Every week I find someone interesting in Austin and ask them to take me to their favorite spots. Breakfast, coffee, lunch, dinner. We talk the whole time. I film it.
There's a little backstory though...
I'm not a journalist. I don't have a studio. I just show up with a camera and ask people to share their Austin with me.
The guests aren't famous. They're interesting. A woman who mails 4,000 handwritten letters a month and started a farmers market in her front yard. A founder who moved here from nowhere and built something. A neighbor you've probably walked past.
One new person. Every week. Their favorite spots. Real conversation.
As kids we made friends by default. Same school, same bus, same lunch table. Proximity forced it. Repetition built it. Shared interests kept it alive.
Then adulthood hits. You move, get a job, lose your third places, and suddenly friendship becomes a nostalgia act. You're texting people you haven't seen in years just to feel connected.
The formula still works though. You just have to engineer it. Show up consistently. Say yes more. Have one awkward conversation at a time. Community isn't found. It's built.
Which is why I'm also trying to play pickleball with Matthew McConaughey. If I can go from not knowing anyone in Austin to that, it proves the whole thing. You can just do things. You just have to start.
Know someone doing something interesting in Austin?
Want to show me your favorite spots? Let's set it up.