Sharing my move to Austin, Texas...
// Week of August 9 //
Hello Novel Hand readers!
Alexa here, Founder and Editor of Novel Hand.
I recently moved to Austin to attend law school, and I’m really excited to be living in a new city.
But beyond trying new restaurants and enjoying local hangouts, I want to really know and understand my city.
I started Novel Hand in Jan. 2020, and I had no idea how much the world would change that spring. Perhaps the most influential week of 2020 was our spring break. After going to Atlanta with a friend to watch the Olympic marathon trials, I returned to Nashville as the city was recovering from a tornado and seeing its first Covid-19 cases.
As a college student with a few free days on my hands, I wanted to volunteer for the relief efforts. Working with Gideon’s Army in North Nashville was a valuable experience. It challenged me to think about how I had interacted with the greater Nashville community outside of the Vanderbilt bubble for the past four years.
I was honestly disappointed in myself that I knew so little about the inequity and history of Nashville, and specifically the predominantly-Black community of North Nashville. A New York Times article about fears of gentrification in the rebuilding of North Nashville helped open my eyes to the current-day challenges that citizens of Nashville face. I was grateful that Grace wrote an article for Novel Hand looking further into the issue.
Fast forward more than a year later, and that week in the spring of 2020 has shaped a lot of how I view the world and think about our content at Novel Hand. And, I moved to Austin!
People say that Nashville and Austin are very similar… So far, I’m definitely seeing some similarities (too many Bird scooters). But as I start living in Austin, I don’t want to make the same mistakes that I did in Nashville. I’m committed to learning about the city from the beginning.
I know that a lot of our readers are heading back to school or moving to start new jobs this fall. So I want to share how I’m trying to be a more aware and sustainable citizen.
Over the next few months, I will share how I’m getting to know Austin and becoming a more engaged citizen. My experience is Austin-specific, but what I’m doing is critical for anyone moving to a new place. I’ll be exploring everything from electricity and composting to history and local government.
Here’s what I’ve been up to so far!
Moving was a whirlwind! My dad and I drove to Austin about three weeks ago.
I tried to buy as few things as possible. But because this is my first time living somewhere besides my family’s home or a dorm for an extended period of time, I did have to buy quite a bit of furniture and household items.
Not for the first time in my life, I encountered the Amazon conundrum. Everything that I needed was cheaper and would arrive more quickly if I bought it on Amazon than if I bought it anywhere else. I did end up ordering quite a few things from Amazon, but I made just as many trips to Goodwill for things like a kitchen table, a lamp, and a stool.
My biggest takeaway is that you have to plan ahead to make sustainable and ethical buying decisions. Because I didn’t make a plan or build in time to shop secondhand for things like a bedframe and floating shelves, I ended up buying them from Amazon out of convenience. In the future, I would make a list of what I’ll need and plan out time to shop for each of those items secondhand or from a more ethical marketplace than Amazon.
One of the things that I’m most excited for as a part of this series is composting. Austin has a great composting rebate program AND curbside composting collection. I think I’m in love!
On Tuesday, I attended an online class to learn how to compost and get information about the rebate program. I already knew some basics, but I learned about composting and general disposing-of-food-waste techniques that I hadn’t known about before. I’m excited to apply for the rebate program and start composting this weekend! I’m hoping that my roommates will thank me as our garbage bin becomes less full and less stinky.
More updates to come!
My trips to Goodwill did require a lot of driving (as did driving most of the length of I-35 from Minnesota to Texas). Now that I’m in the city, I’m hoping to bike more. The heat makes that difficult, but I did bike to our local library and a coffee shop this week.
I’m trying to plan a way to get to school using my bike and public transportation, but I think that will require a few dry runs before the first day of class. I also don’t want to show up sweaty to Constitutional Law I.
Lastly for this week, I am learning about the history of Austin and Texas generally. On my trip to said local library, I borrowed a few books about the area. Check out my stack below.
That’s all for this week!
But, you’re going to want to follow along on our Instagram, where I’m sharing more frequent updates (and more pictures).
Check back next Friday, and every Friday for the foreseeable future, for more Alexa in ATX!
Get weekly updates from me about what I’m learning in Austin and what we’re up to at Novel Hand by signing up for our email list below:
- College Football, Ariana Grande, and Water - September 3, 2023
- Livestock and Land Use: How Are We Feeding The Planet? Impactfull April 2022 - April 19, 2022
- What Does Voluntourism Look Like? A Case Study in a Cambodian Orphanage - March 28, 2022
Welcome to Austin! I hope you find all the wonderful things to be found here! 🌺
Thank you, Adrian!
I hope you love Austin. From an Austinite born and raised in Texas! There is so much to love and learn about The Great State of Texas! Welcome to the friendly state.
❤️✝️
Thank you, Linda– I feel so welcomed!
Welcome to Austin. I’m a native Austinite. Went to high school in the mid eighties, crazy times. You ever have questions or curiosity needing answering about Austin would be happy to help if I can.