Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

I’m back with today on my time in Houston, Texas.

Now as I have already mentioned, ‘backpacking’ or ‘hostelling’ is not quite the same in the US as it is elsewhere in the world, so when I saw flights out to Central America were cheaper from Houston, I thought I’d spend a couple days there and naively thought it would be like my usual pit stops. Unfortunately what I failed to realise was Texas is rather large (the furthest driving distance from the southern border to the northern border I understand to be roughly 800 miles, taking about 14 hours to drive). 

With no car and public transport being, to put it lightly, non-existent, travelling around to various sites was rather difficult. The only option I could use was Uber.

Arcade Bars and Almost NASA

I was lucky enough to see my cousin for part of my stay here, who took me to ‘Cidercade’ – an arcade bar with old fashioned games like Pac-Man and air hockey. A pass to play on all the games and activities was US$12 and I do think you could easily spend an afternoon here, especially since they have a restaurant too.

The NASA Space Center was somewhere I had originally planned to go – however tickets were US$34.95 and with Ubers being a similar US$35 one-way, this was looking to be an expensive day out to a museum, so I passed.

Instead, I went to the ‘Top Gun Range’ and rented an AK-47 and bought two boxes of ammo. As someone who enjoys shooting this was a fun trip, albeit I was noticeably the only female in the entire vicinity.

Not bad if I do say so myself!

Accommodation & Adventures on Foot

I stayed in ‘Bposhtels Houston’ which was the only “hostel” available in Houston. That being said this was very much more of a motel – I believe the hostel was a few dorm-style rooms within a hotel.

With all this being said I did have to make my own entertainment but this motel did have a swimming pool and some good company, so all was well.

True to my European mindset, I tried walking to nearby places but quickly learned that Houston isn’t built for pedestrians. Pavements were rare, and I got a few odd looks walking the five minutes down the road to the shop. Eventually, I had to admit defeat and accept cars are the only way of travel.

Tips to Learn from Aelfgifu:

• Rent a car if you plan to spend any time exploring as you’ll struggle without one.
• Flights to Mexico and Central America are much cheaper from Houston, so it’s a great springboard for onward travel. I would suggest Houston being a quick stopover, especially if you are lacking in car.

Did any other tourists here struggle with transport? How did you get around it? Let me know in the comments!

Never too cold for beer and never too hot for chili,

Aelfgifu