A West Texas work-cation
Since I had a bit of a head start on the working remote situation, one of the things I’ve always loved is a bit of a work-cation: essentially, working remotely in a different city for a week or so and exploring a bit in the off-time.
I decided to combine that with two of my other favorite things: solo travel and checking out another national park! I decided to combine three far-flung destinations into one trip: a week that included a visit to White Sands National Park, a few days working from Marfa and then a day of hiking in Big Bend National Park. I put a ton of miles on a rental car, but loved exploring this remote part of West Texas and New Mexico.
El Paso
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend quite as much time in El Paso as planned: the reality of traveling these days is that you have to be ready for flight delays and cancellations! The first leg of my flight was delayed enough that I would miss my connection, so I ended up having to push to a flight the next day (with a much-longer layover). The bummer of that was that I lost my day to explore El Paso. I didn’t realize how much of a border city it was: the other half of El Paso is basically Ciudad Jaurez in Mexico.
That said: I stayed at the Aloft El Paso, and I loved the historical building it was housed in. I also had lunch at the iconic L&J Cafe, which was simple and straightforward and delicious.
White Sands National Park
An absolutely otherworldly destination: White Sands National Park is 275 square miles of white gypsum dunes. As soon as you drive into the park, it feels like you’ve been transported to another planet: it’s absolutely stunning. Just miles and miles of soft rolling white dunes and big blue skies! It’s a desert park, so it is HOT: if you want to do any hiking (there are several trails of varying difficulty), you’re really only going to be able to do that at sunrise or sunset.
My one regret is not buying a sled at the visitor center (you can sell it back when you leave). It looked like SO much fun.
One other thing to keep in mind: the park is right next to the White Sands Missile Range, which regularly conducts missile tests. Whenever that happens, they close the park and highway 70 leading up into the park. Worth checking upcoming park closures before you go, and plan to be flexible: the park was officially closed from 7-9am on the day I visited (no sunrise visit for me!), but they didn’t open the gates until about 10:15am. It does seem like it is more rare for this to happen on the weekends, but worth double-checking as you plan your trip so you’re not stuck wasting time in a (hot) desert parking lot.
Marfa
Marfa is an artsy oasis in the middle of a lot of wide open space: it’s a three-ish hour drive from El Paso, a three-ish hour drive from Midland, a three-ish hour drive from Big Bend National Park and a six-ish hour drive from San Antonio.
It’s a tiny-ish town (you can walk all of in it easily in a morning), but it’s chock-full of design-y shops, excellent restaurants, world-class galleries and just an overall very cool vibe.
The one thing to remember is that it’s absolutely a weekend town and it’s just…Marfa. Don’t be surprised if things are closed (even if Google assures you they’ll be open! if the the hours posted on the door say they’ll be open!). It’s a pretty laid-back vibe with a lot of small independent stores, aka the owner is the only employee.
A few favorite places to eat: the burritos at hole-in-the-wall Marfa Burrito (bring cash!), coffee and toast at Do Your Thing Coffee (the Oaxacan coffee was a delight), sandwiches in the courtyard at Para Llevar, falafel at Food Shark. I heard great things about the cheese places at The Water Stop and the BBQ at Convenience West! Truly, all of the restaurants in Marfa seem fantastic so I think it’s hard to go wrong.
For supplies, don’t miss The Get Go for fancy groceries (I love a fancy grocery!) and (my dream store) Cactus Liquors for booze and fresh flowers.
And all of the shops are so much fun to bop around! I especially loved the fun clothes and design pieces at Communitie, the neat home goods at Pronghorm, funky art at Wrong (their recs are also so great!), clean beauty at Mira Marfa (bonus store Frenchie!), lots of magic-y goods at Ocotillo Botanica. But honestly, all of the stores just have such a cool aesthetic: the goods are all wonderfully curated and the set-up is just designed so well. Another favorite: Moonlight Gemstones is an old-school rock shop, but I could not get over the giant pieces of rose quartz. A lot of the rocks are local, so it’s a fun place to find a souvenir.
I wasn’t originally going to do the museums, but I am SO happy that I did. I did a self-guided walking tour of the Chinati Foundation, and it was a lovely way to start the day. I booked an 8:30am slot, which seemed aggressively early for art, but in hindsight: it heats up early and you are in full sun, so worth going on the earlier side! It was also a really peaceful and reflective way to experience art: outside, in the morning sunshine, listening to the crickets and the birds. Next up, I took a guided tour of The Block, a collection of buildings designed by Donald Judd in which to live and work. I didn’t know much about Donald Judd before this tour, but I learned a ton–and absolutely swooned over his library. If you’re in Marfa, these really are a can’t-miss: worth booking in advance to secure the time slot you prefer!
There are SO many cool Airbnbs and boutique hotels in Marfa: Marfa has a history of mid-century modern design, and I loved just scrolling through all of the listings. I would love to live in so many of these beautiful houses! I really enjoyed the Airbnb I ended up booking: it was a bit on the outskirts of town (about a five-minute drive into the middle of things), but I loved the minimalist aesthetic and open space. It was great for a solo person working remotely, but I think it could get tricky if you had two people working since there aren’t any walls!
One thing to keep in mind is the train that goes through the middle of town, in the middle of the night: depending on where you’re staying (and how sensitive of a sleeper you are), worth packing ear plugs or a travel white noise machine (I swear by this one).
Big Bend National Park
I had super high expectations for Big Bend National Park: so many people raved about it! Even though the weather didn’t perfectly cooperate–a few big storms meant that the rivers were flowing a bit more aggressively than usual and the clear skies weren’t always quite so clear–it was still so beautiful, and I was shocked at the diversity of landscapes. It’s also a big enough (and remote enough) park that you can experience much of it without any crowds, or even seeing another soul.
I only had one full day to explore Big Bend, but I made the most of it! I started with a hike to Cattail Falls: it was about a six-mile loop to a beautiful (rushing!) waterfall, and I didn’t see one other person on the hike! It was a little eerie, but mostly it was just a wonderful way to reflect and start the morning. It was one of those times where it was “quiet” but when you took a moment to notice, it was actually so loud with the sounds of birds, bugs, plants blowing in the breeze.
Next, I went over to the Santa Elena Canyon Trail: it’s supposed to be a simple trail into a striking canyon, but it does involve a water crossing. The Rio Grande was rushing way too strongly for me to feel comfortable doing it alone, especially without hiking poles or trekking sandals. Although I would have loved to see the interior of the canyon, it was still really cool to be right on the border of Mexico next to these towering canyons.
The main reason I wanted to come to Big Bend was to soak in the historic Hot Spring after reading this post and just swooning over the photos. However! My hopes and dreams were dashed, and the hot spring was just an overflowing mass of brown river water. Although that was disappointing, I decided to just do the loop trail and just a few steps past the hot spring, I glimpsed several wild horses (and horse babies!) on the grass right next to the river. Even without being able to go in the hot spring, it was still worth the trip: the drive out to this area was past endless stretches of cacti and wildflowers and an entire mountain range.
I ended the day with an easy loop trail in Chisos Basin. After a day of deserts and canyons, this felt like I’d been transported to a forest. There were warning signs about bears and mountain lions (I didn’t spot any of those, but I did see a deer!), and towering oak, juniper and pine trees. I did a pretty easy three-mile loop that had some gorgeous views, and the visitor center and general store here was also a perfect place to stock up on postcards and something extra to hydrate with. Fun fact: Big Bend is the only national park to contain an entire mountain range within its borders!
After a very long day of hiking, I unwound with a spicy prickly pear margarita and some award-winning chili at the Starlight Theatre. It’s located in the ghost town of Terlingua, which was a cool old-timey place to walk around. I also loved the breakfast burritos at Espresso Y Poco Mas the next morning!
And in terms of places to stay : although it was definitely a little closer to camping that I prefer, Ocotillos Village was a very unique and cool experience. The “Stargazer” has a clear roof and clear doors to be able to take in the stars and the skies while you’re lying in bed. Although it was cloudy the first night, I woke up in the middle the second night looking up at just an incredibly clear and starry sky.
Have you ever been to El Paso, White Sands, Marfa or Big Bend before? Anything I missed?!
