Day 23: Heat, Netflix, and a Night Out in Beaverton

I spent Day 23 tucked away in my Beaverton, Oregon Airbnb. The heat was relentless, the kind that makes you grateful for air conditioning and excuses to stay inside. With no real plans until the evening, I let myself sink into the comfort of Netflix, finishing episode after episode of a series that had me hooked. Sometimes travel days look like this—quiet, indulgent, and still.

By 7 p.m., I was ready to trade screen time for face-to-face conversation. I had plans to meet someone for drinks, a new Portland transplant I’d connected with on a chat forum. He had recently moved north from California, and I had so many questions—what drew him here, why Portland, and how the Pacific Northwest felt compared to his old home.

We agreed that the cooler, milder climate was part of the appeal—though I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Here I was, sweating through what locals told me were the hottest two months of the year. Timing is everything.

The little vegan spot we chose felt like Portland, even though we were technically in Beaverton: cozy, creative, unpretentious. We talked for hours, about place, change, and the pull of the PNW. By the time I returned to my tiny home Airbnb, I felt a little more certain that maybe the Pacific Northwest could someday be home.

That night, I climbed into my lofted bed with the hum of passing cars as my white noise, thinking about how chance conversations can open whole new possibilities.