Texas in May is HOT!!!

Like genuinely hot.

This entire year, I don’t think I really got to enjoy anything that could reasonably be called spring.

But after the Florida business trip, I ended up going to Texas too, and honestly???

Texas was pretty fun.

I had assumed that because it was the South, there wouldn’t be that many people around and there probably wouldn’t be much to do.

Wrong.

People EVERYWHERE.

And Ubers?

Shockingly easy to get.

Very efficient.

However—

Florida at least gave me enough breathing room to actually have weekends.

Texas did not.

The warehouse was huge, things were constantly moving in real time, and there was always something that needed to be chased, checked, fixed, confirmed, moved, re-confirmed, or asked again because obviously the first answer had already expired.

So saying I “experienced Texas” would probably be generous.

More accurately:

I experienced our Texas warehouse.

And our customer.

And our vendors.

And occasionally Texas appeared somewhere in the background.

Still counts.

The second I landed in Dallas, I went straight for barbecue.

Obviously.

Texas initiation ceremony.

And it was VERY Texas.

Like aggressively testosterone-coded Texas.

Big tough-looking men slicing giant pieces of meat like THUNK THUNK, throwing on an unreasonable amount of black pepper, and handing you meat that looks completely charred and vaguely hostile to cardiovascular health.

I looked at it and thought:

ah yes.

This is the American South.

Then I actually ate it.

And okay.

It had something.

I can see the appeal.

I still occasionally think about it.

The only issue was the flies.

SO MANY FLIES.

Apparently everyone else had agreed this was just part of the dining experience.

Meat.

Smoke.

Pepper.

Flies.

Atmosphere.

But the whole place was incredibly lively and cool.

Very energetic.

Very Texas.

When I was preparing for the trip, I originally tried to book a hotel that was apparently too expensive.

Rejected.

Fair.

Then my team leader picked another hotel for me, and honestly???

WAY BETTER.

The staff were all really nice.

The neighbourhood was good.

The hotel itself was comfortable.

Once again, an authority figure preventing me from spending unnecessary money and accidentally improving my life.

Love that for me.

And then—

my first Buc-ee’s experience.

SHOCK.

To Texans, I’m sure Buc-ee’s is just—

oh yeah, the beaver gas station place.

Normal.

Whatever.

To me???

TREASURE ISLAND.

Actual Texas treasure island.

I walked in like:

WHAT IS THIS PLACE.

Why is everything here.

Why is the beaver on everything.

Why do I suddenly need merchandise from a gas station.

And then, naturally, I bought two Buc-ee’s T-shirts.

And a travel neck pillow.

And during the trip I kept eating jerky while working at the site and destroying those sugar-coated cashews.

Those cashews were dangerous.

Tiny little financial and nutritional mistakes.

One after another.

And even now—as I’m writing this in the last week of December 2025—I still have TWO Buc-ee’s stickers stuck on my work laptop.

The relationship survived.

Also, if you wear a Buc-ee’s shirt AND walk through the airport with the Buc-ee’s neck pillow around your neck?

You become famous.

Like visiting-K-pop-star levels of public recognition.

Except I am not actually jealous of celebrities anymore because—

PEOPLE WILL NOT STOP TALKING TO YOU.

“BUC-EE’S!!!”

“HEY, LOVE THE SHIRT!”

“WHERE’D YOU GET THAT?”

“Yes, Buc-ee’s.”

“Yes, Texas.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Then there was this restaurant.

The second I walked in I was like:

WOW.

Fancy.

Very colourful.

Very dramatic.

Very nice.

Food was good too.

The problem was the seating arrangement.

From where I was sitting, the people at the table to my left were having one conversation.

The people at the table to my right were having a completely different conversation.

And I wanted to hear BOTH.

So I spent the entire meal turning my head left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Listening to one story.

Then jumping into the other one.

Basically human surround sound.

Very busy.

Dinner should not require this level of situational awareness.

Then I had dinner with Joshua grandpa.

Very low-energy Joshua grandpa lol.

Like his battery was permanently on 12%.

But the restaurant was SO GOOD.

Especially the coconut flavour.

Proper coconut.

Not “coconut scented concept.”

Actual COCONUT.

Very good.

And then for the final business-trip meal—

barbecue again.

Of course.

Bookend the trip properly.

And this place was once again extremely—

Hot.

Strong.

Meat.

Smoke.

Big flavours.

Everything operating at 130%.

Texas does not seem particularly interested in subtlety.

Honestly I respect it.

And the boiled corn there???

SO GOOD.

For some reason that corn triggered something in me.

Since that trip, I’ve been periodically inhaling corn whenever the craving hits.

And sometimes that expands into popcorn.

Apparently one Texas business trip permanently altered my corn consumption.

Unexpected deliverable.

And then—

done.

That was Texas.

Honestly, Texas seemed pretty good as a place to work and live.

People were nice.

Everything felt active.

There seemed to be a lot going on.

But as a VACATION destination???

Hmmmmmm.

Do I need to fly there specifically for leisure?

Maybe not.

If I’m spending money on domestic travel, I’d rather save it and go back to Happy Florida.

Or somewhere with maximum romance.

Somewhere that makes me feel something dramatic.

Texas?

Good for WORK.

Very respectable.

And actually—

when I say “the people in Texas were nice,” a large part of that may simply be because the people who came on the business trip with me were nice.

Which is a slightly different conclusion and I would not give Texas itself a full credit………..

Anyways, that’s it!

Worked a lot & ate a lot of meat & developed an attachment to a beaver gas station & started eating suspicious amounts of corn.

THE END