On traveling and perspective

A comparison of food and culture in the Pacific Northwest and the south

Hi friends,

I just came back from a short “investigative vacation” to Houston, TX with my husband and two kids. Let me explain what that means.

An investigative vacation is where you visit a place that you’re thinking about relocating to see if it has what you’re looking for. You go there to have fun, yes, but you’re also scoping out neighborhoods, people, places, resources and the like to see if it matches what you’ve found online.

For almost a year now, my husband and I have been feeling a bit disconnected with our hometown…that’s probably the closest word I can think of. We’ve been living in Portland forever, and aside from a year hop to Corvallis, OR, I haven’t really lived anywhere else. I came to America (specifically Portland, OR) from Vietnam in the mid-90s when I was 10 years old, and my family has basically settled their roots here. Some of my family members have moved to other places but in general, most people have stayed.

Why were we thinking about moving? Because Portland is expensive to live. There are half million dollar homes¹ next to parks and restaurants and all the cool things, but take a closer look and you’ll see that we have a serious homelessness problem. It’s so bad that there are currently three mayoral candidates trying to fight it out. On top of that, the state of Oregon also has a serious meth problem.

Even so, people have been moving here, presumably for the outdoor opportunities. Parks are great in Portland. So are public transit. There’s plenty of bike and walking lanes; people actually practice courtesy on the road (this is not evident in Texas at all). You don’t need to go that far to get to the coast or hiking or camping in the woods.

Still, it gets cold and whenever it snows, even for just two inches, the city freezes…literally. Everything shuts down. We’re stuck inside waiting for the ice to melt. Other days, it can get real gloomy and overcast—rain is a constant friend around here.

But I like rain. I don’t mind rain so much, except when it gets dark and looming, and if you experience enough of these dark, cloudy days, it messes with your head. Suddenly, you want to do absolutely nothing because of seasonal affective disorder. It’s a real thing that pervades my husband and I every single winter, from late December through the end of February.

That said, we began to seek out sunnier pastures, and cities in Texas suddenly became attractive.

I visited Austin in November of last year, and while I like the big city feel, I decided that it was too much like Portland (homes were getting pricey down there); thus, I couldn’t imagine us actually being able to live comfortably in that sunny city where (it seems like) everyone has moved to. My husband visited Providence, RI and decided that it was also too much like Portland in terms of climate.

Rice University. Ironically, it was dark and gloomy. The rain came down HARD when we arrived on campus.

NASA’s Space Center was so cool, I could stay there all day.

So then Houston became the next choice. From thousands of miles away, things looked attractive. It was a sunny place where warm temperatures occur year round. The housing options were much cheaper and more available. So are the jobs. The main industries there seem to be healthcare, space exploration, science/technology, and oil. There’s no shortage of restaurants and things to do. Plus, there are some fantastic colleges and universities down there, such as Rice University, for example.

After spending three days in Houston, seeing its culture, eating its food, interacting with its people, here’s what I’ve learned.

Mini donuts and oatmeal bowl at The Cafe Dew.

• Houston is hot and humid. So hot that temperatures reached 90 degrees before 9 a.m. I know it’s because I went in the summer but still…when you start dripping sweat down your back after only being outside for 10 minutes, it gets uncomfortable. I began to daydream about the crisp, cool air of Portland. My son does not like the humidity. My daughter commented that she loves “sweater weather,” or long afternoons inside drinking hot cocoa and wearing sweaters. Sigh.

• The city’s transportation system is complicated. By this, I mean that car travel is commonplace. Sure, they have a bus/train system, but almost everyone drives on the freeways there, of which there are plenty. Four major freeways wrap around the entire city, interconnected by other smaller, shorter freeways. It’s beautiful and immaculate but damn…people are aggressive and fast and they show no mercy for the scaredy cat driver that I am. I can never survive on the roads there. Problem is, you got to drive everywhere—there really isn’t that many shortcuts that do not involve freeways.

• Speaking of freeways, there isn’t that much to see when you drive. Driving along Oregon freeways, you’ll see forests, green fields and farms, which is a nice, albeit plain view. I prefer seeing greenery over oil drums and H-E-B stores and strip malls…which Houston has plenty. Giant blocks of buildings dotted the side of the freeways, and next to gas stations there are all kinds of stores. That’s a whole lot of beige.

• There are no shortage of food establishments and Asian people. One of the reasons why Houston looked attractive to us from far away is the Vietnamese population there. It is third in the nation, after Los Angeles and San Jose. Portland doesn’t really have a large Vietnamese population, and we wanted our kids to be connected to that part of their identity. So we figured we’d want to be around more Vietnamese people, see more “Vietnamese” things like restaurants, grocery stores, etc. And that was absolutely true. Aside from many Vietnamese restaurants, there was just a lot of food choices, period.

• But…there’s a lot of barbecue and meat. And hardly any healthy-ish grocery stores, such as Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. I like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, and I’m spoiled here in Portland. The nearest one is only 20 minutes drive away or less, even though I do not live in the “center” of town. Because my kids eat like the end of the world is near, I have to be price conscious when it comes to groceries. Sure, beef is cheaper in Texas due to its accessibility, but do I really want to eat that much meat all the time? No. Climate change is a real issue so I’m trying to do my (small) part by eating less meat here.

I loved this place. We all did.

Even their decor was cute.

Heat aside, we did eat at some notable places, including Bodega’s Taco Shop, where they have the best shrimp tacos EVER and The Café Dew, a cute little breakfast joint with delicious mini donuts and oatmeal bowls. For a cute little sweet treat, we had gelato at Sweet Cup. (Speaking of ice cream shops, we had a heck of a time trying to find one! It took three tries before we found one that existed and was open).

I want this print for my kitchen.

NASA exclusive coffee bar.

Traveling is expensive, especially when you have a family. So is moving. But for what it’s worth, visiting new places always gives me a new perspective, this time about what life is like in the south versus on the west. Now I can see why some people might find Portland exciting…

Thanks for reading. Now it’s your turn—tell me about a city that you love. Is it the one you live in or one that you dream of living in? What makes it great and what makes it not? Better yet—what city should I check out next?

In case you missed it…

• On some memorable meals of my youth

• On coastal trips and fish & chips

• On uncertainties and unknowns

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1. 500K+ is the average here. You can find something for less than that, but you gotta move way out to the suburbs or go to an undesirable neighborhood.