Hi, my name is Kaitlynn, and it’s me. I’m keeping Austin fresh.

But no, i’m not keeping Austin fresh for you. I actually have an overwhelmingly negligible impact on the city as a whole. Other than this blog, you likely won’t notice my presence at all. And that’s okay, because I’m only keeping Austin fresh for me.

what does that even mean?

We all choose a place to set up camp and live our lives. Regardless of whether that place is our hometown or a destination city we chose to relocate to for work, family, or just because LA got too expensive, it doesn’t take long for things to feel stale once we get caught up in the daily grind.

When we’re dragging ourselves around from responsibility to responsibility in the name of capitalism, whether it’s to bag that degree or get that paycheck, it’s easy for us to get caught up in a repetitive, mundane cycle. We’ll spend our weekends going to those same few killer places each week. And oh yes, they might be killer; that’s why we go. We know they’re good… but that doesn’t mean that they can’t get stale.

That’s why i’m here, on a mission to keep my city fresh.

allow me to introduce myself

I’m an advertising major at Texas State University, currently in my sophomore year. This blog is actually a project for one of my classes, Fundamentals of Digital Online Media. I’m expected to update this blog every week or so, to exhibit my fundamental knowledge of digital online media.

This blog will be a look into the weird, wonderful city of Austin, through my weird, wonderful eyes. So you should know a little bit about myself and my eyes before we get going.

I was born and raised in Austin, and I love it. I love it so much that I deal with the terribly hot weather, sadistic levels of gentrification, and near-constant traffic just to stay here. I blame the city’s cultural influence for my personality and general aesthetic: peculiar liberal who enjoys fashion, craft beer, food and dad humor.

To boil it down, my end-goal in life is to become a well-traveled cat mom. Doing this blog for this class, as well as for personal fulfillment, is just a small step in that journey.

Whether you have an interest in exploring Austin, have to read this because you are my lab instructor, or are just charmed by my painfully cheesy writing style, welcome!

the origin of my mission

A couple of years ago, I took a solo trip to the other Austin… Portland, Oregon.

Twenty-year-old me spent 9 days in Portland all alone, exploring the city using half-assed research from mainstream, touristy travel blogs, Reddit, and many episodes of IFC’s cult classic, Portlandia. This resulted in a daily agenda of wandering around, drifting from restaurant to vintage shop to tourist spot, and so on. I had the time of my life, but I realized that this itinerary wasn’t far off from one I could create back home, in Austin.

I made a promise (and a self-enlightened Facebook post) stating that I was going to go back home and, “live like a tourist in my hometown!”

It turns out that i’m not great at promises, because I still catch myself going to the same four places on my days off. I am often too negligent to do 5 minutes of research and find a cool, new place to explore.

But now, I have this blog. This blog is my source of accountability, forcing me to do something new, fun, and fresh each week. I will finally fulfill the prophecy of exploration that I set for myself back in 2018 whilst high on the sweet, sweet fumes of vacation, and anyone who gives a shit is welcome to join me for the ride.

so let’s get fresh

• Each week, I’m going to choose a new place in the Austin-area to explore. This will either be a bar/restaurant, store, experience, or natural area
• Each place must be entirely new to me, or a place I have not visited since my childhood
• Sometimes, depending on what’s on the agenda, I’ll cover several different shops/restaurants in an area (i.e. South Congress as a whole) in one post
• I’ll find ideas for places to check out from other travel blogs or websites designed for tourists, such as this one
• I’ll make it an objective to really get lost in the city. I may start at a well-known touristy spot, but will likely wander around to nearby places and document those as well – just like I did in Portland
• I’ll rate each experience on several criteria- accessibility, cost, service (if applicable), ambiance, crowd, and overall vibe

My ultimate goal with this project is to break out of my typical cycle as a local and remember to step out of my comfort zone every now and then.

I encourage anyone following along to do the same. Treat your weekend like it’s a vacation; you don’t have to go far. Just try out a new local business, treat yourself, and don’t let life get too stale.