the street and together we enjoyed our breakfast/lunch.
Our stomachs were full and we were ready to walk off the delicious but highly caloric donuts. The sky was gray and the air was moist. It felt like the sky was just barely holding up the rain as an effort to salvage the festivities of the weekend for all. We continued south along 1st street and spent a while stopping into the many antique shops and boutiques along the street. I found a plant shop called Frond, and fell in love with the aesthetics of the shop. There were more plants then I could count, from big lush ones to hanging viney plants, all in unique glass, clay and woven planters. I was inspired to continue decorating my apartment with more plant friends to achieve this style. We left the shop and eventually arrived at the iconic “Greetings from Austin” mural where I set up my tripod so we could snap a couple of fun pictures together. Other groups began to show up shortly after so we decided to move on and try to find a place to eat.
One of the antique shop owners suggested that we go a couple blocks east to South Congress street where we would have a wider selection of food and drink options, so we walked a couple blocks east and began working our way back up north. We stopped in at a chain taco restaurant called Torchy’s and each ordered our preferred collection of tacos. Before long, a combination of exhaustion from the walking and our high carb diet of the day lulled us into a quiet daze and we were ready to rest up at the hotel.
We spent a couple hours resting up at the hotel, and at around 8pm sparked up with energy. I was eager to explore the live music scene, so we wandered around town until we found a bar that was playing live music. We arrived back at the hotel a little past midnight and quickly fell asleep.
Day 2
We had another late night so we decided to take it slow our second morning. We leisurely enjoyed the hotel’s continental breakfast and went back to South Congress street to pick up where we left off the day before. We stopped in at a couple shops and streetside markets, and both Kaylena and I were able to find a couple things to buy for ourselves.
As we walked along S Congress, I found a shop that intrigued me - a country boot shop. We walked in to the overwhelming smell of leather originating from the hundreds of cowboy boots that lined the aisles of the shop. As I walked through the aisles and admired the detailing of each unique pair of boots, it reminded me that I was in Texas, because so far, my experience in Austin has felt far from what I expected Texas to be.
“A blue dot in a red sea” the cashier at the boutique said. “Austin doesn’t belong in Texas” another young millennial said to their group of friends as they waited to order their coffee.
As a multi-ethnic Asian-American raised in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve had the luxury of growing up in a neighborhood where I feel like I belong. In school, at the grocery store, I could always expect to find other people that looked like me, thought like me, and shared similar stories as me. I’ve also had the privilege of traveling around the country at a young age to recognize that not everyone in the US shared the same story, ideals, and opinions as me. I would like to think that these experiences have helped me be more empathetic to the marginalized, and has helped me make well-informed decisions about how I want to lead my life, but there’s always so much more to learn.
Walking into this little country store, I honestly did feel a little out of place. The culture of the South is one that I know little about and this country store, though not necessarily a full embodiment of the southern culture, reminded me of a world that was different than the one I’m familiar with, and that made me uncomfortable. I became more aware of my ethnic identity as I looked around and couldn’t find anyone that looked like me. But part of me also felt reconnected and right at home. My ethnic roots take two very unique, very different paths - one across the ocean to a small island off the southern coast of Japan, and another to the conservative countrysides of America. To mix it all up even more, my cultural roots lie in the heart of the well-educated, progressive metropolitan hub of the Pacific Northwest.
Growing up I struggled a lot with my identity - not quite feeling culturally relevant enough in each of my ethnic communities. Growing up in liberal suburban neighborhoods, I didn’t feel connected with my conservative-leaning extended family. Bearing a language and distance barrier from my Japanese extended family, I also didn’t feel necessarily connected with them either. I was a walking example of diversity, and I constantly questioned my legitimacy and belonging in every community I found myself in. But as an adult, I’ve learned to leverage my diversity to better relate with minority groups to try and close the gap between all cultures.
So like the little country boot store that stands out in the middle of a street of hipster cafes and boho-chic boutiques, or the progressive city of Austin in the middle of a conservative Texas, let us challenge the status quo, and let the anomalies in our communities help start conversations about what makes them important. I believe these pockets of diversity are important to helping facilitating the reconciliation of cultural groups and work toward a more empathetic and inclusive America.
Realizing that cowboy boots and hats weren’t really our style, we continued on to other shops along S Congress street. We reached the end of the street where we grabbed a little treat at an ice cream shop. Across the street was a line of people waiting to take a picture by the “i love you so much” mural so we made over to join the crowd. Couples and families alike stood in front of the contrasting green wall and I did a mini photoshoot with the newly pregnant couple.
I went and stood in front of this wall, joking about how “the only person I’m sending this to is my mom” and we all laughed at my outspoken, self-mocking singleness. The strangers that waited their turn for a photo op all let out a collective “awww” as I captured a photo of Ryan sweeping up Kaylena into his arms.
We spent the rest of the evening walking around East Austin, stopping in a different breweries, bars and restaurants (see the full list here). We reflected on the past, appreciated the present, and hoped for the future. It was a sweet time of friendship that felt bittersweet - as I tried to dismiss the fact that this friendship would certainly look different in a year’s time.
Day 3
While Kaylena and Ryan were resting up in the hotel, I decided to get a head start on the day. Some of my best urban discoveries have come from the decision to mindlessly wander the streets of a city toward a vague destination, with the sole intention of capturing interesting city visuals. I decided to explore Cesar Chavez Street and stumbled upon a cute cafe/bike shop. I decided to sit down and get some photo editing done while enjoying a coffee.
There was a young lady sitting across me that started up a conversation about my camera. I told her that I was no photographer and took photos purely for enjoyment. She happened to be a local freelance photographer with a large following. She began to give me suggestions about places to visit while I was in Austin, and by the end of our conversation, I ended up collecting a long list of stores and restaurants that could easily take a week to visit.
Eventually Kaylena and Ryan joined me at a brewery called hops and grain. Ryan grabbed a mid-day beer to accompany his lunch, and together we appreciated the warm Texas sun compared to the colder climates we’ve all been enduring in our respective homes. We spent about an hour at this brewery, and continued on exploring 6th street. We stopped into a fun home-decor boutique and chatted with the store owner about what made Austin special.
In addition to complaining about the rising house prices, she gave us her honest thoughts about the influx of business and people coming into her hometown. She mentioned the gentrification that she was seeing in Austin which was forcing the locals out of their homes and into surrounding neighborhoods. As a musician, she was particularly sad to share that so many of her favorite music venues were being bought out by more wealthy buyers, and erasing the culture that once made that venue special. She raved about the Continental Club and White Horse, asking us to promise her to visit at least one of these two classic Austin venues before we returned home.
We went back to the hotel to drop off some belongings and took a walk along the river to Rainey street so visit the street “where the locals go to hang out“ as we were told by some store managers earlier in our trip. We all talked about how this greenbelt brought up sweet memories of walking along the Seine River in Paris, and daydreamed about the next time we would be visiting the city of romance.
We went to a bar called “Craft Pride”, a place that only served local Texas beers. It was a beer-lover’s paradise, so Ryan and I both got a flight each. We took our beers to the back patio where we sat back and enjoyed while a folk band played live music all night. We got a Detroit-style deep dish pizza to share and enjoyed each other’s company. We made our rounds around the city one last time, stopping in at White Horse - the bar that the kind boutique shop owner mentioned earlier in the day.
The traditional Texas-style country bar was the sweetest way to end our time in Austin. We grabbed a drink at the bar, sat down at one of the tables in the back of the room, and watched as couples and strangers alike jump onto the dance floor and two-step to the twangy live country music.
It was late, but there was one more thing we wanted to squeeze in before our adventure in Austin concluded. The capitol building was right down the street from our hotel, and we had been holding out on visiting it all weekend. Since Ryan and I could use some fresh air to help us sober up from a full day of drinking, we all decided to take a leisure walk to the grand building.
After a weekend of searching for the best food, music, and drinking establishments across the city of Austin, I felt like I knew the city pretty well - where to go, where not to go, where the locals hang out, where the college kids party and where the tourists frequent. I really enjoy exploring a city this way, but I realized how little I know about the Denver food and music scene.
Like I mentioned in my recent post “I’m Quitting Vanlife”, I’ve recognized that my time in Colorado has felt temporary, and traveling almost every other weekend hasn’t helped with becoming acquainted with this new place I’m meant to call home. But in an effort to set down some roots in this Denver, I’ve decided to take a bit of a travel hiatus.
As an introvert, moving to a brand new city and starting over has been a scary task, and I would have to admit the transition hasn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped. I still don’t have too many friends in Colorado and I find myself lonely more often than not. I understand that these things take time, but I’m ready to stop running away on epic adventures because I can’t face this reality.
So here’s to slowing down, and appreciating all that Colorado has to offer in this season of my life. Here’s to new friends and hoping for a brighter, more joyful tomorrow.
