Traveling Across the US: Day 3: Chicago/Austin

Do you want to know how much of a genius I am? I scheduled a flight for 7am to save about $20 even though I wouldn't be able to check into my next hostel until 3pm. That 7am plane arrived in Austin from Chicago at 9am. So this was really a Hall of Fame terrible idea.


I had to wake up at 4 am, which I talked about in my last post that I wrote from the Austin airport this morning when I was in the midst of my 5 hours I had to kill. Like I said, I saw my stinking drunk roommate sitting outside the hostel smoking at 4:30.

So this picks up when I got to Austin after having a plane ride during which I fell asleep for about 5 minutes, precisely the 5 minutes they gave us free drinks. I haz a sad. I still hadn't had breakfast at this point and the Cinnabon in the ABIA had no Cinnabons. Breakfast burritos scare me. So I waited for lunch.

At around 11:30, I had my first Texas BBQ experience with the Salt Lick BBQ in the airport. It's supposedly a highly regarded place that just randomly has an airport location. The menu wasn't huge, but my sliced brisket sandwich covered in some kind of mustardy mystery sauce (?) was very good though. I'd prefer it drier but who am I to argue with them? The brisket itself was amazing.

Then after that I had three more hours to kill and pretty much just read kindle books and used up my complimentary WiFi. I was quite bored and was just moving around to different areas of the small airport because why not?

By some miracle, eventually 2:30 came and I got a bus that was supposed to bring me a block from my hostel in downtown Austin. Except the bus didn't announce the upcoming stops. No problem though, I'd just follow my phone's location! But it sure doesn't help when your correct stop is coming up and the bus. just. doesn't. stop. Eventually I got stuck walking in literally 100 degree heat for half a mile to my hostel.

After I finally made it, I pretty much didn't do anything for a few hours but once roommates started showing up, people actually talked to each other at this hostel. At my Chicago one, nobody in the same room would say a word to each other though it was more sociable in the common room. Here, I've talked to all 4 of the people who are staying in the same room with me, aside from the guy who came at midnight and just passed out. There are Ethiopians, Australians, Brits, Danes. I got offered to suck the juices on the Ethiopian guy's ribs bone when he was done. Uhhhhhhh no thanks?

The room itself kind of looked like something out of Shawshank, but when you're getting a room at a hostel made from the shell of an 1885 firehouse, what can you really ask for? The beds are at least comfortable even if they make a hell of a lot of noise when you even move just a centimeter. 

We all pretty much just hung out in the common room/kitchen for a few hours before I went to bed early since I'd been up since 4am. Apparently a few of them went out to Dirty 6th street, basically Park St, Columbus on disgusting steroids and who knows how that turned out. Talk on the streets is more people wanna do things on Friday nights, so who knows.