ATX Travel Guide || Packing, Food, Shopping

Monday, June 4, 2018


Austin, Texas.

This was a place that I'd wanted to visit for a long time. I finally got to go this past May with Mom for Wild for Planners' Go Wild conference. This was the same conference I attended in New Orleans, and I got to go to that same conference in my home state last year, so it was cool to finally get the chance to go to Texas.

In short: I love Austin. A lot.

In this post, I want to tell y'all how I packed for Texas (and what stuff worked), the food we tried, and the shops we loved.

How to Pack for ATX

First, before we start, I have to say I love writing out ATX. Tennessee really doesn't have any abbreviations like that, except for maybe Nashvegas.

But, anyway, let's talk packing. Texas weather is like Florida weather, meaning that it can change at the drop of a hat. If any of y'all have traveled to Florida and experienced their random, short pop-up showers, the exact same thing happens deep in the heart of Texas, too. (And that song reference was totally intentional.)

So, that being said, Texas this time of year was mostly what you'd expect: pretty hot. It got up to 89 degrees at one point, so I was thankful for sleeveless blouses and dresses. The only thing I would change is that I'd pack pairs of shorts next time.

Food!

It's true what they say about Austin being known for its food. Mom and I didn't find a restaurant that we didn't like.

Here are the two places we kept coming back to:

  • Torchy's Tacos: We. Love. Torchy's. These tacos are easily the best I've ever had, and I wish that we had a location back home. This is a taco restaurant that has unique tacos, from fried avocado (my and Mom's favorite) to catfish (my other favorite), to jerk chicken (my mom's other favorite beside the fried avocado), and so much more. In fact, I got so good at ordering what I wanted that somebody asked me if I was a local. But, y'all, these are good tacos. Also, try the hillbilly queso (queso dip with chorizo and guacamole) and the street corn.

  • South Congress Cafe: Just down the street from our hotel (and the Torchy's location we visited) was this awesome brunch spot. I got the Crab Benedict with chipotle hollandaise sauce (I love spicy stuff), and Mom got a shortrib hash that was awesome, too.
Shopping!

While we were busy with Go Wild, we did have some time to shop, too. 

Here are the shops we loved:


  • MODCLOTH!: I finally, finally got to visit Modcloth's flagship Fit Shop. A Fit Shop basically means that while I could try on any of the clothes, I had to have them shipped since all they typically have in stock clothes-wise is the items to try on (i.e. they had each size to try on and that's it). But it was the coolest to actually try on clothes from and visit a store that I'd been buying clothes from for years.
  • Erin Condren: I bought a planner from the Erin Condren flagship store! I'll be doing a full blog post on this soon, so please stay tuned.
And that wraps up my Austin, TX travel guide, guys! Thanks so much for reading, and have an awesome day!

Want to pin this guide to your Pinterest? Pin the image down below!