Posted: 4/17/23 | April seventeenth, 2023
After eight years in Austin, I’m leaving and heading again to NYC full-time.
I first visited Austin in 2013, received hooked, and began coming again a lot that I made a decision to maneuver right here in 2015. I used to be solely semi-here my first couple of years. I cut up my time in NYC for a bit, traveled lots, and lived in Paris for a bit.
But, in 2019, this turned my solely residence.
However, during the last yr, it’s change into clear that the town and I’ve grown aside. The bizarre little city that drew me right here as a respite from the hustle and bustle of NYC is now not a bizarre little city however a giant metropolis missing massive metropolis infrastructure. The visitors is horrible, my meals truck parks are gone, it’s dearer, and quirky Rainey Street is now all excessive rises and lodges. The metropolis’s character has simply modified lots as Austin has change into “the place to be.”
Now, I’m not attempting to be a kind of “get off my lawn” individuals. I’m certain individuals lamented people like me coming and altering their metropolis. Just as people earlier than them and folk earlier than them.
Change is a continuing in life and attempting to cease change is like attempting to carry again the tide. Austin can change all it desires. Not all the adjustments have been unhealthy. There’s much more to do within the metropolis, there’s extra jazz and comedy, higher meals, and the airport has extra direct flights now.
But if Austin desires to be a metropolis — and its native leaders appear to need it that manner at the same time as they bemoan the rising value of housing — then be a metropolis. Give us higher infrastructure, extra housing, bike paths, and public transportation. Austin has change into a metropolis however with none of the advantages that include cities.
Last yr, roaming from NYC to Paris to Berlin to London, I started to note that the issues I really like about massive cities aren’t current in Austin. I missed strolling all over the place, museums, jazz golf equipment, public transportation, copious artwork museums, and variety of individuals, concepts, and meals. I missed the hustle and bustle that comes with locations like NYC, Boston, London, and different metropolises.
I spent lots of final yr in Austin and, beginning in October due to my allergy photographs, I didn’t depart for six months. During all that point, I dated, joined social golf equipment, and constructed a life there.
But my coronary heart simply saved whispering, “This isn’t the place.”
Austin now not looks like residence. NYC has all the time had a chunk of my coronary heart. I wish to return and see the way it goes. Will I spend 8 years there? I don’t know. By then, I’ll be fifty!
But, proper now, I’m able to say goodbye to Austin. After eight years, this chaper has come to an finish.
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find an affordable flight through the use of Skyscanner. It’s my favourite search engine as a result of it searches web sites and airways across the globe so that you all the time know no stone is being left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can e-book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you wish to keep someplace aside from a hostel, use Booking.com because it persistently returns the most affordable charges for guesthouses and lodges.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance coverage will defend you in opposition to sickness, harm, theft, and cancellations. It’s complete safety in case something goes unsuitable. I by no means go on a visit with out it as I’ve had to make use of it many occasions previously. My favourite firms that supply the very best service and worth are:
Want to journey without spending a dime?
Travel bank cards let you earn factors that may be redeemed without spending a dime flights and lodging. They are what preserve me touring a lot for thus little. Check out my information to selecting the correct card and my present favorites to get began and see the newest greatest offers.
Ready to Book Your Trip?
Check out my useful resource web page for the very best firms to make use of while you journey. I checklist all those I exploit once I journey. They are the very best in school and you may’t go unsuitable utilizing them in your journey.