I don't think I am high maintenance, but sometimes it just turns out that way. On my recent Alaskan cruise, Juneau was our first port of call. And I was not prepared for the shopping insanity both on the ship and off. Imagine four cruise ships docking at once each carrying 2,000 people, many of whom seem born to shop. I am not.
I was born to wander, sniff the flowers, take photographs, talk to locals and I very rarely buy anything on my travels. I'm not a fan of most tourist crap and didn't want to spend thousands on a Tanzanite cocktail ring. What is with all the jewelry shops?
So I was just being a looky loo when I wandered into this store. And wow, they actually carried some interesting items. While every other store in Juneau, and most of the other ports, seemed to carry pretty much the same thing, this was different. I immediately zeroed in on some glass art which is my favorite thing to collect. But unlike every other store that has tourist discounts, things here were actually full price. And I hate paying retail so I walked out the door. Surely there would be more of the same at the next port.
I was wrong. I looked for something similar at every other port and got more and more frustrated that I didn't just buy it when I had the chance. Fast forward a few weeks, and I can't get the piece out of my head. Thank goodness for the internet. And while they don't have a fully functional website, I was able to email the business and started corresponding with the owner.
The funny part is that the artist I loved is actually based in Washington, not Alaska. The owner of the store was my intermediary and suggested we have the artist ship the piece from Washington to save some shipping costs. But the artist's studio was in the process of moving so it took about 10 back and forth (Where is it? When will it arrive?) emails before I finally received my precious.
So if you are traveling through Alaska, I'd say if you see something you like here, buy it right away. Otherwise you might turn into a Class A nag. read more