I am writing this as we wrap our second Workr Beeing retreat. Today we both head home again to begin a fabulous 2019! I wanted to give you some insight into our trip and what’s to come this year.
We chose Austin as our second retreat location since we’ve heard so many fun things about the city and it is centrally located between us. It was a great choice. We have both fallen in love with the city and can’t wait to come back to visit in the future.
Day 1: Arrival
I arrived around noon on Thursday. While waiting for Katina to fly in around 8, I started exploring the town a bit. I headed to lunch at Second Bar and Kitchen where I tried their super interesting avocado fundido. Then, I went to get some prep work for the weekend done at Houndstooth Coffee. I drank the most delicious hot chocolate and chatted with the barista to get the scoop on some fun bars and spots to see in the neighborhood.
Katina arrived that evening and we ran to catch dinner at Cooper’s BBQ down the street from where we were staying. It was delicious and felt like a fitting start to the retreat! We followed up our dinner with cocktails and catching up at Small Victory Bar – one of the recommendations from my barista earlier! We would 100% recommend this bar too. If you are ever in Austin, check it out!
Day 2: Discovery of Breakfast Tacos
One thing we learned very quickly about Austin is the depth of love and appreciation of breakfast tacos. We quickly and happily jumped on that bandwagon. We started our morning working back at Houndstooth and eating Tacodeli breakfast tacos along with our chai. I absolutely love that coffee shops around here all have breakfast tacos available in the morning. What a genius idea!
Following our morning work, we headed over to Wanderlust Yoga for a mindful yoga and meditation class. Getting in some movement and some calm is always important to us, regardless of where we are! It was a wonderful class and we were grateful we took the time to attend.
We walked back to the hotel after class (and stopping at Juiceland) to record a brand new episode of the podcast. It’s always so fun to record together in person. After recording, we wandered over to Halcyon to do a little more work before dinner. Once our productivity waned, we headed to She’s Not Here for fabulous drinks, delicious happy hour treats, and yummy sushi.
We ended our second day on Rainey Street. We popped into Container Bar, tried lots of local beer at Bangers, and ate some snacks from various food trucks on the street.
Day 3: Nature, Shopping, and Hidden Bars
We decided to start our Saturday with a nice long walk along the Colorado River and Ladybird Lake. It was a beautiful walk among all the exercising Austinites, greenery, and birds. It was also a really nice way to start our day with some movement again! We ended our walk heading down South Congress to Torchy’s Tacos where we each had one breakfast and one lunch taco.
Once our bellies were sufficiently full, we went shopping! South Congress has some pretty amazing shops and we both made it out with some fun treats. Keep an eye on our Instagram for a future giveaway featuring some of our purchases!
After shopping, we went back to the hotel room to clean up and head out for the rest of the day. We started our afternoon at Better Half where we drank chai and continued working! This is a work trip after all. We then stopped by the flagship Whole Foods (it is enormous!), stopped by some random bars on West 6th Street, and grabbed dinner at Wu Chow. We had the best service at Wu Chow and it started our evening on a good note.
Following dinner, we headed to Garage for fancy cocktails at another bar hidden in a parking garage. We made friends with a couple of women who were also at Wu Chow for dinner and spent hours chatting about life, science, and politics. It was amazing! They have been friends for over 60 years and do an annual trip to Austin. Katina and I felt very inspired to be them in the future!
After our new friends left, the sweetest bartender made us some off-menu concoctions and chatted with us about all things Austin. She gave us some really amazing recommendations, a hot pink wig, and a way into an exclusive members only bar, Here Not There. It pays to be friendly and nice to the awesome people of Austin!
While I won’t divulge all the Here Not There secrets, I will say that it was amazing. It’s a beautiful bar with some of the best and most innovative cocktails and great service. We were so excited and grateful that we got to go!
Day 4: Chicken Shi*t
Our last full day of our second retreat started with…wait for it…more breakfast tacos! We walked over to Hideout Coffee House for some tea, breakfast tacos, and work. We will have a hard time going back to a breafast taco-less life.
After working for several hours, we dropped off our computers and went to lunch at Holly Roller. It was delicious. We definitely recommend the migos kolache if you go!
Following lunch, we went to The Jones Center of the Contemporary Austin. It was a small but interesting museum with a cool rooftop. We decided to be a little fancy before we went to The Little Longhorn Saloon for Chicken Sh*t Bingo! That was quite the experience! You buy tickets, each with a number, and then wait to see if a chicken poops on your number as it walks around the grid. It was not like anything we’ve ever done before! The interior of the saloon was a good experience too since we were able to watch locals country dancing (is that the correct term?) It was so fun!
We ended the day watching the Eagles win (Katina was so happy!) at Revelry Kitchen + Bar followed by a delicious dinner at Suerte. Honestly, we didn’t have one bad meal in Austin! It’s definitely a foodie city.
Day 5: Departure
Today’s the day we leave. We are sad to leave this amazing and vibrant city. You can imagine that we will grab some breakfast tacos before heading to the airport! Workr Beeing will come back to Austin in the future and we can’t wait for that.
What’s Coming in 2019
Hopefully, our experience in Austin can provide you with some recommendations of fun things to do! But the most important part of our second retreat was the work. So what’s coming in 2019?
First, we will be continuing all of our article and podcast content. We are also working on some secret podcast things that we will share as soon as we can!
Second, we are going to be doing the 5-Day Reset again as a community starting January 14th. If you haven’t yet, go grab your copy and look out for the launch! Follow us and share your experience on Instagram for a chance to win the giveaway items we bought in Austin on South Congress!
Third, we are planning to do research based on what we’ve learned since Workr Beeing launched. We can’t wait to share that work in the future and our findings.
Finally, We cannot wait to see what 2019 will bring. We are so excited and so grateful that we had the time together in Austin to create a fabulous plan and are ready to make it all happen! What would you like to see from us in 2019? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions? Let us know!
