For anyone who has had the privilege of visiting Texas, or even knowing people from Texas, you might have heard the term “West Texas.”

Although I originally thought that this term was just used by East Texans being lazy or dramatic about the action happening on the other side of the state, it was not until I embarked on a work trip to these foreign lands that I realized the truth behind the name.

Lubbock, one of the bigger cities in “West Texas,” had only a handful of chain restaurants and little to no nightlife for an outsider like me to explore. Even so, I spent the evening doing one of my favorite activities, chatting up other travelers at the hotel bar.

During my time in West Texas, the locals and business travelers were all in a friendly “small town” state of mind.

The next day, I traveled to a cotton de-linting plant in Aiken, Texas, and the “West Texas” stereotypes kept proving themselves true.

We had sweet tea, potato salad, and huge cuts of Ribeye for lunch and rode around on little shuttles getting a tour of the cotton de-linting plant from the friendly workers all afternoon.

(A cotton de-linting plant is exactly what it sounds like… When cotton is picked, the seeds have to be pulled from the “fluff” and then the seeds are then run through a process to “de-lint” them, or make them smooth, like a seed you’d buy in a packet from the farmer’s market.)

While, not my most exciting adventure, I did come to find that my friends from East Texas were not exaggerating about the simplicity of the other half of their state.

“West Texas” is an all-encompassing term meaning “cows, cotton, flat, friendly, simple, beautiful sunsets.”

Thanks for reading! Until next time, adios, ciao, sayonara, good-bye!