United States Archives • Travelling Lens

First Timer’s Guide: United States Austin F1 Grand Prix

Before watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix, I knew very little about the F1 nor did I have any interest in in. But the Netflix series brought a relatively niche sport like Formula 1 to the front and centre for people like me.

When the chance to watch the USGP in Austin Texas came up last year in October 2023, we figured why not! We’re only a 3 hour drive away from Austin.

My husband and our friend, who are both Formula 1 enthusiast, did all the planning. This was on of the few trips we’ve done so far in America where I did zero planning and I was along for the fun ride.

This is a break down of what they did to plan this 1 night 2 day trip to Austin for the USGP at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), just outside of downtown Austin.

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Hotel Review: Hotel Ella, Austin Texas—A Little Classy Hotel

Hotel Ella in Austin, Texas was a last minute find when our Airbnb hotel cancelled our 1-night stay for our trip to Austin to watch the Austin F1 Grand Prix in October 2023.

I’m glad we found this little 48 bedroom boutique hotel. It’s a circa 1898 landmark mansion, in the Greek Revival style of architecture.

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Expat’s Guide: MLB Baseball Game at Minute Maid Park, Houston—Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves

The Astros is Houston’s Major League Baseball (MLB) team. They’ve won the World Series twice, the last time being in 2022.

Since arriving in Houston, we’ve watched two NFL game and two NBA games.

Baseball is the last of the 3 major American team sports that we had on our list to watch. It was a last minute decision to catch a Houston Astros game in downtown Houston. A friend had two spare tickets, so we figured why not catch the game.

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5 Eateries We Tried in Our First Month in Houston, Texas

We arrived in Texas in August 2024, the peak of the summer heat in Texas.

It was a persistent and scorching hot 38 to 42 degrees celsius everyday. It was not a pleasant start to starting settling into life in a new city that’s for sure!

Houston is also not a city made for walking. It’s truly a driving city, with roads and complex highways that easily connect one part of the city to another.

Houston is a sprawling concrete jungle of a city with a population of ~ 2.3 million.

It’s actually the 4th largest city in the United States by population size! As a big city, there are a ton of restaurants, bars and eateries to choose from. Being a big city in Texas, Texmex and barbeque are two of it’s most well known cuisines.

Today, I’ll be highlighting the first 5 eateries we checked out in our first month of living in Houston.

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Fujifilm Photowalk in Houston with the Wandrd 6L Sling Bag

As part of the launch of the insanely popular Fujifilm X100VI camera, Fujifilm US and Luminar Neo hosted a bunch of photo walks across the major cities in the US.

Coincidentally there was one organised in downtown Houston. And I jumped at the chance of meeting some Fujifilm enthusiasts as well as exploring the downtown area (which I’ve yet to explore myself).

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