Let’s start with the easiest part. My name is Scott (nailed it). I was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin and lived in Wisconsin for the entirety of my young life, including college at Madison, where I met my forever travel companion, best friend, and loving wife, Kristen. My degree is in Engineering, which took us to Albuquerque, New Mexico for 5 years where we picked up our perfect adventure pup, Riggins, plus a lot of great memories and even better friends. In 2015, we moved to Corvallis, Oregon, and as long as life doesn’t interfere, we plan to remain in Oregon for the remainder of our lives. We have no children, outside of our dog baby, which was due to the randomness of the universe and not for a lack of trying. I only mention our lack of kids because it influences all our experiences – if you are looking for the most family friendly guide in the world, this probably won’t be it (though I’ll try to be at least a little inclusive).

You may ask why you should take Oregon travel advice from somebody who isn’t a native. The truth is that due to the freedom afforded us on account of being DINK’s, we have the ability to generally do what we want, and what we want is to explore. We go on weekend trips at minimum every other week, with at least four larger, longer trips every year. And the majority of our trips are in our new home state of Oregon, partially because who wants to fly all the time, but mostly because this place is beautiful, and vast, and varied. If I may be so bold, I believe that we have seen more things in Oregon than 80% of the people who were born here. We have our favorites and we do return to them, but even more we love seeing something new. I’m passionate about my new home and I want to share my passion.

Whenever I travel, I always look for “insiders guides” and while they are occasionally very useful, most of the time I find that they don’t contain anything you wouldn’t find in a big national website or AI generated article. No offense, but I didn’t actually need to be told from a local that I should visit the Grand Canyon when I’m in Arizona, or told to stay at the hotel that’s paying them.

I also find that travel guides I read always highlight the things they think you should do but are silent on the things you shouldn’t. Whenever there is a place or experience of interest which isn’t covered, I’m left wondering why it wasn’t in the guide. Does the person think it sucks? Did they forget it? Do they not even know about it? I want to offer my honest opinion on things that I’ve tried, especially if I think that you’re better off not wasting your time. I don’t want to leave you wondering. When something isn’t included in this guide, I genuinely do not know!

My goal with this guide is to highlight the best and the worst. I may include something that seems obvious and touristy but it is because I’m trying to validate that it is actually worthwhile, and not just including it because it feels like I should (example – Powell’s in Portland that is both extremely popular and absolutely worth a visit). Sometimes 50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong but often they can – at least in my opinion.

I’m not a professional writer nor a professional photographer. In fact, I’m not even sure if I’m even halfway decent at either of those things (I guess if anybody actually reads and uses this guide, I may just find out). I’m not a backpacker (although I absolutely love the outdoors and hiking). I’m not an Instagram cutie with a $200 hat (I’m a nearly 40, balding, white guy). I’m not a chatbot. I’m not being paid by anybody to do this. And I’m not going to write about anything in my guide that I haven’t personally visited or experienced. I don’t see how speculation benefits anybody. If I recommend something, or suggest you stay away, you can trust this is based on having tried it myself.

Obviously, all opinions are subjective and I’m sure you won’t agree with 100% of my recommendations. But I believe you will agree with the majority of them, because otherwise I wouldn’t be taking the time to create this.

Lastly, if you use any of the information in this guide I would love to hear from you. I’d love to hear if I improved your trip, but even more I’d love to hear if there is something you disagree with me on. I like to think I’m open minded and willing to reconsider my opinions.