Portland in the Rain: A Photographer's Messy Love Letter (With Actual Practical Info)

okay so i literally just got back from portland like three hours ago and my camera bag is still in the backseat and i'm already writing this because i promised my editor and also because i need to remember what the hell happened before the jet lag kicks in. also it's currently 13 degrees outside which feels like 12 if you're stupid enough to go outside without a jacket, which i was, because i left my jacket in the uber. typical. the humidity is at 70% which means everything is damp and my hair looks like i stuck my finger in a light socket and the pressure is 1019 which apparently means rain is coming or maybe going? i never understood barometric pressure. anyway.

Quick Answers

Q: Is Portland worth visiting?
A: Yes if you like weird art, coffee that isn't starbucks, and the constant existential dread of wondering if it's going to rain in the next twenty minutes. No if you need sunshine to function like a normal human plant.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: Cheaper than san francisco, more expensive than wherever you're probably coming from. Craft beer is $7, decent meals are $15-25, and you can find airbnbs under $100 if you're not picky about sleeping near a crack house.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: People who need sun. People who hate homeless people (there's a lot, be real about it). People who think public transit is beneath them (trimet is fine but not great). People who want everything to close at 9pm.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: Late august through october. It's not raining constantly yet, the light is golden, and everyone's in a good mood before the seasonal depression kicks in.

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so the numbers in my notebook from this trip are 5743753 and 1840034671 and honestly i have no idea what those mean. i think one of them might be my parking validation number at the pearl district garage? the other one might be the address of that really good taco truck that someone told me about at the last minute. anyway.

i've been to portland four times now and every time i tell myself i'm going to do the "normal tourist stuff" and every time i end up wandering around aimlessly taking photos of moss on things because portland has so much moss. it's obscene. the amount of moss in this city should be illegal. there's a whole neighborhood that looks like the forest from avatar got into a fight with a strip mall and they had a baby and that baby is the alberta district.

The Light Situation (Important for Photographers)

the weather right now is giving 'consistent gray' which sounds bad but actually creates this insane softbox effect where nothing has harsh shadows and everything looks like it was shot on portra 400. i met this guy at voodoo donut who told me (unprompted, i swear) that portland is 'basically a giant softbox run by communists and coffee snobs' and i think that's the most accurate description i've ever heard. the temp hovers around 13 degrees which is cold enough to need a jacket but warm enough that your fingers don't fall off after twenty minutes of holding a camera. the humidity at 70% means your lens fogs up the second you go inside anywhere and you look like an amateur. bring silica packets. seriously.

i spent three hours at powell's books which is this massive bookstore that takes up an entire city block and i only bought one book about pacific northwest moss because i'm predictable. someone told me to go to the rare book room on the third floor and i'm pretty sure i was the only person up there which felt illegal. there's something about portland that makes you feel like you're getting away with something even when you're just buying books.

Practical Things I Learned (Finally)

the trimet system is actually usable if you're not in a rush. the max line goes to places that matter. a local warned me that the streetcar is mostly for tourists but honestly it's fine, it's a dollar and it goes near the good coffee. speaking of coffee, stumptown is the obvious choice but the line is always insane so i started going to heart coffee which is smaller and the barista looked at me with disdain when i asked for oat milk but whatever. i survived.

the food scene here is no joke. i had this pork belly bun from a food cart that's literally just a cart with a umbrella and it was better than most restaurants i've been to in cities that cost three times as much. a local told me to go to the cart pods on 10th and hawthorne and honestly that was the best recommendation i got the whole trip. also, the voodoo donut line is not worth it. go to blue star instead. i know this is controversial but blue star is better and the line is shorter and i don't have time to wait forty-five minutes for a donut shaped like a genital.

The Vibe Check (Real Talk)

here's the thing about portland: it's very aware of itself. everyone there knows portland is weird and they lean into it so hard that sometimes it feels performative. but also, the weirdness is real? there's a store that only sells pinball machines. there's a cat cafe. there's a store that only sells things that are exactly $5. i went to a bar that had no sign on the door and you had to knock to get in and i felt like i was in a movie about spies.

the homeless situation is real and visible and i don't know what the answer is but if you're going to visit and you're going to complain about it without doing any research, just stay home. it's part of the city. a local told me that the city council has been trying to fix it for years and it's complicated and the state of oregon has some of the most progressive laws about, like, everything, and that creates its own set of problems. i'm not going to solve it in a blog post but i'm not going to pretend it doesn't exist either.

Photography Spots That Don't Suck

the japanese garden is worth the $15 even if you're not a garden person. the portland japanese garden has this moss garden that made me cry a little bit, i'm not even exaggerating. the light through the trees at around 4pm in october is the kind of light that makes you understand why people become photographers. i met a couple there who were on their honeymoon and they asked me to take their photo and i did and then they asked if i was a professional and i said 'aspiring' which is what i always say because it makes me feel like i have room to grow.

the international rose test garden is free and the roses are still going in late october which is insane. i saw some people doing engagement photos there and i totally understood why. also, the view of the city from the portland japanese garden is insane and everyone sleeps on it because they're too busy taking photos of the moss. go at sunset. bring a tripod. the wind gets crazy up there so maybe don't bring a fragile camera.

Random Things I Can't Forget to Mention

i saw someone riding a unicycle on burnside. i saw a dog wearing a raincoat and i think the dog was happier than most humans i saw that day. i had the best burger of my life at a place someone recommended on reddit and i can't remember the name but it was near the waterfront and it had wood paneling on the walls and the server called everyone 'friend' unironically and i loved it.

the waterfront park is fine but it's basically just a park. the real magic is in the neighborhoods. mississippi avenue has good thrift stores. woodstock has good coffee. sellwood has the antique mall which is three floors of chaos and i spent two hours there and bought a vintage camera that doesn't work but i don't care.

More Practical Things Because I Forgot Earlier

uber and lyft are both available and both about the same price. parking is a nightmare in the inner neighborhoods so just don't drive if you can avoid it. the airport is small and easy and the light rail goes right to it which is convenient.

tripadvisor has some good lists of things to do but honestly the best recommendations come from reddit threads and yelp reviews and just talking to people. i found the best taco place because the uber driver told me about it and it wasn't on any list.

Final Thoughts (As Final As They Can Be At 1am)

i'll come back. i always come back. there's something about portland that makes me feel like i could live there even though i probably couldn't afford to live there and also i hate being cold and also the seasonal depression would eat me alive. but for a few days, i get to pretend i'm the kind of person who drinks craft beer and reads poetry and knows about moss. and that's enough.

[my instagram is @messy_photographer if you want to see the actual photos from this trip, they're better than this write-up, i'm not going to lie]

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links i actually used and would recommend:

- tripadvisor portland page: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g29226-Portland-Oregon.html
- yelp portland: https://www.yelp.com/c/portland-or
- r/portland for local insight: https://www.reddit.com/r/portland/
- powell's books official site: https://www.powells.com/
- portland mercury for events: https://www.portlandmercury.com/
- portland transit info: https://trimet.org/