Grocery Shopping Fun while Traveling

The following is a brief overview of the concept of Homes for Exchange, or vacation home swap.

Are you the kind of people who really like to travel but are not very fond of the packaged tour concept? I know we are. We love to visit new places but we want to experience them more fully than those prearranged tours permit. One of our favorite things to do is stay either with friends or better yet, work out a vacation home exchange. A home swap really allows you to immerse yourself in the daily life of a new city and its culture. Plus, it is one of the best ways of saving money on travel expenses. 

Once we get settled in, we make straight for the local grocery store or marketplace. It’s always fascinating to experience daily life on such an elemental level. Plus, you learn so much about the people around you. For example, we were staying in the UK for a couple of weeks. Our dwelling was a charming apartment in what was an old warehouse on the Mersey River. Right across the street was a huge big box retailer we know from the States. It was fascinating to wander around it. They had many of the types of items we were familiar with and many more that we wished we had regular access to. Chief among them were lamb shanks in shelf stable, no refrigeration packaging. We can still taste them!

We also visited the local mall; something we never do in the States but, what better way to immerse one’s self, right? In addition to the expected retail stores, we learned that it was truly an indoor marketplace, complete with a butcher’s, a cheese monger, fresh bakery, and even a ‘discount’ wing where all manner of goods from trinkets to vegetables could be found. 

Visits to the established grocery chain stores were made and they were quite enlightening. One internationally known chain had an almost inexhaustible supply of heat and eat meals and very little in the way of fresh ingredients. That was a real eye opener for us to realize that British city dwellers suffer from the same time shortages as their cousins in the US.

The biggest thrill and greatest understanding came from meeting people in these and other venues. The American accent is a dead giveaway and sometimes a cause of scepticism but, being traveling seniors, we were generally given the benefit of the doubt. Once we got chatting, it was wonderful to see how warmly we were treated. Our curiosity, our frankness, our staying in a local home and the fact that we were shopping for our daily sustenance just as they were opened some marvelous doors to better understanding on everyone’s part. We met some truly wonderful people and had no end of fun supplementing our walking tour of the city with a variety of food shopping experiences. 

Regardless of where you think to travel, consider getting among the local population by staying in a vacation exchange home. You will see more, learn more and have some wonderful conversations as you stand in the queue at the local market. People are genuinely glad to share their opinions and make recommendations to help you have a more memorable trip when you engage them on a human level. And what better way is there to do that than making a trip to the grocery store?

Author's Note

The above page has been written by an experienced provider of Homes for Exchange arrangements. He has various kinds of Travel Home Exchange programs for those, who love home swapping for local as well as worldwide vacations.