'Nomadic Matt' Opens His First Hostel in East Austin

HK Austin, Austin’s newest hostel for lifelong travelers, and a personal project of internet-famous traveler Nomadic Matt, is finally open for business.

“I hope this hostel contributes to the betterment of this up-and-coming area of this awesome city,” Nomadic Matt creator Matt Kepnes told Patch.

The idea to build a hostel can be traced back to a month in 2006, which Kepnes spent on the Thai Island of Ko Lipe. He and a few travel buddies talked about opening a hostel in New Zealand that would be eco-friendly and a place for budget-conscious travelers. While the New Zealand aspect hasn’t happened (yet), Kepnes worked with another friend a few years down the road, Brent, to reevaluate the idea and make the Austin property a reality.

“He [Brent] ran a hostel for years in New York City and working together made sense. We closed on a historic property in the up-and-coming area of an East Austin neighborhood and got to work converting it into a hostel.”

The hostel, located at 1807 E Cesar Chavez St., opened to guests in August. It quickly rose to the No. 1 spot for Austin hostels on Hostelworld, a website that rates hostels around the world.

The successful establishment is within a block of food trucks, bars, parks and 6th Street. Guests can do numerous activities, from paddle boarding, to watching bats exiting their caves at night, to visiting the Cathedral of Junk. The hostel - which is in a small home - has thirteen beds, new mattresses that have become popular on Hostelworld reviews, showers, a large indoor common space, a kitchen, free Wi-Fi, and free laundry. Rooms are $20 to $30 per night, making the location a favorite amongst budget travelers. Kepnes attributes the home-like nature of the establishment to his own personal taste in hostels. 

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“I hold hostels so close to my heart because I feel like staying in them is the reason I’ve met so many fascinating people around the world,” he said. “The atmosphere of a hostel can be intoxicating. Typically, people are there not only here to sleep, but to meet people, exchange stories and advice, and share experiences together. I’m hoping that people that make friends in our hostel will go paddle-boarding together, attend local concerts together, and then meet up at some other place in the world one day.”

Before Kepnes was “Nomadic Matt,” he was working a desk job at a hospital while pursuing an MBA. It was after two vacations - one to Costa Rica and one to Thailand - when Matt fell in love with traveling.

“It was on that trip [Thailand] that I met a group of five nomadic backpackers that changed the way I looked at how life had to be lived. Then and there I was determined to become nomadic myself.”

Kepnes initially decided to turned his love of reading and writing into a marketable business by becoming a contributing writer to Lonely Planet guidebooks.

“I started a travel blog so that I would have a live portfolio of work once that moment came when Lonely Planet asked to show proof that I had experience in travel writing.”

Kepnes never ended up writing for Lonely Planet, though. Instead, Nomadic Matt ended up turning into a budget resource that could stand alone. He now publishes his own travel guidebooks, and operates a blog that reaches several thousand readers around the world.

Kepnes pointed out that while the nomadic life isn’t for everyone, it’s what keeps him going.

“Being a nomad is something that I feel like runs through your veins. It is either in you to stay in one place and settle down, or it’s in you to pick up and move around often. Ten years ago, I found out I was part of the second group of people. Exploring makes me happy and that’s why I continue to do it.”

[Photo: Nomadic Matt]