Travel

It’s always been a dream of ours to share the glorious, natural and vast beauty of Oregon with friends and family far and wide. We’re beyond giddy to have finally reached this moment in our lives. But while this moment feels like a sharing of home, it also ticks the box of a destination wedding!

For our stateside lovers, it shouldn’t be too far to travel. Most of the action will take place in Portland, with the wedding itself happening on a beautiful farm in Aurora.

But for our loved ones in the United Kingdom and further afield, you’ve got an extra hop, skip and jump to make. We believe everyone’s booked their flights, so we’ve archived our flight advice, but read on for important travel details you should all be aware of.

Unless you have a US passport or a green card, you will need to apply for a visa waiver to enter the United States of America. Use this website to apply for your ESTA, or to check your ESTA status. We recommend doing this as soon as possible, as you will not be permitted to travel without an ESTA. The service costs $21.00. We appreciate the process can be confusing, so let us know if you have any questions.

If you haven’t done so already, we recommend purchasing an International Driving Permit from your nearest Post Office. The type of permit you’ll need for the United States is an ‘International Driving Permit 1949’. It costs £5.50.

We cannot stress how important it is to have travel insurance for your trip. Healthcare in America is expensive. If you’re not already covered by your bank account, the Money Saving Expert website has excellent guides on finding the right cover for you.

You’ll likely be ID’d a lot in Portland when purchasing (and even when not purchasing) alcohol. However, bartenders will sometimes refuse foreign driving licences as an acceptable form of ID—they’re just not as common to see as in more international cities, like San Francisco and LA. We recommend taking your passport with you to bars, just in case.

Public transport is good in Portland, but not as good as it is in London. We recommend downloading Uber and Lyft for affordable taxis when it’s too far to walk.

Even though WiFi is everywhere, we recommend having a roaming plan enabled on your phone. Check with your network provider before you fly to ensure you get the cheapest deal. For example, EE have special roaming add-ons that enable cheaper usage in the USA. Alternatively, you could pick up an international SIM.

We’ll add more information to this page as we draw closer to RUMPUS, so check back regularly.