Luvtatravel.com

 

Water:

Water in Jamaica is the safest I’ve ever found.  Every place else, I drink bottled, brush my teeth with bottled and certainly clamp my mouth tightly shut in the shower.  Ice is dicey some places, check on www.tripadvisor.com for comments from travelers who’ve stayed at your hotel lately.  Believe me, there will be comments if anyone got “travelers flu”!

Shopping:

Shopping at the flea markets is fun for some and a nightmare for others.  Just be aware that most stores have fixed prices, no haggling, if you’re not into that.  If I buy a lot from one particular store, I always ask for a favored customer discount just to see if I can get one.  I refuse to pay more than I think I would pay if I bought the same thing at home.  Haggling usually starts with them asking twice what the item is worth and you offering 1/4th.  Then you go up and hopefully, they go down.  If they won’t come down enough, go to the booth next door or down the row.  Odds are they’ll have the same thing and you’ll be able to get a better idea of the items true worth.  My husband came home with 10 Bob Marley Rastafarian headed pencils because he couldn’t bear to tell anyone “No thanks”.  Needless to say, he doesn't come shopping with me any more although his friends at work got a kick out of their presents that year.  Many times the resorts have specially screened artisans bring their work to show on certain nights on the hotel property.  Their wares are usually high quality and you can’t beat the convenience.  Above all, remember, if you’re polite and not disrespectful to the vendors, most will treat you in kind.  If you come across someone who’s rude,

just remember how many rude store clerks you’ve encountered in your lifetime.  People are the same no matter where you go, there are treasures and there are trash. 

 

If you have tips you like for me to include, especially if they are the result of personal experience, send me an email.  After passing our rigorous scrutiny (how much time I’ll have that day to goof off on my computer) we just may include them and you’ll be famous!  Well as famous as me anyway.