I travel quite a bit now that I am retired. One of the ways that I am able to save money is by not buying a whole lot of souvenirs. There was a time, when I tried to bring something back for everyone in my family. I wasted a lot of money on refrigerator magnets and key chains.
Those trinkets with the name of the city or the country on them were pretty much worthless. The only thing that they were good for was to let the people at home know that you were thinking of them while you were enjoying yourself somewhere else. 馃槉
I found out that I had more money to spend on entertainment when I stopped buying a bunch of souvenirs.
On this particular trip however I went to the grocery store since I had a rental car and I bought some Canadian maple syrup. When I was visiting the gift shop across from Niagara Falls, there was a vendor who was selling 3 ounces of maple syrup for $10.00 in Canadian money. I knew that that was way too expensive for that small amount of syrup, so I left the bottle there.
I was able to buy a large bottle of maple syrup for $9.98 at a local grocery store. This same bottle of syrup sells for $26.99 on Amazon right now.
I know that the flavor of real maple syrup is very different from imitation maple syrup that is commonly sold in stores.
Don鈥檛 forget to visit local stores when traveling to foreign countries. It gives you a perspective on how the locals live and the differences in cost for goods and services there.
Have a great day!
