volunteering Archives -

I’ve been in Austin for SIX WEEKS! It’s not a long time, but it’s the first time I’ve been in the same place for more than two weeks in…five months? Even though I’m already planning another adventure, I wanted to give everyone an update on what I’m doing in the Live Music Capital of the World!

obviously having a great time

Work: I’ve been working with AmeriCorps for the past four weeks. And yes, I’m doing construction. I’m building and repairing houses. I’m fulfilling four year old Megan’s dream from when she made popsicle stick houses and told people she would be a carpenter when she grew up. The best part of my job is that every day is different, I never get bored. Monday I demolished a bathroom (taking out a closet/bath so we could rearrange it and make it wheelchair accessible). Today I finished painting a ramp. A few weeks ago I finished working on a roof for one of the houses in the Mobile Loaves & Fishes program. I get to work with my hands and learn new skills for the time when I’m ready to build my own tiny house!

I also got rehired at Lush! Two jobs may be a lot to handle during the holiday season, but all of those extra savings (aka travel funds)? I’ll sleep in 2016.

Austin Film Festival: Despite doing manual labor from 9-5 every weekday, I’ve managed to get my butt off the couch in the evenings, usually to volunteer somewhere else. I enjoyed volunteering at Austin City Limits so much that when I saw volunteer applications for the Austin Film Festival, I figured, “Why not?” Even though I’m not as passionate as film as I am about music and other media (There are tons of classic movies I haven’t seen yet), I figured AFF would be a great way to meet new friends and see some cool new movies. I didn’t even know that James Franco would be at the festival until after I started my shifts; I kind of signed up on a whim.

I worked one party, two registration shifts, and spent Monday-Wednesday of the festival working at the Paramount Theater and watching the movies that were being shown that night. The movies were fantastic, and I was lucky enough to get a film pass to catch a few on Halloween! Oddly enough, I volunteered with people from Philly and met some friends who had also just moved to Austin a month or so ago. Volunteering has been the most effective way to meet people in Austin. I learned about a sci-fi film festival happening in December…I may just have to put that on my list of things to check out!

Fun Fun Fun Fest: Wednesday was my last volunteer shift at AFF, Thursday was my volunteer orientation for Fun Fun Fun Fest. Again…I’ll sleep in 2016.

Fun Fun Fun always has a killer lineup, and this year’s did not disappoint. Wu-Tang Clan, Cheap Trick, Odeza, Grimes, Joey Bada$$, Jane’s Addiction…plus a bunch of skaters, comedians, and pro wrestlers. Yeah. Not your run-of-the-mill music festival, for sure. Despite a rainy start on Saturday, the festival had great vibes, a good space, (gorgeous people), and awesome sets from rappers, rockers, and everyone inbetween. I volunteered in the mornings Saturday and Sunday, which left evenings (and the amazing nite shows) open.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely The Growlers’ nite show at Cheer Up Charlies. I had been waiting for over a year to see The Growlers and I had heard good things about Cheer Up Charlies; both exceeded my expectations. The surf/pysch-rock group had everyone outside bopping around and sharing love. At one point, I looked around the crowded space and watched girls dancing on benches, groups of friends sporting crazy costumes, people grabbing cheap beers and discussing the day’s shows.

It’s not the most professional picture of post-grad life, but it’s exactly how I wanted to spend my Saturday. The past six months (it’s been SIX months since graduation!) have been a whirlwind, and the next year is a complete mystery. Today, tomorrow, last Saturday however…Austin’s where I want to be. It’s where I want to spend my weekend. It’s where I want to explore until my next big adventure. It’s all good.

I’m pumping out another playlist and I’m going to be focusing more on holiday traveling in the next few weeks. As usual, any suggestions, comments, questions…post away!!

Hello again! As a follow up to Sunday’s post (The Pros and Cons of Backpacking Alone), I figured I would give a little advice to solo travelers on how to meet people! As much as I enjoyed being alone on my trip, I’m also very social and was always itching to meet other travelers. Here are the top five ways I did so…enjoy!

5. Music Festivals

When I saw the lineup for Open’er Festival in Gydnia, I bought a ticket. I had no plans, no friends to attend the festival with, and I didn’t know a word of Polish. (Luckily, I was able to connect friends on Couchsurfing and Reddit. You can find the whole story here.) The four of us made a bunch of friends at the festival…just from, you know, being there. At a music festival, it’s totally acceptable to sit down with a group of people and start chatting with them, or run up to a group of people in a Morphsuit and start chugging a beer. We met friends from all over the world just by including everyone around us into our conversations and being friendly!

If You’re Shy: Ask a group of nearby festivalgoers to help you choose between two acts playing at the same time. Starting a debate on seeing Drake vs. Father John Misty, one of the biggest conflicts of Open’er, makes for awesome conversation.

Mackenzie, Erin, and I with one of the more…interesting friends we met at Open’er. Photo stolen from the lovely Sam Wilson.

4. Volunteering/Working

Not only are programs like Workaway and WWOOF (check out more on what WWOOF is here) great for saving money while traveling, but they’re also great for meeting other travelers and people around the world! For two weeks in August, I volunteered at Angloville, a week-long program that helped Polish teenagers improve their English skills by introducing them to native English speakers. Basically, my job was to speak English. I was able to meet 20 other native English speakers on backpacking adventures and talk to a bunch of Polish teenagers about living in Poland (and what they thought about Americans). The native English speakers included backpackers from Canada, England, Australia, Ukraine, the Netherlands…I still talk to a few of them on a regular basis and I currently am living through their travels!

If You’re Shy: Find programs, like Angloville, that focus on speaking or learning your native language. It takes a lot of pressure off you when you can, you know, communicate with people.

Native Speakers from Angloville Week 1! (Well…my week 1) Stole this gem from Nathan…I look ridiculous 🙂

3. Tinder

I’ll say it. I’ll say it. Tinder’s great. The online dating app was designed in 2012 and has ever since gained a notorious reputation as young people use it to find hookups. So I know what you’re thinking, but hold your judgement for a minute. During my travels, I’ve used Tinder to talk to young people who were local to the area. Since someone’s always active on Tinder, advice on what to do in a city or a friend to grab a drink with were always at hand. On my profile, I always wrote I was traveling, I was looking for friends to grab food with or who had good recommendations for bars, museums, and things to do around the city. Use caution and remember that you might have to explain that you’re using it for platonic reasons (or not, I don’t judge), but I definitely recommend downloading Tinder before your next backpacking trip.

If You’re Shy: I’d especially recommend Tinder. That way you don’t have to awkwardly approach a group of people and find the perfect way to slide into their conversation.

2. Couchsurfing

What’s Couchsurfing, you ask? Well thank goodness I wrote a whole blog post on it! Basically, Couchsurfing is a website and an app that helps you meet locals on your travels. You can stay with them for a night or a few, hang out at a meetup, or just grab advice. There’s tons of opportunities to meet people!

If You’re Shy: Start with a meetup. It takes off the pressure of residing in someone’s house, and usually Couchsurfing meetups are pretty easy to spot. Just asking, “Is this the Couchsurfing meetup?” is an easy way to get talking!

Read more about Couchsurfing and why it’s so great on this blog post!!

1. Hostels

Hostels are easily the easiest places to meet people while traveling. As soon as you walk into your room, you could be greeted by a number of people from around the world. Most young adults staying in hostels are on backpacking trips or vacations, so everyone has a cool story to tell. My best piece of advice is to find a hostel that’s close to the city center, with a bar. Even if the people in your room aren’t around, you can hop down to the bar, grab a drink, and talk to people. Most also host pub crawls or walking tours as well!

If You’re Shy: “Where are you from?” is an easy enough question to ask. Again, most hostel dwellers have tons of traveling stories they want to tell and they’ll want to hear yours as well!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post! Let me know the best ways you’ve met people abroad in the comments! See you next week!

Tag Archives: volunteering

Austin Update! Including the Austin Film Festival & Fun Fun Fun Fest!

5 Ways to Meet People While Traveling