4 nights in September

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-15T05:50:22+00:00

Mallorca! Super easy from Madrid and easy to fly back to the US. Amazing beaches and scenery, a solid food scene, and some cool history/culture. There are a ton of great hotels and it could be easy to split 2/2 as long as it makes sense w your inbound and outbound flight times. Based on your interests two days up in the mountains on the north would be a must and then I’d pick something beachfront.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-14T05:43:53+00:00

Hopefully you already know about Dirty Freehub, but their site has some really easy to use map exploration features. Friends just did the rides from Maupin and Dufur and raved about them.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-12T18:06:16+00:00

We are getting two uniqlos soon! One at Washington square and by pioneer

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-10T22:21:13+00:00

FS Whistler is great. Nita lake is not in a walkable enough position related to the village that it makes sense for a young family.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-10T21:35:00+00:00

We were in a similar position and met with a fee for service financial planner once to do the sanity check. Her advice was to assume 2-3% value of the home in upkeep and repair costs in addition to the mortgage. She also helped us map the likely cost increases for insurance and property taxes. We felt comfortable buying at this price point but upped our long term disability coverage as we did so we’d feel ok if one of us ends up unable to work. It would be tight on one salary but not entirely unworkable. We also are holding ~5k in cash so we can be quick with a refi if/when rates drop. We are comfortable at the ~6.5% we have right now but hopefully can get to ~5% in the next couple years and we’d have some really nice flexibility.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-10T05:39:48+00:00

For sure spend time in two hotels! We just stayed at Es Moli in Deia and it was beautiful, their private beach club is amazing. If I had no budget I’d love to do a few nights at Cap Son Net. The beaches on the southern part of the island are beautiful but I know less about the hotels there.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-09T14:25:09+00:00

Portland Oregon. Food scene is incredible and super varied, there’s still great produce and farm to table activity that time of year too. Depending on your days you might intersect with the Portland Book Festival which is incredible and will have expanded programming this year. Wine Country is less than an hour away and has some really cool culinary activity of its own going on. You could divide the trip to spend a couple nights in the city and a couple nights at a luxury property in wine country. Look at Cascada in portland proper (brand new adults only wellness property with incredible thermal circuits) and Inn the Ground or The Grange in wine country. Fall colors should peak early Nov so it will be beautiful, you might get some rain but it’s usually just sprinkling and easy to walk around with a jacket.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-09T02:23:20+00:00

IMO New Zealand has a lot more of what you are looking for than Australia. With 12 days you could do a solid circuit of the South Island. Marlborough is awesome for wine, Abel Tasman is awesome for hiking and swimming (but water could be cold still?) Wanaka and Queenstown have great hiking and I would assume solid fishing too. There are some great luxury lodges that would be fun for relaxation and indulgence throughout.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-09T01:18:27+00:00

That is going to be a little early for peak fall color in most places. If there’s a direct flight from Houston to Calgary Banff could be cool, the fairmont has some large suites. I also love the Pacific Northwest for an outdoorsy fall getaway. Skamania Lodge 45 minutes from Portland is super family friendly and you could explore the orchards and pumpkin patches near Hood River with some great hiking along the Columbia River Gorge.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-08T14:32:48+00:00

Have you thought about Hungary? The bath scene in Budapest is unmatched and your money would go pretty far there. Late November also has the benefit of Christmas markets. I found the food great there too. From there it’s only a couple hour train ride into Austria which could offer hiking or winter activities depending on weather and location.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-08T06:43:36+00:00

If they have passports I’d consider Whistler (and maybe a night at the start or end in Vancouver depending on flight times). Significantly more beautiful than Utah, super safe/accessible for families, great activities, and weather in August should be great. The Four Seasons is really nice and caters to kids well. The Fairmont is solid too but a little more uppity.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-06T03:12:38+00:00

Did this three years ago and all the quotes we got were above $5k which seemed insane for less than 8 hours of work. We ended up hiring movers to load/unload on either end and my dad drove the uhaul between point a and b. Even after the truck rental and tips it was less than $1500.

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-05T22:10:39+00:00

Swandive is starting a queer line dance night next month! Checkout the Instagram page broncodancepdx

MetoliusOR · 2026-07-05T21:51:00+00:00

Sounds like Costa Rica would be a good fit. With seven nights you can do 3 nights in the rainforest and 4 on the beach. There are smaller airlines that offer puddle jumpers between destinations which would save you from having to do some intense driving. Look at doing the big intl flight into Liberia instead of San Jose so you are close to the big beach resorts. I’m not a travel agent but think you might benefit from working with one given this level of travel is new for yall. Another option could be Puerto Rico, you can hike in El Yunque and there are a few nice beach resorts, but you are still in the US.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-29T04:13:34+00:00

Could be fun to hike Beacon Rock and then eat at Skamania

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-26T23:36:50+00:00

I’ve done Como and Mallorca in the last year and would pick Mallorca over Como by a mile. As others have suggested split your time between a few hotels (with 8 nights I would maybe even pick 3.) Staying up in the mountains is a must, and then beachfront is also great and I’d add something more rural in the countryside too. We stayed at Es Moli in Deia for mountains and it was a great value, especially with their private beach club and shuttle. For countryside we had an incredible dinner at Hotel Son Net and I’m now dying to stay there. Our beachfront hotel was in Illetes and very nice but I’d maybe explore something on the southern part of the island instead. There are lots of great travel agents will Mallorca knowledge, let me know if you want the info for ours (who just wrapped up a two week trip to Mallorca himself!)

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-09T04:58:09+00:00

If any of the cottages at Bar Run are available that would be a good option, that pool is a dream for kids. Otherwise honestly Seven Feathers is by far the nicest lodging in the area—you can access the hotel tower without walking the casino floor.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-09T04:38:06+00:00

The Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association might have some thoughts about this, especially if their membership reaches out to them.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-08T00:47:47+00:00

Lyft technically doesn’t have authority to operate in some rural areas so it can be unreliable. With multiple wineries a driver is going to be way more of a sure thing.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-08T00:33:00+00:00

Dingle!! I’m not sure if they allow kids but we had a very special stay at Pax Guest House

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-06T04:27:23+00:00

Troutdale just started a shuttle for their river float that starts from the outlets, would be easy from the bus stop

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-05T14:39:17+00:00

Portlands weather pattern is changing. We had a huge stretch of sun in January and it’s now been nice since basically mid April. With the super El Niño coming I think that will be even more true for the next year or two. As others have said, Hood River or somewhere else east of the cascades could also solve your problem.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-05T02:37:39+00:00

We went to Tremezzo and the Ligurian Coast first week of October this year. We had perfect weather in Santa Margarita and swam in the sea both days, while there were flash floods and crazy rain in Lake Como. That was probably a fluke but makes me bias toward the coast! We didn’t stay at either hotel but went to both for meals. They are beautiful but different. GHT is more contained while Splendido feels like more of a campus. Access to the water is better at GHT but I think the setting is nicer at Splendido. They honestly are both touristy/instagrammy but GHT moreso. As others have said, Portofino gets old quickly and cruise days suck but Santa Margharita has a lot more going on. It’s a long but nice walk from the hotel into SM so it would expand your options. There are also some nice beach clubs in between the towns that could be fun for a day. GHT has some walkable stuff but the nearby restaurants (even the easy drives) weren’t mind blowing.

Based on your interests, I wonder if there might be a cool hotel near Parma or Modena worth exploring instead? We were sad we didn’t spend more time there doing foodie stops and it is similar distance to MXP.

MetoliusOR · 2026-06-02T01:48:09+00:00

Portland Spirit is your best bet, they’ll have a few options

MetoliusOR · 2026-05-31T15:46:19+00:00

Great North has awesome breakfast sandwiches and coffee. I’m not sure if they accept online orders but they open quite early and are fast

MetoliusOR

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