KnowYard Community

For dentists: look at newer practices that opened in the last 1-2 years. They're actively building their patient base so they have availability. Established dentists are booked out forever.

Get the AllTrails app and search your area. Filter by difficulty and distance. Some of the best trails aren't in official parks — they're along creeks, power line easements, and greenbelts.

Call your insurance company and ask for a list of in-network providers accepting new patients. The online directories are always outdated but the phone reps have current info.

Urgent care clinics do physicals and basic checkups. It's not ideal for ongoing care but if you just need a checkup done this month, they can do it.

State parks. Texas state parks system is incredible and massively underused. A year pass is $70 and gets you into every park in the state. Weekend camping is $15-25/night.

Car insurance in Texas is insane and nobody talks about it. Mine went from $140 to $210/month for the same coverage. Zero accidents. Zero tickets.

Hill Country in the spring is unbeatable. Fredericksburg for wineries, Enchanted Rock for hiking, and the wildflowers on the roadside are insane in April.

The driving thing never stops being true. I live half a mile from a CVS and still drive there. It's 105 outside man I'm not walking.

Army Corps of Engineers parks around the lakes are always less crowded than city parks. Free or cheap, good trails, water access. Google the nearest lake to you and look for Army Corps sites.

Marfa is one of the weirdest towns in America in the best way. Art installations in the middle of nowhere, the Marfa lights, Prada Marfa. Combine it with Big Bend for a full trip.

Property taxes are the real killer. No income tax sounds great until you realize you pay 2.5% of your home value every year. That adds up FAST on a 400k house.

Whataburger loyalty is not a meme. People here will defend that place with their lives. I said it was mid ONE TIME and almost got run out of the office.

It depends where you came from. My friends in California still pay double what I pay for everything. Texas is expensive compared to 2019 Texas, but cheap compared to a lot of other places.

Just wait for your first blue norther. 80 degrees at lunch, 35 degrees by dinner. You will learn to check the weather every morning.

Big Bend is 100% worth it but you need at least 3-4 days. The drive is brutal but once you're there it feels like another planet. Camp at the Chisos Basin if you can get a spot.

Got dashcam footage that could fill a YouTube channel. Front and rear cameras are mandatory equipment in this state as far as I'm concerned.

Nostalgia is literally part of food culture. You're not making the point you think you're making. Also the spicy ketchup is elite.

The weather changing 40 degrees in one day. I've worn shorts and a jacket in the same 12 hour period. Multiple times.

Hot take: Texas drivers are aggressive but predictable. They're going fast and they expect you to keep up. Northeast drivers are passive-aggressive which is somehow worse.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I waited 2 years for prices to drop and they went up $40K instead. Timing the market is a myth. Buy when you can afford to.

Texas pride. I've never lived anywhere where people fly the state flag more than the US flag. And they're not being ironic about it.

Brace for the first time someone invites you to a backyard BBQ and it turns into a 7 hour event with 40 people you've never met.

The merge thing is the real danger. Who taught people to merge at 40mph onto a 75mph highway? That's how accidents happen.

The grocery store conversation thing is real. My neighbor once told me her entire life story in the cereal aisle. Welcome to Texas.

Wait until someone waves you through a 4-way stop when they got there first. Texas politeness actually slows down traffic lol