Austin by Onewheel

The Capitol building

Austin, TX wasn’t super high up on my bucket list. Not that it’s not an awesome city, I’ve heard only great things about Austin, but Texas has been problematic as of late and there are just so many other places that take precedence for me. But it’s a domestic city I had not yet been to and I'm not traveling internationally at the moment due to COVID, so it definitely shot up my list of importance to visit. Everyone I know that has been has said it’s like a little bubble inside of TX with its own feel and vibe. I mean, I’ve only been to San Antonio a looong time ago and Dallas more recently for work (other than also flying through DFW), so I honestly had no idea what to expect about Austin other than this feedback about it having its own vibe – I just knew there’s a good restaurant/bar scene and obviously a killer music scene. What I was not expecting was how outdoorsy it is and friendly to outdoor activities! It’s super bike and pedestrian friendly, incredibly walkable, has so many trails and outdoor spaces that I really wasn’t expecting, so it’s easy to get your exercise in. Which is good because I ate my weight in delicious food over the weekend…

After inhaling mini donuts at Little Lucy's food truck (as you can see from all the leftover sugar)

The fact that it’s bike and pedestrian friendly also made it super easy for us to travel (aka fly) for the first time with our Onewheel, which I will elaborate more on in a bit… but this made it so easy to get around since there are quite a few greenways in Austin. We stayed at an Airbnb on the North Side which was near Pease Park, which had a trail that connected through House Park, Duncan Neighborhood Park, down to Shoal Creek Trail along Lady Bird Lake. And Lady Bird Lake in itself is so amazing by the way – we would often see stand up paddle boarders and canoers on the water and so many people running and walking the perimeter. It’s a BIG slice of nature right in the city! There was even a sweet BMX Bike park near Duncan Neighborhood park where we watched a bunch of people doing tricks! We could take this trail essentially down from where we were staying all the way under the Congress Ave. Bridge over to the Rainey St. area. Or we could take the same trail and hop off midway to cut over to the Texas Capitol then cut down some city streets to the W. 6th St. bars and restaurants. It was even super easy to just cross under Hwy. 35 to get over to East Austin or cross the Congress Ave. Bridge to get to the South Congress neighborhood. My point is that Austin is super easy to navigate and get around to all its cool pockets and cute neighborhoods. Right near our Airbnb, we stumbled upon Idelwild Coffee that also had a sweet skate shop inside and the Soup Peddler Food & Juice bar which had amazing vegan options for us. We also hit up a speakeasy downtown for some live music (clearly can’t come to Austin without hearing live music) in the form of a 90s cover band. They took me right back to my high school days… or to right now, with all the crop tops I see everywhere… oy.

Now, I usually like to go for a run in a new city to get my bearings and get a feel for different neighborhoods. Which we did a little of when we ran to and from Pease Park to get our workouts in while in Austin. BUT using the Onewheels to get around was an absolute game changer. We didn’t have to call an Uber once, as the Onewheels truly got us from one neighborhood to the next. Not only did we utilize the trails I previously mentioned, but we were able to scoot around within downtown itself and on the city streets since there are so many bike lanes. Not all cities are so bike and pedestrian friendly (looking at you, Charlotte), so this was super helpful in feeling safe on the Onewheels while on the streets.

Crossing the Congress Ave. Bridge via One Wheel

I have nothing against public transportation, but in general, I love exploring a city by foot. Come to think of it, when my husband and I went to both Paris and Rome, we never once took the metro lines, when we went to London we never hopped on the Tube, and just walking and wandering around New York City is one of my favorite things to do in the entire world. Of course we would take an Uber if going to another city or town and we do take trains country to country or city to city, but to me, there is nothing quite like seeing a city from the ground. In any major city as of late, you can see that personal electronic devices are already the next big thing – you will see e-bikes and electric scooters everywhere (as seen in the background of some of these pictures here). So I only think that Onewheels will be next on that list. They are much easier and more compact to travel with and to just get around with in general that I think you’ll start to see more and more people on them. Just the other day here in Charlotte, I saw a dude in a full business suit with a backpack heading up 7th St. toward downtown. They are just TOO easy to get around on and honestly SO. MUCH. FUN. We’re going on a 2nd trip with our One Wheels (this time to Miami), so I plan to share a lot more in a separate post, but the key to traveling with the Onewheel Pint is to take it all the way apart – we literally had to dismantle the entire thing and check the tires, rail guards, foot pads, etc. while the battery had to go in our carry-on bags. Again, more to come about the logistics of this experience…

Seen underneath the Congress Ave. Bridge

Lastly, my personal fave experience from Austin overall was trying to catch the nightly exodus of the Congress Ave. Bridge bats – I know, it’s a touristy thing to do but I love bats and think they are SO cool. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, every night at dusk from late Spring to early Fall, roughly 1.5 million bats fly out from underneath the bridge in an amazing display. It is the largest urban bat colony in North America. They are Mexican Free Tailed bats and they found a prime nesting place and home for themselves when the Congress Ave. Bridge was reconstructed in the early 1980s. They were not initially welcomed with open arms as they are now – the growing colony at the time was thought to be a possible health risk and frightened many residents who wanted the bats to be removed. But Dr. Merlin Tuttle, a full-time bat researcher in Milwaukee, heard of this and founded Bat Conservation International, eventually moving to Austin to grow the program to educate people on the benefits of bats (one being that they consume a TON of pesky insects) – and it worked! The bats are now as much a part of Austin’s identity as the music scene. And as a personal lover of bats, I am so happy they were able to stay. Not one person has contracted rabies or any other diseases from the bats over the years. I always love a good animal conservation story.

Anyway, all this is to say, Austin exceeded my expectations and I will definitely be back! And stay tuned on more about our One Wheel traveling adventures to come...