Handbook: Texas
The Lone Star State is home to some of the biggest cities in the United States, and at times it feels like Austin is certainly the fastest growing, but we’ve fallen in love with the state’s small towns. They tend to have retained their original Main Street charm, and while we’ve dealt with our share of crazies in Texas, by and large the locals exemplify Southern hospitality.
From the Gulf Coast to Big Bend, the Rio Grande to the Panhandle, there is so much to explore in America’s Belt Buckle.
Featured Articles
Truly Small Towns in Texas
Our definition of a small town, not a lot of people, but interesting ones, little to no chain stores, and a whole lot of history.
Best Texas State Parks
Our favorite state parks in the Lone Star State, a place full of great, affordable camping in a myriad of natural settings.
West Texas
A photo gallery of West Texas from the Pecos to Big Bend.
More Articles on Texas
Beach Camping on our National Seashores and Lakeshores
National parks on America’s lakes and seas, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Best Drives in the United States
Thirteen of our favorite drives, and places to camp and explore, in the United States. Includes drives in VT, TX, UT, WA, CA, OR, CO, NE and more!
The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Galveston Island
Tips on what to do and how to spend your time in Galveston, Texas – including a premier RV resort.
Snowbirding Defined
The best places to survive the winter in your RV, including temperatures and pricing across California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.
Float the Rio Grande
A rant on immigration, fear and the good people on both sides of the Rio Grande.
Las Ruinas & Terlingua, TX
A tent hostel in a ghost town near the Texas / Mexico border. Photos galore.
Chinati Springs
The tale of making it to one of the most beautifully remote places in the United States, Chinati Hot Springs.
Cowpokes, Poetry and Prada: A Weekend in Uber-Cool Marfa, Texas
What to do with a weekend in the hipster cowboy town of Marfa, Texas. Shelley Seale walks us through funky lodgings, where to party, hike, eat, and generally do it up in this West Texas town.
Border Scare
A short story by W. Anderson Lee about hitchhiking, travelers and Texas State Troopers.
The River Road
A trip down the River Road in Big Bend Ranch State Park, including tales of ruins, Contrabando and Closed Canyon.
Balmorhea
A short story of a man named Henry, who gained everything from losing everything. Part of an ongoing tale.
Blog Posts About Texas
Greetings from that High Hill Country Rain…
The swankier green that Austin glows.
Greetings from Guadalupe Mountains National Park!
The moon came up slow. Many and cumulus were the clouds covering the horizon, and from about a half hour below the tops of them it shone up through like the opposite of how the sun’s rays pour Jesus Christ “awe” down usually. We watched as Super Mario style mushroom worlds morphed into tusked skulls, […]
Greetings from Fort Davis and the Davis Mountains National Park!
Dark night skies illuminated with the glow of the moon, golden evergreens and other conundrums in beautiful Davis Mountain State Park.
Greetings from a Parking Lot in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Life is upside down. Lightning shoots up from the clouds and higher into the sky. The moon plays a heavy fat game of hide and seek. And the line between camping spot and parking lot blurs…
Leaving Civilization to Find Family
How leaving civilization behind has brought our family closer.
Greetings from Terlingua Ghost Town!
The rough, tumble and splendor of a ghost town twice over.
Transient Friends and Communal Fireplaces in Marathon, Texas
Shake a hand in the Big Bend.
Greetings from Marathon, Texas!
Welcome to Big Bend and the likely explosion of your mind’s desire to become a desert wanderer.
Thoughts on Texas: Myths, Legends and Lies from the Libertarian Center of the Universe
Thoughts on Texan freedom.
Greetings from Luckenbach, TX! A Photo Essay
They say Willie Nelson would invite 1000s of his closest friends to Luckenbach for his annual 4th of July party. And that was just the performers…
Greetings from the Texas Hill Country!
Explorations through Texas’ Hill Country.
Travelers without Stationaries
I am not particularly an advocate for travel. Not in real life anyway. Yes, I publish an online magazine for full-time travelers. The goal behind this magazine, of which you’re currently viewing in fact, is to inspire people to travel, to live outside of normalcy, to make a motion of their lives. But more importantly, […]
Hiking Big Bend, again
Lady, Tristan, Deputy and I hiking various places in Big Bend Country (the National Park & State Ranch, and more)
Las Ruinas Camping Hostel
I built a website for Las Ruinas Camping Hostel, a bartering arrangement with the fine folks of this, our favorite campground in all of the US.
Terlingua, TX in Photos
Tidbits of our month long stay in Terlingua, Texas, living and working for the Las Ruinas Camping Hostel.
Easter Egging
Alpine, TX
Zonkeys, Antelopes and the Blues in Alpine, TX
Rainy Days in Austin, TX
Weeks and weeks of torrential downpours mixed with steady drizzle in Austin, TX.
Trainhoppers in Del Rio, TX
Train jumpers tell us their story as our dogs play together along a tributary to the Rio Grande.
Balmorhea State Park, West Texas
Hefty desert winds prove hot dog roasting a feat.
To Texas and Back, a 3 Day Excursion
A jaunt to Texas means 1000 miles in one day, in a rented KIA toy car.
Walking, Public Transit and Bicycling in Denton, TX
Getting around in Denton without a car is not exactly a walk in the park.
Shower Free in Denton, TX
Nathan is proven wrong for once in his life as Denton’s RV park is ill equipped for a house full of stinky boys.
Raining in Austin
Contemplating thoughts of staying in a single place…
Texas Hill Country and its Ups and Downs
Long ago I learned that life has a karmic balance, even among one individuals lifespan. It’s not as simple an ethos as for every year of good times you get a year of bad. No, life, nature and reality just isn’t that neat. Nature makes mud, men make soap; nature makes bumpy, obtuse and rounded […]
Late for Work in Austin, TX
A little reflection on the early morning goings-on around our old RV.
The American Picnic
Tristan and I took a bike ride to a beautiful little county park tucked away in the desert between the cattle and their ranches. We went for the bike ride, a solid 10 miles roundtrip, but alas, revelations are always there for those who would have them.
50 Degrees of Sunlight Before the Horizon
A desert sun may be as unforgiving as a pregnant girl’s Baptist father, but give me this rocking chair and a six pack of New Castle and I can bake under its glow without needing any solar approval. No, a sun god is no trifling matter, but as much as he’s a burning big cheese, […]
Springing Leaks
A flat tire and a busted water main in the RV park. Times are tough, but no tougher than a veggie burger.
Traveling Through Western Texas
Everything is bigger in Texas, or so can attest the fine waitresses at Hooter, I assume. Everything is, and I can speak from experience at least in this case, better in Western Texas, where the deserts and painted mountains of the Southwest begin to unfold.
Big Sky
A single sliver of the moon thumbnails itself in the second to last night of the 2008 year. Thanks to the thousands of buildings, streetlights and rushing cars that make up the San Antonio scape, the moon is nearly alone up in that darkening sky space. Only a single star, a handspan away from Mother […]
A Brief History of Texas
Interesting tidbits and urban legends about the good, er, great Lone Star State.
San Antonio for the Holidays
We spent our Yuletide celebrations in San Antonio and plan to stay here for the New Year celebration. It’s heating up after a might frigid spell here in Southern Texas and I love this state more and more the longer I’m here.
Last Days in Austin
We’ll be leaving Austin today, but I thought I’d take a moment or two to talk about what it is about this place that kept us here for so long.
Riding American Rails, Part 1: Off to a Start
It was a 7am wakeup call which lead us into the Austin morning. A final breakfast shared as a whole family before the boys would leave their sweet woman to embark on a crossing of countries, a ride aboard a double decker Amtrak car which would carry them into the frigid northlands of Chicago and […]
Urban Hiking in Austin, TX
Tristan and Dad go urban hiking from downtown Austin to McKinney Falls State Park in Austin.
Today in Austin
The tale of a day packed full of frisbees, riverside exploration, new friends and a general overall feeling of intense elation. Thanks life.
The People of Austin are Awfully Nice
Thoughts on the general welcoming demeanor of the people in Austin, as well as a broader comparison of life here compared to that north of the Mason Dixon. Maybe even a little peak into what living in the Pecan Grove RV Park is like.
Autumn in Austin
Nature seems to have a way of balancing the seasons out, making even the more difficult seasons in the cycle bearable due to bright colors or snowball fights or whatever. Being in Austin, the nights come earlier but the temperatures stay hot, and it’s a strange sensation…
Halloween in Austin
Austin believes in the things that go bump in the night, and isn’t afraid to partake in over the top partying to prove it. If the world were to be taken over by zombies, wouldn’t you have wanted one last parade / beer festival?
This Austin Life
Waxing nostalgically over this Austin, TX lifestyle we’ve been living as of late, Nathan explores the inner trappings of what makes “a place” into a “great place to live”.
8.4 MPG, Highway
Today we struck out from Memphis and began the long journey to Austin, TX. Like rushing fools, we drove all day and wee into the night, crossing state lines, Bill Clinton’s birthplace, and even enjoying a most authentic Mexican slab of corn flower, retried beans and “seriously, is that chicken or…?” salsa melted cheddar. Our […]