Vancouver/Portland Guidebook

There is no sale tax on all items purchased in Oregon and no sales tax on food purchased in Washington

Download the GasBuddy app it’s free and will help you navigate affordable gas near you

It’s typically never too hot or too cold here but I recommend bringing items that can easily be layered. As mornings can be overcast and then clear up and be warm and sunny later.

It’s true what they say about Pacific North Westerners “they don’t use umbrellas”. Most locals will just wear a jacket with a hoodie as the rain is typically light and patchy.

In Portland it’s common for pedestrians to just cross the street regardless of lights and on coming traffic. So be careful when driving around this caught us off guard when we first moved here.

There are so many wonderful affordable places to shop out here. Thrift stores are really common. Locals are also obsessed with IKEA (kind of like the Costco of home goods).

While free parking is generally easy to find in Vancouver, you may need to pay for street parking in Portland. “Parking Kitty” is the name of the app used to pay for your street parking spot. You’ll know when you see the sign with the pink cat face.