SXSW: Travel is a post on The Hickensian

Quite a few people seem to have found time to do a daily blog from SXSW, but not I. My SXSW Flickr photoset was getting updated regularly however, and now I’ve got a chance to blog some of my experiences. I’m going to break the posts up into topics, and this one is about the not so nice journey to Austin.

After the 8 hour flight from Heathrow to Chicago, I have a 4 hour delay, with no coverage on the mobile or wi-fi networks for me to hop on, in a lounge that has a very nasty meat smell. I try to block out the smell with my first ever Cinnabon™, but I get covered in hot spicy ooze instead. It’s snowing outside and -5 degrees, nice.

For some reason, I had to change at Dallas, and end I up missing the last flight of the day. So I’m sent off to a Days Inn for the night, in a minibus from Kenny G hell.

I get a few hours sleep, and then its up again to catch the ‘G’ bus back to Dallas airport. This time its smooth and I arrive in Austin on the Friday morning – sans luggage. It still in Chicago apparently, and my need for clean clothes can’t be sated. It will be sent later they promise (thats the next story).

I catch up with Andy Clarke at the hotel, and we decide that in order to not miss out on the fun already happening, I borrow some clothes off him to tide me over. Andy has the lean, rock star physique, while I sadly have a more portly real ale build. I find the least nipple protuding t-shirt that Andy has, and off we go…