Euro Travel & More

For someone who travels as much as I did before – you would be surprised at how much pictures I had printed out during the last 20 yrs of traveling.   20 yrs ago – I wished for a printer that I could carry around with me and print out pictures I liked or had taken with a friend or family members and share it with them immediately but alas, there was none.  As I looked at my Epson TM-T88V receipt printer today – I was thinking about how nice it would have been if I had a printer that was this small and prints as fast but in color.  Of course, they now have portable printers that are small and affordable now – but with digital cameras – one don’t really need to print out all the photos that you’ve taken during a vacation to find out which one is the best.  But it would still be very nice to have a small color printer like the Epson that I have for my store’s receipt printer to use for my holiday pictures.  I really like my Epson printer – it’s small – cheap and definitely ink friendly – now if only some manufacturer or designer can design a portable printer as small and lightweight as my Epson – I’m sure folks like us would love to have one too.

Many years ago before I migrated to Canada – I used to do a lot of traveling for work – little did I know that when the spouse came to visit me in Asia – he too was not really having a vacation – he was traveling to find distributors and suppliers for his business.  Looking for gadgets, bearings , games and any electronic suppliers in Asia wasn’t easy at all, but we did walked the factory streets and went to the more remote factory distributors looking for them – not with a lot of success though.  I wasn’t prepared for all the walking that’s for sure – I was in heels, but if we were to travel for work now – it would be different altogether – for I would be wearing the best flats I can find.   So if we ever go on vacation with the spouse, you can be sure his interest is only to find distributors and suppliers for his work and not for pleasure.

I think most of my vacations are for shopping and it’s specific shopping needs for different places – like my eyelash growth products , I need to get it at a specific country and a specific mall.   And usually when I am on a shopping vacation – I try not to bring too much in my luggage with me – that way – I have lots of space to buy new stuff – to bring home with me.  My shopping spree can sometimes be quite adventurous and if I needed something badly – and I can’t get it from one mall – I would hunt it down – from place to place.  But like every woman who goes on a shopping vacation, we usually come home with more than we had planned to buy but we can’t help it – we love looking pretty right?  and eyelashes, beauty products  – like Kose – where I can’t get it here – I just have to get it when I go on vacation.

I was in Peru – traveling for work when we met some people on the same trip – they were from United States – and we shared a few glasses of wine together and chatted and became friends – but that was like 20 years ago.  We kept in contact after the trip and updated each other yearly of our adventures, our lives and work and though we never did travel again to the same places again – they have visited Asia and I had gone to the States to visit them.  Traveling don’t only bring you more insight on the culture of different places but for me – it allows me to meet more interesting people – who became friends.   And when a long time traveling friend – has a new born baby – what do you do?  send a delicious baby gift of course!!   We are so lucky – because some 20 years ago – we can just go on the internet to get gifts for your oversea friends – you have to mail them thru’ snail mail – now with emails and online gift store and flower stores – there is no excuse not to celebrate life !

Every now and then friends asked me what I pack for my vacations – and I highly recommend that they bring at least a few womens hoodies with them – even if it is to the south they are going to.   Why?  because it can get windy and a woman’s hoodies is great for anywhere – from a bar to outdoors in the sun.  Plus a women’s hoodies never go out of fashion – and can be shared with your kids – that I soon found out when she didn’t bring hers.   Of course, if you are going to Whistler or Switzerland for skiing than you have to bring some other warmer clothing – but pack the basics like some hoodies and then layer them up wherever and whenever necessary- one can never go wrong bring them along.  Anything with a hoodie is great because when it rains – a hoodie can be used to protect your head, hair and face from the rain and I highly recommend a yoga pants too – because it’s so easy to wash and dry and lightweight. I never bring anything I won’t wear – because that would mean I won’t have space in my luggage for my shopping.  So don’t forget to pack wisely.

While some people  from the States loved to shop in Canada because of the rate exchange – I loved to shop in Canada because I want to keep the money within Canada if possible – and now that the exchange rate is so low for US Dollars – the more I want the Canadian economy to thrive and to do that I need to shop at home.  The spouse buys all his electronics from within Canada – and orders his rca video cables from our local store at home.   So Canadians – please support the local economy and buy locally – whenever and wherever possible.   And shipping is a lot cheaper too – if you buy locally and some places in Canada offer free shipping – anything free is good in my opinion.

We have been up in Halifax so many times but yet we haven’t seen everything and ate everywhere and each trip we seems to find something more amazing and more fascinating and we buy more new stuff every trip.   This trip was pretty fruitful because I found a place where I can buy shea butter and Japanese bento and Japanese incense stick – pretty awesome.  We also headed out to several Farmer’s market near the hotel and we found some interesting things to bring home.

An ice cream stand that is still opened in the fall is nice because some days it can still be quite hot.  We didn’t get any ice cream – but we definitely would love to the next time.

A music shop that we found.

A gift store that sells rubber duckies.

An ikebana store that sells lots of Japanese things – and we bought some very good incense here – and wished I had bought more – but most importantly, I bought all my beauty products that I cannot find where I lived.  I had a good trip despite the fact that the kid got sick at the end of the trip – what a bummer right?  but the next time – I’m going to buy more shea butter conditioner and lip balm.  I loved the shea butter range of products.

Friends also say tht when we go for vacation – we women are the ones who loved shopping but how untrue it is because whenever we go on vacation – the spouse is always walking around the mall looking for xbox deals from electronic stores.  And shopping from coast to coast in Canada – one can find one of the best deals for your xbox games and gadets from one store or another.   When it comes to electronics I find that shopping in Canada is a lot more cheaper than in the States – and even though our loonie is stronger – their games are still a little higher than us.  But you will noticed that in different parts of Canada – you can get different deals – so if you are like us looking out for deals all the time -  you have to be patient and shop everywhere you are vacationing in.

Canadians shopped a lot across the border – mainly because it’s cheaper to by just about anything – even though the loonie is stronger than the current US currency.  The finance minister a few days ago – just said that he was irritated by it – perhaps if they didn’t charge so much taxes – Canadians will stay home and shop home – and with coupons like lowe’s coupons i too would drive across the border to get tools for my in – laws for Christmas.   The variety is a lot more across the border as well – so you can really blame us for taking advantage of such good deals right?  We don’t get the kind of coupons they do in the United States – if you look at some of the grocery coupons some housewives had collected – you will be amazed how much savings one can get – in fact – there are a few who would even show you how to use the coupons.  Inspired by the coupon news one year – I try to search for as much coupons before going across the border to shop.

While the rest of the world are planning for a winter vacation during Christmas – can you guess where I will be heading for this Christmas?  I’m definitely not having a white Christmas – because I’m going somewhere sunny and with sand and the beach.   You really can’t blame me for wanting to be somewhere warm this winter – for I’ve been here for 12 years to-date – and had been spending Christmas in the freezing cold.   My christmas stockings may not be near a fire place – but it will be filled with goodies like always – so if you are planning a Christmas vacation away from home – now is the time to start looking.

There are many great destination during Christmas time – and Cancun plus Havana are always crowded with Canadian and American tourists this time of the year.  We are booking earlier this year – because we are bringing our extended family with us for a week long vacation – just sipping mojitos and margaritas  with massages and sun.  I had thought about going back to Asia during Christmas time – but i figured Asia is best when it is the coldest here in Canada – in February.   We are not going to be opening our christmas stockings or bringing any presents with us during Christmas – but when we get home – we can all open our presents.  Time to go look for a travel agent.