Shareable Austin

I could’ve stayed in one these anonymous anthills that are the same everywhere. I wouldn’t have helped to keep Austin weird this way. Or connect with Austin’s weirdness. Plus, $300 a night is steep.

I stayed in the Tiny Pink Mansion instead. It’s a trailer with a shack attached in trailer park in the South Congress district about two miles from the convention center. Loved it. Wall to wall art. Bikeable to SXSW.

I rented it from Flip Solomon for $150 a night on AirBnb. OK, still high, but a good deal for SXSW, and feels good giving the money to an artist and single mom. She threw a bike in the deal too, but flaked on that.

No worries. I went to next door to Eric Luckett’s self-described micro-house. I rented that bike in his yard, lock and basketincluded.

Eric gave me a tour of his 6x6 house. Very orderly. His hat read “Eric Luckett, Writer & Artist”. I asked him to show me his art.He said, “you’re looking at it.” Eric was very down to earth.

Here’s Eric’s bike. I used it for all six days while in Austin for SXSW, mostly to get to and fro my trailer and SXSW. Seriously made my trip – no cars, no parking, no hassles. I probably put 50 miles on it.

Most days I lunched at the food trucks up on 6th with Paul Davis (right), Shareable’s tech editor. I had the best fish and chips ever here – andright in the middle of Texas.

Here’s a better look at the scene. Loved the food here, and the come as you are ambiance. The trucks were as colorful as the food with names like Dirty Banjo and Pig Vicious. Heard there’s 1,500 food trucks in Austin.

One of the more interesting food truck conversions with seating upstairs.

This is Christine, in town to play at a festival of radical street art bands. She joined us for lunch. The food truck scene was quite convivial. I had conversations with strangers every time I ate there.