The Cost of Things in (My) Europe

This article proposes the unthinkable - skipping a trip to Venice because of the decline of the U.S. dollar.
My advice, in a word? DON’T. Venice is just too amazing to pass up.
But, this article got me thinking about the cost of being in Europe, whether on vacation or living here. As I [...]

Blind Date With The World - Global Scavenger Hunt

Miss Expatria is not rugged.
I do not own a backpack of any sort. I prefer heated towels in my lavish hotel bathrooms. I have never, ever slept on a mat, or outside in nature. Nature is something you gaze at from your balcony whilst holding a cocktail.
But oh, oooooooh, how [...]

Island Fantasies - Or, Ideas for That Year-End Bonus

Cal and I work at opposite ends of the house, although if we sit just the right way and squint, we can see each other. Our cat, Ladybird “Squirt” Johnson, like a child of divorced parents, shuttles herself back and forth all day between the sofa next to Cal’s desk and the chair next [...]

The U.S. Dollar Is On Its Knees, Begging, PLEASE

According to the site we check obsessively:
1 USD = 0.688705 EUR
1 EUR = 1.45200 USD
That means, for every 100 EUR I want to spend, I have to earn 145 USD.
When I first moved here, it was the opposite: for every 100 EUR I wanted to spend, I had to earn only about 70 USD.
I now [...]

Prepaid Debit Cards - Excellent!

I was perusing my daily travel briefings and came across something that is just wonderful.
A lot of people who come over to visit me get nervous about money - not about not having enough, but about the ability to retrieve it when they need it. I give them the following tips:
1. NO TRAVELLER’S CHECKS! [...]