A real indie movie holiday would consist of holing yourself up in your bedroom and sulking about how no one understands you/cares if you live or die/follows you on Twitter/accepts your eBay bids for obscure Pixies EPs, etc – so give yourself a break. But where? America, obviously. Duh! But where in America? California? That's not indie, that's the domain of The Man. New York? Yawn. Portland, Oregon? That's more like it – Gus Van Sant-land. Oh, but wait, now they've made the Twilight movies there. The weather also sucks. The bedroom it is, then.
No wait! The indie destination you seek does exist. It's Austin, Texas.
Why Austin? Well there's the films, for a start. Starting with that meandering paean to aimlessness that is Richard Linklater's Slacker. Seen with the right eyes, Slacker is basically a tourist promotion ad for Austin. It takes you around the town centre (pedestrian friendly, chain store-free, loads of good cafes, take note) and gives you a sample of the alternative types you'll meet on every corner: oddballs, obsessives and outcasts. These are your people! Linklater has made most of his other movies here – including Dazed And Confused and Waking Life. But look how many other film-makers have joined him: the Coen Brothers (the forthcoming remake of True Grit); Steven Soderbergh (The Underneath); Mike Judge (Office Space and Idiocracy); Kimberly Peirce (Stop-Loss); indie god Terrence Malick lives nearby; John Sayles is a member of the Austin Film Society. Just out of town is Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios – home of everything from Grindhouse to Sin City to Spy Kids. And no prizes for guessing where the Quentin Tarantino film festival (tarantino.info) is held. And that's without even mentioning South By Southwest (sxsw.com), the indie-est film and music festival on the planet, which also made Austin the epicentre of that sluggish latter-day movement known as Mumblecore.
Austin is also a fine place to eat Tex-Mex, take in live music, shoot pool in a bar, visit the South Austin Popular Culture Center, or if you're really feeling indie, loiter aimlessly in a huge, soulless out-of-town shopping mall. And you're just a Stetson's throw from the landscape of No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, or if you prefer, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Best of all, though, Austin is home to the Alamo Drafthouse chain (drafthouse.com), possibly the best cinemas in the world. As well as a solidly alternative programme with no adverts, the Alamos have long tables in front of each row of seats and a full menu, so you can eat – and even drink beer – while you watch. All of which means you could go on holiday and spend all day in the cinema. It's just like staying in your bedroom, except with room service.
