OFF THE RECORD: Portland, OR


Over Memorial Day I traveled to Pacific Northwest of Portland, OR. I never been there, so I got on a plane and left for a long weekend getaway for some solo travel. During my time there, I got to experience such fine foods from so many amazing restaurants, drank some incredible coffee and beer, hiked and saw what the Gorge was all about, and see what Portland was all about.

As a solo traveler, I've been diving into the unknown and getting out of my comfort zone. It's been hella daunting and exhilarating at the same time. I've been holding tight to my personal inspiration/motto to travel -  

"One new domestic, one new international"

every year and I got to go to some sweet places I've never been to. It then dawned on me that I could be doing something good about this than just sharing photos that I took.

My side project is to use my photography to make city/insider guides to the places I visit. Since every destination is always new, it naturally forces me to research and gather notes mentally and physically what to expect. On top of that, I love to eat, drink, explore the unknown, mingle with strangers, go on random excursions, make new friends, and everything else. It just made sense for me to develop my own take of city guides. Not just lists and short one liners, I'm talking about the places I've been too, why I went there, and what I thought about it, etc. Then listing out recommendations to other places in that domain (food, coffee, drink, etc). 

I had trouble thinking about the name for it but it popped in my head while I was out at an event zoning out. 

Off the Record

Off the Record: (insert city name) series would deliver more of my raw unfiltered voice of every domain - food, drink, coffee, touristy, pub trans, and misc things that stood out. Like talking in chat apps or on email, going off the record means things are said 100% undocumented. Well, I'm going to keep it documented. This could stand out from other guides because, when a reader (like you) know's nothing about that destination, this will put them you on the driver seat soaking in the authenticity of the city of how I absorbed it along with the photos I took because I've literally been there, done all of that.

Just a fun thing I wanted to do complementing my photography. This is my first guide of the series and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Click above on the photo for the guide or here.