So you’re probably wondering how I got here. Gardening tool in hand in Houston, TX. Believe it or not, this trip was conceived prior to any hurricane and was actually for very selfish reasons.

If you know me at all, I am a huge sunset fan. Any chance I get I head to the beach to catch the sunset we pay taxes on here in Cali through our high cost of living. On August 16. I was at Universal Studios on the top of the hill and while my daughter and her mom were shopping for a sweater, the sun drew me out to a taped off region of the park where I went under the rope to gaze at. It was this sunset, and the desire for change in my life that made me yearn for a sunrise. A real sunrise, off the coast of an ocean, unobstructed. A reverse sunset. How crazy of a concept!

So the search began, how would I get to see this reverse sunset. Step 1, I got a globe. I put my finger to the Atlantic and thought a plane ticket that far might be out of budget right now, and drew my finger down the coast. Passing Florida, into the Gulf, passing the other LA and straight into Texas. There was an east coast in Texas! And far closer than any “east coast” state. My finger landed on Galveston. This was where I would see my first real sunrise. Now how to get to Galveston….

Houston would be the major city discount airlines fly to. That would be the main destination. Now, how can I budget this in and make it worthwhile as to not just spend money on a sunrise. Second step was cutting costs. I cut my cable bill, internet bill, Youtube Red, Soundcloud, Dropbox. Many things that just added up and were unnecessary. (You can ask me more about that in a DM if you’d like tips)

Next, with this blog in mind, and the mission statement of the vision I had on August 10, just 6 days prior. I knew what I had to do. This trip would turn into one of the first travel blogs for a cause that I would do. So I looked up organizations in Houston to do work for and found a garden build posted on Habitat for Humanity’s website on Sept. 23. I quickly signed up. Booked the flight. Airbnb set. Everything locked in on August 18. Want to know what also happened on August 18 (or, the night before, rather) a tropical storm in the Atlantic formed and was named Harvey.

Harvey would continue to grow and by the next week the trajectory became clear and Houston was right in it’s path. WOW. I hadn’t even thought about Hurricane season and the Gulf Coast. How selfish was I. But it turns out my trip would be even more beneficial than previously planned.

If you’d like to read the rest of this post including: my service with Habitat Houston, my first hand experience of how Houston was effected by hurricane Harvey, and see more ground level photos of the city including what this house is and why it is like that.

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