When I logged onto Facebook today I was reminded of something rather funny that happened to me while in Portland, Oregon three years ago.
This time three years ago I was doing a little bit of travelling around the Pacific North West including Vancouver, Portland and San Francisco. I wish I had started my YouTube channel earlier as I done a lot of interesting travelling which would have made for some great videos.
I loved my time in Portland, thanks partly for the huge array of breweries around - it's basically the Mecca of microbreweries and craft beer - and also because it's just a bit quirky. The City's motto is 'Keep Portland weird!' Which perhaps explains why women walk around the streets with pigs in blankets (literally)?
On my final day in Portland I was walking around the downtown area, just killing time before I caught a train to San Francisco later in the afternoon. While walking the streets I saw a charity worker from Greenpeace trying to get people to sign up to monthly donations.
As a UK citizen I don't think she would have legally been able to take my money anyway, so I thought when she approaches me I'll just simply tell her that I'm not from here and that way neither of us are wasting each other's time, it will be a quick way to deflect her and we can both just get along with our days.
Harmful enough I thought and I did exactly that. She smiled, I carried on walking but then after I got just a little bit further away she shouted: 'Well why don't you go back to your own Country then!'
I thought surely I have misheard her. So I looked back at her and sure enough she was looking back at me with a wry smile.
Sure Portland is a little weird, but I certainly didn't expect to get abused by someone from Greenpeace. They have PEACE in the name of their company.... surely hurling abuse at English people is not part of the company's values??
Nevertheless it did not ruin my time in Portland or my perception of it. I simply found it a little amusing and Portland has definitely been one of my favourite places I have visited in America and a place I've been very keen to visit again ever since.
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