Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial (Credit: Knowsphotos via Flickr CC)

Step off the plane into Austin-Bergstrom Airport, and the wafting scent of Salt Lick BBQ is one of the first indicators this town is going to woo you. Try not to swoon over the unmistakable guitar riffs of Stevie Ray Vaughan ubiquitous in bars around town. And if your heart doesn’t do a back flip when gazing at the skyline from a grassy corner of Barton Springs, then you’re beyond help.

I had to leave Austin for it to sink in: living in this overgrown college town is something that ruins a person for living elsewhere. While it’s impossible to completely describe what makes this town so lovely to call home, here are some of the reasons I can never hang my hat anywhere else. [Read more…]

Larry Rolon poses with pet Chihuahua, Cookie, in front of his tiny home designed and built by TexZen Tiny Home Co. (Credit: Jaclyn Hubersberger)

As a minimalist with an interest in sustainability, excited by the challenge of living in small spaces with a fear of geographical commitment, you could say I’m an ideal candidate for the tiny home lifestyle. But this wasn’t always the case.

Living in a space more than eight times smaller than the average American home didn’t appeal to me until I moved to Washington, D.C. in 2010, where the cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment was roughly $2,000 per month. In that market, my budget afforded me a studio apartment with less than 300 square feet. To my surprise, I found that not only could I tolerate life in a micro dwelling, but I liked it. The dramatic purging of my belongings ultimately led to a feeling of liberation, not deprivation.

When I stumbled upon the tiny house movement in 2012, I was smitten by the thought of designing my own miniature abode [Read more…]