When you move away from home it is a given your going to miss certain things. Family and friends, certain stores, coffee shops, and hiking trails etc. I missed, and still do miss, all of these things but now I am finding a while other list of things that I am missing.
Iced coffee
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I love iced coffee just as much as Nancy Botwin but my search for iced coffee in Iceland has not been successful. Hopefully when it starts to warm up a bit the coffee shops will start offering iced drinks, I am craving a good iced Americano!
Photo Printing Kiosks
A few weeks ago I wanted to print off some photos when I realized I had no idea how to do this here in Iceland. Sure I could order from a site like Shutterfly and have it shipped to me but that is time consuming and expensive. After searching for awhile H and I finally found a place to print off our photos but it is definitely not as convenient as all the photo printing kiosks and websites back home.
Clothes Dryer
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Doing laundry is never fun, especially when you have to wait forever for your clothes to dry. Okay sure it only takes a day to have our clothes dry but I sure do miss the 2 hour drying cycle that made laundry so much easier! Never again will I take for granted the lovely dryer we have back home.
Grocery Stores Open Past 6pm
At some point over the weekend you can find H and I along with everyone else in the city doing our grocery shopping for the week. I am not a big fan of having to spend part of my weekend grocery shopping but since the stores are closed around the time we are getting home from work it is our only option. I miss 24 hour stores but would be happy with the stores here just being open until 9pm.
Cheap Wine
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Oregon has dozens of wineries that help keep the shelves stocked with cheap local wine. I know Iceland can’t start building wineries but would it hurt to import in some Two Buck Chuck?! Instead I have to save up so I can get some Fifteen Buck Chuck, seriously the cheapest wine bottles are around $15, the cheapest!
Electrical Outlets
Since many of my electronics were purchased in America I have to use a convertor to plug anything in. I have already blown up a hair straightener, curling iron and food processor, knocked the power out of our building and electrocuted myself more times than I can count. When I can plug something in without first having to attach it to those big convertor pieces I am one happy girl. But really can someone please make a convertor that is not a bulky piece of plastic?!
Magazines
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Who doesn’t love reading through a good celebrity gossip magazine! I will admit I tend to buy too many magazines but haven’t bought one magazine since I moved to Iceland. Part of this is because many of the gossip magazines you find are all in Icelandic (yes, Iceland has its own magazine version of US weekly) but it is also because the magazines are so expensive. In the bookstores you can find some of the well known US magazines but they will cost you anywhere from 10-20 dollars! I can’t wait to stock up on cheap magazines when I am back in Oregon!
Understanding the Currency
Okay so I have some understanding of the value of the Icelandic Krona but if the number goes over 10,000 Icelandic Krona (around $95 USD) I have to use my convertor app. I am sure over time I will start to figure out the krona but I am so use to everything in US dollars that this is the only real value of money I understand.
Question of the Day?
What materialistic things have you missed when living away from home? What would you miss if you lived abroad?
Linking up with Treasure Tromp, Her&Nicole, and Expat Diaries.
