No matter where I travel, Austin will always hold a special place in my heart. While the bustling city streets and raging music venues showcase the vibrant city’s “party hard” attitude, Austin’s natural features exhume its versatility and the reasons why it captivates those who are fortunate enough to experience what it has to offer. An important tool that I need when venturing through Austin is my phone – whether it be for brunch at Kerbey Lane, a concert in South Congress, or a trek through the lush trees of the Barton Creek Greenbelt, I aim to capture the city’s beauty as much as it captures my heart.

One of the first major adventures I had this year was at the start of the semester when I explored the Greenbelt with a group of friends. Although I have technically lived in Austin for a year now, this was the first time I had hiked through the Greenbelt. Let me just say that I love nature, despite the fact that I rarely get the chance to go on hikes or simply walk through Austin’s greenery. Once my friends and I planned this adventure, I immediately slipped on my Chaco’s and prepped myself for what was to come. My phone was crucial on that day because I wanted to record my first time at the Greenbelt. I felt as though my phone disconnected me from others, but in a beneficial way – while it disconnected me from people, it connected me to nature.

For my 1-year anniversary with my girlfriend, I went all out (as I usually do) and booked a helicopter ride over Austin. This was our first time on a helicopter, which I believed made our anniversary that much more special. Since a great deal of planning was put into this surprise gift, I could not do without my phone – I needed it to find the landing strip, capture her reaction, and, of course, snap pictures of Austin’s beauty from a bird’s eye view. The limited amount of time to take pictures was a bit frustrating, but it made me realize how fast these moments slip past us. This experience reinforced my belief that phones are an overall good due to their function in capturing important life events.

Lastly, my experience at Kanye West’s Saint Pablo Tour at the Frank Erwin Center was one for the books. Despite the fact that my phone was at about 50% at the start of the concert and died within the first hour, it proved how much we use phones and the effects they have on our experiences. In the digital age, we constantly need proof and validation of our every move – in this situation, I used my phone to prove to myself and others that on the night of September 21, 2016, THE Kanye Omari West stood before my very eyes and performed one of my favorite albums.

My perception of digital culture has definitely evolved through my experiences in Austin. Although phones are usually perceived as tools which disconnect the user from his or her environment, they are also able to help share memories and bridge the gap between people and nature. Based on my recent experiences in Austin, my phone not only helped me cultivate stronger relationships with people, but with my city as well.