Royal Palm Bay Villas, Orlando, Kissimee, Florida , USA.

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America is a shopper's paradise. No kidding! At present exchange rates just about everything is cheaper than at home. And some of it wasn't made in China . But most of what you buy in the USA originates from across the Pacific Ocean .

Book prices are much the same for some reason although new titles are out earlier than in the UK and some are available when they are not at home. CDs are cheaper, in some cases much cheaper. Both can be purchased at the Borders chain, or Waldenbooks, or Barnes and Noble. But beware; DVDs are regionalised and not interchangeable unless you have a multi region player. North America is region 1 and the UK is region 2. Very few DVDs are multi region. There are also many book shops dedicated to religious texts.

No electrical or electronic goods that run off mains electricity will work in the UK . This is because everything, apart from heavy white goods, in America operates at 110/120 volts whereas the European standard is 220/240 volts. The plugs are different to both the UK and the European styles and adaptors are not readily available when you get there. Furthermore North American TVs, videos and DVDs are designed around the NTSC (National TV Systems Committee) standard as opposed to the PAL (Phase Alternation Line) standard used in Europe . On the other hand 12 volt car systems are interchangeable. Mobile phones, or cell phones as they are known in the USA , operate on a band covered by European tri-band sets but do not adapt in reverse. Anyway cell phones operate on the same system as the US landlines which means that any departure form the local call area involves roaming charges. They are of no use to us unless we live there. Camera and computer models rarely equate to those at home but digital storage can be considerably cheaper.

Wal Mart Supercenters are probably the most widely known American supermarket and you can get just about anything you could possible need or want there. The prices are competitive but sometimes the quality is not the highest. For food there are many other chains dependent upon which part of the country you are in. Safeway's is a name familiar to us, but Target and Publix are more widespread. The huge choice of merchandise available can be overwhelming and often makes for difficult choices.

Clothes are particularly good value with fashionable brand names available at a fraction of their cost at home. Every town of any size has at least one retail park shopping mall on its outskirts, where stores such as World of Denim sell designer brands at discount prices. Seconds, which are often indistinguishable for the perfect item, are sold cheaply by outlets such as Ross Dress For Less. The quality of most clothing is high which makes it very good value by our standards. Likewise jewellery and watches can be good buys but beware of the limit on the value of goods that can be brought back into the UK from outside the EU. The drugs that are available only on prescription vary between the two countries so you may be lucky and get what you want but it would be unwise to rely on this.