Jaunting down to Portland, OR

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Ok, so let's start blogging this world trip. I haven't actually started yet, but the practice will be good.

First, a little background. Back in April, I decided to quit my job and travel around the world. Around the same time, I met a girl, Jennifer, and invited her with me. The basics, in order to go, would be to decide how to finance the trip, do the research and decide the destinations, complete any paperwork (passport applications, visa's, etc.), buy equipment, and decide what to do about my condo. The hardest thing was figuring out what to do about my condo - which took awhile. I finally found some friends to take care of it while I'm away, and they started living there in October. Before that, things turned sour between Jenn and me and we broke up. Everthing else was taken care of except getting the plane tickets, which I was in the process of when my car got broken into (late October) and everything, including my passport got stolen. I had to refile for the passport and buy all my stuff again. Now I'm waiting on the passport.

So, what to do while I'm waiting? I decided to jump around the west coast and 'practice' travelling before I go overseas. I chose Portland to be my first destination - easy and close by. I booked a seat on a Greyhound bus, a weeks worth of lodging in a hostel, packed my bags, dropped my car off at Mike's and made my way down here. Hurray!!! I'm finally doing something.

Here are some lessons that I'm learning quickly:

• I have 40lbs worth of stuff in my pack. It's too much. I need to lighten my load by 5-10 pounds. I'll supply my initial list in a later entry for others to work off of.
  
• The Osprey Waypoint 80 travel backpack is very nice. It stores enough, but not too much. The small disconnecting pack is perfect for my laptop too. The best thing - it opens fully but has few storage spaces and one big space - other than the comfortable adjusting straps
  
• Carry change. Buses need change - otherwise you'll be wasting cash.
  
• Make sure you have something to sleep in. I had thermal underwear but wanted shorts and forgot to buy some. I had to buy some at Fred Meyers after I got to Portland
  
• Print out or write up bus schedules and maps before you get to your destination. Once I got to Portland, I walked around a bit trying to figure out where my bus stop was.
  
• Become a member of Hostelling International. Lots of benefits for $28 a year. Booking a hostel for a week saves you about that much and I know I'll be doing that a lot more than a week. There is also travel insurance (not great, but something), and no-commision money exchange in many places.
  

When I arrived, it was cold and rainy. Even colder than Seattle I think. It took awhile for me to find my bus, but didn't have too much trouble. I got to the hostel around 4pm and got checked in. I've never lived in a dorm went to college, so all this is kind of new to me. Very cheap accomodations ($17/night), community bedrooms and common spaces, and a kitchen, etc. The people here are somewhat quiet. I think it's partially to do with the weather. I caught a cold right before coming down here, so I haven't felt up to being overly social, myself. I like ALL the postings all over the walls in this place too. So many ideas of things to do and places to go. There must be a thousand papers on the walls here.

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