Funs Things To Do: Portland, OR

Funs Things To Do: Portland, OR

Much like San Francisco, Portland is a city with a strong counter culture vibe, and it's also smack dab in the middle of so much beautiful geography and activity. Roughly two hours from the rugged Oregon Coast, it's very much a city...that also happens to have a large forest in its northwest section and is close by to several waterfalls and parks. 

There really is something for everyone in Portland, whether you're a literature lover, outdoor adventurer, or cocktail connoisseur. Here are some fun things to do the next time you visit.

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Bay Area Adventures- A Sunday In Mountain View

Bay Area Adventures- A Sunday In Mountain View

Between San Jose and San Francisco, the leafy and quaint Mountain Vew lays tucked away just off US-101 and Central Expressway. It's downtown area, served by a main artery in the form of Castro St., is perfect for a leisurely weekend stroll. I like coming on Sunday, when the Farmers Market is in full swing.

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AMEX Membership Reward Offer- 2x Points on Amazon

And now, a rare credit card post.

Just a quick heads up post- if you have an eligible American Express card, one of the Offers right now through July is 2x points on qualifying Amazon purchases. I got the email about it this morning since I have the Everyday Preferred card, and was pleased as punch about it since I buy a lot of books and travel gear on Amazon.

I have the Everyday Preferred card, so I get 3x points on grocery, 2x gas, 1x on everything else but if I make 30 qualifying transactions within a statement period I get 50% bonus on those points. One Mile At a Time has a pretty good write up about it. It's a pretty great way to build up a bank of Amex Membership Points on everyday spend. Adding in this 2x point promotion is really convenient timing as I'm trying to build up my points this year for 2017 travel. 

For the record, I'm not sponsored by Amex; I actually really like the card and Amex Membership Points because they have a lot of flexible travel use and will transfer into almost every airline I fly, and transferring points is pretty quick too. The transfer ratio for Virgin America is kind of the pits at 2:1 Amex points to Elevate points, but most of the other transfer rates are 1:1

So if you have an eligible card and are looking to build up more points, check your account and apply it to your card.

 

My Current Favorite Travel Apps

My Current Favorite Travel Apps

In the digital age with an app dropping every five minutes, there's a lot to choose from in the travel market. Everyone has a few favorites, be in the app that'll pull up a city map, or order a cab and rate it, and the ever important and occasionally handy translation tool.

For a long time I resisted apps, being a bit semi-Luddite about it. I think one can get along perfectly fine in their travels without relying on them, but I have to admit...they are so handy, when you have the data and Wi-Fi to support using them, of course! It's always a good idea to check the Wi-Fi situation of your destination. 

Having now embraced apps more, here are my current favorite ones for travel.

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Where To Eat: London

Where To Eat: London

Spring travel season approaches, and London is a great destination to consider. It's shoulder season still for one, meaning it can be a more affordable time of year to visit, and secondly, it's quite a pretty time as well with flowers and trees in bloom. I imagine Kew Gardens is lovely in springtime.

If this grand city is calling to you, you can check out my post covering my London vacation last autumn that includes a bit of an overview, where I stayed and why it was a convenient home base, getting around the city, and places worth visiting.

But let's talk about food. 

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For Backpacking, The Doctor Is In

For Backpacking, The Doctor Is In

Doctor Bronner's can be used as shower gel, bath soak, washing hair and face in a pinch, as laundry soap, etc. etc. It claims to have 18 uses, but as travel goes I care about it as shower gel, face wash, and laundry soap. I have tried it on my hair, without Doctor Bronner's follow up Hair Rinse, and found I didn't like it. But then again, apparently you're supposed to use the slightly acidic hair rinse to counteract the alkali in the soap. Without it, it makes the hair feel a bit dry and off. 

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Ch-ch-changes! Tot later, Amsterdam. Ciao, Italia!

Ch-ch-changes! Tot later, Amsterdam. Ciao, Italia!

Sometimes the best laid plans change, and that's never more true than when it comes to traveling. The Amsterdam trip I was planning for May is now postponed tentatively for 2017. It happens, but luckily it's early enough in the year for me to cancel my Cocomama reservation. While I was looking forward to seeing the canals and tulips, I'm repurposing that travel bug energy into trying to work out a mid-June trip to Italy instead. I figure, hey, it's better than being bummed and there's still some time to see if it can happen.

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New Year, More Me In-Progess

New Year, More Me In-Progess

New Year's always seems to bring the idea of "New Year, New You" and resolutions, and while I'll be waist-deep in this concept for work over the next few weeks (yay, content marketing for e-commerce!), instead of making "new me" as a goal for 2016, I've decided to look at it more as me, in-progress, and continue working on existing and newer goals as opposed to the idea I need to become a new person.

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Winter Destinations- Honolulu

Winter Destinations- Honolulu

Vacation is usually synonymous with summer time, but there's something to be said about traveling in winter. It's usually the cheapest time of year for many destinations worldwide, and traveling in a shoulder season means places are less crowded. Why not spend some time next December strolling through Christmas markets in London or Germany? Or, if you're wanting to get away from the cold there's always Hawaii.

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Virgin America Upper Class SFO-LHR/LHR-SFO

Virgin America Upper Class SFO-LHR/LHR-SFO

On our vacation to London, we chose to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class for the 10.5 hours there and 12 back because we had amassed the required 50,000 Elevate points each to redeem the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class award, through just flying a lot on Virgin America, both having Virgin Visa Credit Cards (we get 8 points per $1 base airfare using our cards to book Virgin America flights), some Amex Memberships Reward point transferring, and a good points buying sale around last winter time. Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic, despite being both Virgin, are separate brands and airlines, but they do partner together. This means if you are a Virgin Elevate member and have enough points, you can redeem them for award seats on Virgin Atlantic, also Virgin Australia, Hawaiian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and more. 

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24 Hours in Paris

24 Hours in Paris

I've been, admittedly, putting this post off for a month now. Partly because I got very busy at work, and a largely in the wake of the events a few weeks ago in Paris. It felt trivial at the time to post about my brief 24 hour visit  from October right after the attacks. But life must go on, and it's important to see the bright spots after dark times.

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A Day In the Cotswolds

A Day In the Cotswolds

A few days into our London trip, I had planned for the boyfriend and myself to go out to the Cotswolds for a day. Our friend Hope had gone a while back and had nothing but great to say about it. As someone who frequently reads historical fiction set in the 19th century and often in country settings much like this, how could I not visit?

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