Moving to Portland? A Quick Thought From My 24-Hour Travel Brain
Portland is my home base, but I make 24-hour travel guides in distant countries every chance I get. Which sounds like two separate lives, but they’re weirdly the same thing.
When you travel, you’re basically doing a speedrun of “could I exist here?”
When you move, you’re doing that same thing, except you don’t get to leave on Sunday.
I’ve lived in Portland long enough to know this place can be awesome. It can also be confusing if you pick a neighborhood based on one cute street and a latte.
The thing nobody tells you
A city can be incredible on vacation and annoying in real life.
Not because the city sucks. Because your routine is undefeated.
Commute. Groceries. Parking. Noise. The one weird intersection you have to take every day that slowly makes you want to freak out.
That’s why my 24-hour travel guide brain actually helps with moving. When I’m filming an episode, I’m not just chasing the best views. I’m paying attention to the boring stuff too, because the boring stuff is where your life happens.
My way to test a place
I don’t have a spreadsheet. I’m not trying to optimize my life like a math professor.
But when I’m in a new city, I always end up doing the same three things:
I walk around without a plan to find the best spots without always referencing a map
I do one boring errand on purpose (coffee, grocery store, pharmacy, etc)
I go back out at night, even for 10 minutes, because the nighttime version of a neighborhood can be completely different.
If those three things feel easy, everything else gets easier.
Why I’m telling you this
Because people ask me all the time - “Why have you lived in Portland so long?”
And then it turns into: “What do you think about SE?” “What about the Pearl” “How do I pick a neighborhood?” “How do I know I’m not making a dumb choice?”
So I finally wrote the Portland-specific version of this, with an actual checklist and a way to narrow neighborhoods without losing your mind.
Here’s that post on my real estate side:
https://codymaxwell.kw.com/blog/moving-to-portland-oregon-a-simple-checklist-how-do-i-know-which-neighborhood-to-choose
And if you want to DM me questions and get more info on buying or selling real estate in the Portland area: https://www.instagram.com/codymaxwellhomes/
If you want to see how my brain works
My travel episodes are basically me doing this out loud in real time, except with better scenery and delicious gyros.
Here’s one of the 24-hour guides:
https://maxwellskitchenpodcast.com/maxwells-kitchen-podcast/24-hours-on-the-amalfi-coast
More episodes live here:
https://maxwellskitchenpodcast.com/maxwells-kitchen-podcast
