Should I Move to Portland?

I lived in Portland, Oregon for a hot second when I moved back from Tokyo, Japan. Had it not been for the boyfriend who became not-my-boyfriend at the time, I may have stayed. Because you guys, the Pacific Northwest is my happy-magical-green-wonderland.

So when my LA-based adventure buddy was like “where should I move next?”, I volunteered to show her my old stomping grounds. Here is a recap of our little adventure to the PNW which convinced her it should be her new home.

We stayed in an AirBnB which was so quaint and adorable, you can see a couple shots of it in the first 20 seconds. I would have given them a link back here, but it appears they are no longer hosting because the listing is gone 🙁

Wandering Around

(0:25 – 0:35)

The thing about Portland is that the city blocks are so much smaller and cuter than other cities. Some sources say this was intentional to creat a pedestrian-friendly city, so I’m just going to buy that and not question it.

Moving on. Literally. Because within the few hours we explored Portland we had traversed multiple neighborhoods, bars, coffee shops and barcades. A few hits:

Geographer happened to be playing at Hawthorne Theatre the night we got into town, so LUCKY US. Shots of this are laced in-between various places we ate all the baked goods, featuring…

Blue Star Donuts

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDbSQcOMzdu/

Listen, you might think that you’re not into these bougie-bourbon-glazed-basil-rings-of-happiness, and that would be fine. Because that just means there’s more for me and mine. However it wasn’t even the donuts that had us back here every effing day of our trip.

THE PEOPLE ARE SO NICE.

But I mean like, everyone in Portland – IS SO NICE.

I was amazed when I moved to San Diego that people just generally seemed happier. But Portland is on a whole other level (Because of the grass? Maybe. We aren’t here to judge.)

Not once, BUT TWICE we had a situation where the employees just gave us free donuts. FREEEEEE.

why tho gif

BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE NIIIIIIICE.

We know it’s weird, just go with it!

Drunk Milkshakes at Pépé le Moko

(0:57 – 0:59) – sorry it was v dark in there and I think technically we weren’t supposed to be filming.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDcHnc3szYI/

The alcohol part I left completely up to my bartender friend who found a bunch of underground bars and places with glasses of whiskey that cost my rent. (we didn’t drink those, but they were in our presence.)

Multnomah Falls

(1:08 – 1:25)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEhPTK3szWh/

This is a pretty standard “we did it!” spot for people visiting Portland. What I love about any of these places though is that your version of it, is different depending on the weather. The day we went it was stormy on and off which made for some pretty dreamy storm photos.

Latourell Falls

(1:31 – 1:39)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDhV169szR0/

Like so many many rocks formations, the rocks at Latourell Falls were formed by lava. But unlike any lava formations I’ve seen, the rapid cooling created columnar basalt formations. If you take a peak right around 1:39 you can see them better.

Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway

(1:40 – 1:51)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDgRUtDMzVH/

Rainbows

The not so shabby byproduct of living in a place with sporadic rainstorms.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDfOpVlMzeZ/

En-route to Southern Oregon

(2:07 – 2:24)

When I lived in Portland I didn’t get the chance to explore the southern part that much so this was a real treat. Since our trip was in March there was still some snow on the ground and it was pretty beautiful.

Bend, Oregon

(2:25 – 2:40)

We stayed with some friends that had relocated from LA to Bend. Upon arrival we immediately went outside and were rewarded with nature-y nature.

Smith Rock State Park

(2:48 – 3:58)

If you’ve ever eaten a Clif bar and noticed the actual cliff on the wrapper – it’s this rock!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDjS_y-MzQs/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDmf-jvszTY/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrvjrDszeP/

In Sum

The Pacific Northwest is a magical lush land full of poeple that will give you free donuts.
You will eat lots and lots of things because everything is delicious, but you can also walk everywhere so just justify yourself right on through.
If you have to lose your best-adventure-buddy-soul-sister, there are worse places for them to be lost to.
Get used to be slightly damp at all times depending on the time of year you go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEMiXXiMzdX/

Creative Corner

For this trip I took my GoPro, Canon Rebel T3i + 50mm lens, and my iPhone
I tried using a burn effect to bring on the opening scene.
A manual write on effect was used for both the beginning song credit, and the location on the end. But the closing was much better since I had practiced on the opening.
Since the PNW is both grey and vibrant all at the same time I wanted to try something stylistically to convey that. So the beginning shots start out in greyscale and slowly add color at points in the music where there is a crescendo with more energy to it.