Travel Finance: Grocery Shopping
I don't know if this is going to be a series, or if I will work it into my regular schedule or not, but in light of the fact that I'm about two weeks away from my 2015 vacation, I've been thinking about going grocery shopping on my vacations.
Off the top of my head, I have visited supermarkets in Seattle, Los Angeles, Maidstone, Wells, London, Toronto, Kailua-Kona, Asheville, Kitty Hawk, and Rome. That's in addition to many supermarket trips during our visits to family in Chicago and Florida.
I like to visit supermarkets for three reasons. One, it saves a bundle of money. We usually pick up some baked goods and some fresh produce at the store. Then we can take it with us as an on-the-go breakfast when we leave the hotel in the morning. The hotel breakfast can run from around $5 to $10 per person. A banana and a muffin is generally quite a bit less than that. Two, it saves a bundle of calories. Restaurant portions tend to be huge and most chefs load the food up with fat, which adds calories. Stocking up on bananas or other fresh produce at the local supermarket lets us fill up on something less fattening than we would find in the restaurants. Three, it gives us a chance to see how the locals really live. Normally when traveling, most people go from historic site to historic site or from scenic view to scenic view, without any thought for the fact that this historic site or scenic view is someone's home. Additionally, as I want to live somewhere other than South Texas in my lifetime, I travel with a view towards how I would fare living there. Visiting the local supermarkets gives me a better idea of what life is like for the locals than I would get just hitting the tourist attractions.
Now, to start researching supermarkets in Manhattan for my upcoming trip . . .
Off the top of my head, I have visited supermarkets in Seattle, Los Angeles, Maidstone, Wells, London, Toronto, Kailua-Kona, Asheville, Kitty Hawk, and Rome. That's in addition to many supermarket trips during our visits to family in Chicago and Florida.
I like to visit supermarkets for three reasons. One, it saves a bundle of money. We usually pick up some baked goods and some fresh produce at the store. Then we can take it with us as an on-the-go breakfast when we leave the hotel in the morning. The hotel breakfast can run from around $5 to $10 per person. A banana and a muffin is generally quite a bit less than that. Two, it saves a bundle of calories. Restaurant portions tend to be huge and most chefs load the food up with fat, which adds calories. Stocking up on bananas or other fresh produce at the local supermarket lets us fill up on something less fattening than we would find in the restaurants. Three, it gives us a chance to see how the locals really live. Normally when traveling, most people go from historic site to historic site or from scenic view to scenic view, without any thought for the fact that this historic site or scenic view is someone's home. Additionally, as I want to live somewhere other than South Texas in my lifetime, I travel with a view towards how I would fare living there. Visiting the local supermarkets gives me a better idea of what life is like for the locals than I would get just hitting the tourist attractions.
Now, to start researching supermarkets in Manhattan for my upcoming trip . . .