Made it to SXSW in Austin

I've always said that the trip begins as soon as you leave the house, not when you get to your destination. Business travel is a little different, but the theory still goes -- you're on the road, enjoy it.

I might actually extend that to including the morning of the trip. It's the way traveling colors everything you do -- all the little domestic things you do before you leave have more significance and an almost a surreal quality. Open the cat door, make some tea, dig through the clean laundry for another pair of socks… These are all things I do pretty much every day, but I won't be doing for the rest of the week.

I'm in Austin, TX for SXSW (pronounced South by Southwest, for the uninitiated). My flight was, well, a flight, except for the fact that my cold was worse than ever. I'm not a guy who gets nosebleeds, but sneezing at 35,000 feet while doped up on antihistamines seemed to change that rule. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it was a good thing I made it to the restroom and that stainless steel in a plane doesn't seem to be entirely stainless.

I've never been to Austin, and in a sense I still haven't been there. I got in around 9 last night, wiped out from my trip, grabbed the shuttle to my hotel, and that's all I've seen. Holiday Inns are pretty much the same where ever you go, which is why I don't usually stay at them

The view out my window isn't terribly promising -- flat and hazy with a freeway running right next door. But again, don't judge a city by it's Holiday Inn.

I'm off to grab some breakfast and be interviewed by WIRED, and I'll probably see a lot of the convention center… I might actually never see Austin at this rate.