I don’t know if it’s the close of fall, daylight savings ending, and consecutive weekends spent at home, but I have the travel bug again. It may also have something to do with a construction crew banging on my house all day while I feel trapped inside. That certainly isn’t helping. Evidently my domesticity has some pretty particular limits.

So, while I can’t just jump on a plane and head somewhere exciting (though, come to think of it, why not?) I thought I’d share one of my favorite adventure spots of all time – Portland, Oregon. What a funky and magical place. You want enrichment of all kinds you’ll find it there. Breathtaking hikes 15 minutes from town, unique bars and restaurants, and endless exploring – both in the city and the woods. What’s not to love about a city with endless coffee shops, breweries, water features, and thrift /antique shops? The only shame is that from Michigan, you’ll pretty much have to fly – so you might want to pack an extra duffle bag to get everything home. Not much to do about that antique bureau you can’t live without, though. Everything for a price? I digress…

For this trip in 2009, Ryan and I flew to Portland to visit my brother and my parents, who, being retired, made a leisurely drive across the country and rented a little apartment for the month. It was one of the best Thanksgivings I can remember. That’s the thing about Portland, or at least about my brother living there. Everyone he knows is from somewhere else, and so the holidays are spent with families they’ve made in the city. We wanted everyone to feel welcome, so we ended up having about ten people at the table that year.  I’m sure Spence was excited that his family was there, but really, I was excited that we could be a part of their celebration, too.

I have tons and tons of pictures from this trip, but thought I would spare you, dear reader, from endless scrolling, and just pick out a few. That’s the tough part!

There are relaxing, lazy sunny, beachy vacations, and then there are the adventurey, learning, exploring vacations. I love both – what are some of your favorites of each?