Last Updated:
My favorite city in the world is Portland, Oregon. Wherever I go, if I stay long enough, I get a crazy longing to be back in the Pacific Northwest. In 2008, when I landed in Christchurch, New Zealand after traveling for a two months of my RTW trip, I felt like I had landed at PDX… it was drizzly, everyone was wearing fleece jackets, drinking coffee, and I even spotted some socks with sandals. I probably had the dumbest goofy grin on my face. But it was enough to give me a taste of “home” and the city I love. I heart Portland, and here’s why.
I love the Pacific NW because it’s my home, and while I love the smiling faces of Thailand and the friendliness of the South, and the feeling of losing yourself in a sea of people and foreign signs in Tokyo, there’s nothing like the feeling of landing at PDX airport, and smelling the air of the PNW (yes, it smells different here), and seeing all the the granolas in their fleece jackets, the suburban folk in their jeans and running shoes, and even the relatively newcomers of Portland (in the grand scheme of life), the hipsters.
I love returning to the predictable weather of rain and more rain. And while I get really tired of the rain, there’s some part of me that finds it comfortable because it’s home. And I know that in four nine months it’s going to be partially sunny and then a month later we’ll have 2-3 months filled with some of the most fantastic days of weather you could ever imagine (and yes, probably some rain thrown in too). The beauty of not having 300 days of sunshine a year, is that you don’t take it for granted when it finally shows up.
I love the fall in Portland (87 reasons I love it, actually). I love biking in Portland. I love the food in Portland (and food carts). I love how acceptable it is to be an odd duck in Portland. I love the rivers of Portland. I love the bridges of Portland (especially riding my bike over the Hawthorne bridge at night). I love the public transit in Portland. I love being roughly an hour between both the mountains and the Oregon coast. I love the music scene in Portland. I love all the beer in Portland (all of it!).
I. JUST. LOVE. Portland. As much as I wanted to claim a foreign city to gush about, Portland is still my favorite city in the world.
Was this as glowing as whenever the New York Times mentions Portland?
What’s your favorite city?
