Houston, Texas

Currency — US Dollar (USD, $). Roughly 1 EUR = $1.08 [ASSUMPTION], 1 GBP = $1.27 [ASSUMPTION]

Cash vs card — Card-first city. Tap-to-pay accepted nearly everywhere including food trucks and rodeo stalls. Carry $20-40 cash for tips, valets, and small taquerias. ATMs everywhere, but use bank-branded ones to avoid $3-5 fees. Tipping: 18-20% restaurants, $1-2 per drink at bars, 15-20% rideshare, $2-5 per bag for hotel porters.

Budget — Budget: $90-130/day (motel, taquerias, transit, one museum). Mid-range: $200-320/day (decent hotel, sit-down meals, rideshares, attractions). Luxury: $500+/day (Montrose or Galleria hotel, steakhouse dinners, no transit thinking).

Language — English is the working language. Spanish is functionally co-official in daily life — heard in East End, Gulfton, Magnolia Park, and most kitchens citywide. Vietnamese strong in Midtown and along Bellaire Blvd; Mandarin and Cantonese in Asiatown.

Language barrier — Zero barrier for English speakers. Anyone who works with the public speaks English. Spanish helps in some taquerias and panaderías but is never required.

Getting around — Honest answer: rent a car or budget for rideshares. Houston is enormous (650+ sq mi) and built for cars. The METRORail Red Line is genuinely useful for a Museum District / Downtown / NRG Stadium itinerary, but for everything else — Galleria, Space Center, Galveston, Asiatown — you need a vehicle. Don't try to do Houston on buses unless you have serious time.

Safety — Houston is safer than its reputation but context-dependent. Downtown empties after office hours on weekdays — not dangerous, just dead and feels uneasy for solo photographers at night. Avoid wandering south of Downtown into the Third Ward or east of US-59 around Gulfton after dark unless you know where you're going. Car break-ins are the real crime tourists encounter — never leave camera bags or anything visible, even for five minutes, especially at trailheads, museum lots, and Galleria garages. Heat is a genuine safety issue May-September: 95°F+ with crushing humidity, hydrate constantly and limit midday outdoor shoots. Flash flooding happens fast — never drive into standing water on underpasses. Hurricane season runs June-November; if a named storm is forecast within 5 days, reconsider the trip. Mosquitoes carry West Nile in summer; use repellent at dawn/dusk shoots.