As a Canadian, I am proud of our quiet strength and our need to be politer than the next guy.

While travelling, everyone asks me where we are from and are immediately excited when I say ‘Canada’. Even more so when I mention Victoria. I am surprised by the amount of people that have visited the island and comment how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful and European looking city.

As beautiful as it is in Victoria, I am tempted to move to the US just to have the access to their grocery stores. I think that when people talk about heaven, they are really talking grocery stores from the states.

It is truly an awesome experience. The first time you walk in, it is like sensory overload. There is so much going on, I am really not sure which way to go first. I have taken to just wondering up and down each aisle of the entire store, yes time consuming and maybe frustrating for Dirk, but I need to see everything.

For those that have never been to one, here is what you can do: While getting your prescription filled, you can stock up on booze, sit and have a hot lunch, buy ingredients for dinner, get that gift you needed for mother’s day, do your banking, buy lotto tickets and pick up patio furniture.

They have bulk sections, family sizes, and organic like we have, but cheap. Meat is found in large packages and is half the price. Albeit, many of the items taste different than in Canada. I found it impossible to find a probiotic yogurt that did not contain aspartame.

Wine that costs $30 in Victoria is only $12 here. I also found a deal that if I purchased a second bottle of wine, it would only be 5 cents. Yes you heard me, 5 cents. Queue angels playing harps.

In all its glory, we did have an issue finding ingredients for Indian Food. When asking where the Tandoori paste was located, they replied they only had ‘mandarin’ sauce and they don’t sell ‘tangerine’ sauce. At that point, there was no explaining what we were looking for, they clearly have never heard of it. But, I did have a great chuckle over that.

I have been told several times by friends that moved to Canada from the US that our cost of living was high. Seeing the prices as compared to Canada, I now understand what they mean. They also could not believe we don’t sell liquor in grocery stores, convenience stores, or even gas stations. I don’t see us ever having a drastic drop in food prices, but I hope that one day Canada will wake up and allow a little boozy heaven in every grocery store.

Travel Tip:

Most travellers want to save money by eating a few meals in their hotel room. Breakfast is always the main meal on the list, so we all head to the closest grocery store to stock up with what we feel are healthy food choices. But, be sure you understand the products you are purchasing when in another country. I recommend reading the label (if you can). In the US, the food industry has a reputation of taking incredibly healthy items and turning them into processed junk food. Aspartame and corn syrup seem to be staples to make food taste appealing, even finding maple syrup has been a challenge. Yogurt is a main food item that has been turned into junk food, I recommended to always purchase organic.