When I was working as an auditor in the United States, weekends sometimes felt more valuable than they ever had before.
During busy periods, most weekdays followed a predictable routine: work, dinner, sleep, and then back to work again.
So when a coworker and I finally had a day off, we decided not to spend it sitting around.
We got in my car and drove to Austin, Texas.
There was no complicated itinerary and no attempt to see everything the city had to offer. It was simply a chance to get away from work for a day, walk around somewhere new, and see a little more of Texas.
Looking back, that’s probably why I remember the trip so well.
It wasn’t a major vacation.
It was just one free day in the middle of my life in America.
The Drive Was Part of the Trip
One of my favorite photos from that day wasn’t taken at a tourist attraction at all.
It was taken from inside my car.
The sky was beginning to change color, and the sunset was reflected in the side mirror as the road stretched out behind us.
If you’ve spent time in Texas, you’ll know how much driving becomes part of everyday life.
Distances that might feel excessive in Korea can start to feel surprisingly normal. You get in the car, enter the destination, and drive.
And drive.
For me, road trips were also one of the most enjoyable parts of living in the United States.
There was something about being able to get into my own car on a free day and simply go somewhere else.
That day, we decided to take an Austin Texas day trip and make the most of our rare day off.
Our First Look at the Texas State Capitol
One of the places we visited was the Texas State Capitol.
Even before getting close to the building, it dominates the view as you approach it from downtown.
I had seen American state capitol buildings before, but there was something particularly fitting about seeing this one in Texas.
Texas has always seemed to have a very strong sense of its own identity.
And standing in front of its Capitol, that identity felt almost architectural.
The building isn’t just a monument for visitors. It remains the working seat of Texas government, housing the chambers of the Texas Legislature as well as the governor’s office.
Visitors can also go inside. The State Preservation Board currently offers both free guided tours and self-guided visits, with the guided tours covering the building, Texas history, and the state legislature.
I didn’t go to Austin because I was particularly interested in state politics.
But when you’re visiting a state capital, the Capitol is one of those places that helps explain where you are.
It gives the city a sense of history that is easy to miss if you only think of modern Austin — tech companies, music, restaurants, and nightlife.
Walking Into Saint Mary Cathedral
Another place we stopped was Saint Mary Cathedral.
This was a completely different atmosphere.
From the streets of downtown Austin, we stepped inside and suddenly everything became quieter.
The dark wooden interior, pointed arches, stained glass, and long rows of pews gave the church a much older feeling than the modern city outside.
I remember standing toward the back and looking through the wooden screen toward the altar.
People were sitting quietly inside, so it didn’t feel like a place where I wanted to walk around taking endless photos.
I took in the interior, took this photo, and spent some time simply looking.
Saint Mary Cathedral is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Austin. The church community traces its history back about 180 years, and what began as a parish church eventually became the seat of the bishop of Austin.
That history made the visit more interesting in retrospect.
Austin today is often described through its rapid growth and modern culture. Yet within the same downtown area, there are buildings that connect the city to a much earlier Texas.
This is one of the reasons I like walking through a city rather than only moving from one famous attraction to another.
Sometimes the contrast between two nearby places tells you more about the city than either place does alone.
Seeing Another Side of Austin From Mount Bonnell
The landscape changed completely when we headed toward Mount Bonnelhttps://www.austintexas.gov/parks/programs/historic-austin-parksl.
This ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day.
From above, we could see Lake Austin stretching through the hills, with houses lining the water and boats moving along it.
It was not the Texas landscape I had pictured before living in the United States.
When people outside the U.S. imagine Texas, the first images are often cowboys, ranches, oil fields, or enormous flat landscapes.
Austin can look very different.
From Mount Bonnell, the city felt green and almost surprisingly peaceful.
The viewpoint sits on a limestone promontory above Lake Austin and has been a popular local destination since the 1800s. The City of Austin describes it as one of the city’s significant natural and historical landmarks, with views over the lake and the hills west of the city.
What interested me most wasn’t necessarily the history, though.
It was simply seeing another version of Texas.
Below us were waterfront houses surrounded by trees. Small boats moved through the water. In the distance, the hills continued toward the horizon.
For a while, it didn’t feel like we were anywhere near the Texas I had imagined before moving to America.
And that’s one of the things travel repeatedly taught me while I lived there.
The image you have of a place before visiting it is often much simpler than the place itself.
What I Remember From My Austin Texas Day Trip
I wasn’t living in Austin, so I can’t pretend that one day gave me a deep understanding of the city.
It didn’t.
But it gave me an impression.
Austin felt different.
There was the monumental Texas identity of the State Capitol.
There were older places like Saint Mary Cathedral hidden among downtown buildings.
And then, not far away, there were hills and water around Lake Austin.
All of that fit into a single day.
Perhaps that contrast is part of what made Austin memorable to me.
We weren’t rushing through a checklist of ten attractions.
We drove, walked around, stopped when something looked interesting, and eventually headed home.
For someone working full-time in another country, that was enough.
A Day Off That Became Part of My Memory of America
When I first moved to the United States, I thought the places I would remember most would probably be the famous ones.
That wasn’t always true.
Some of my other memories of America came from work itself, including an audit trip to Alabama where I found one of the best steaks I had during my time in the U.S.
Some of my strongest memories came from ordinary weekends.
A coworker and I had a free day.
We took my car.
We drove to Austin.
We saw the Capitol, stepped inside an old cathedral, looked across Lake Austin from Mount Bonnell, and eventually drove back.
Nothing particularly dramatic happened.
But that’s exactly why I wanted to write about this day.
Living abroad gives you a different relationship with travel.
You aren’t always taking a week off, booking hotels, and planning an itinerary months in advance.
Sometimes you look at your schedule, realize you finally have a day without work, and decide:
Let’s go somewhere.
Years later, I don’t remember what audit work I had been doing immediately before or after that weekend.
But I still have these photographs.
And when I look at the sunset reflected in the side mirror of my car, I remember what it felt like to have one free day, a car, and somewhere new to go.
For me, that’s also part of traveling.
