Have you ever stood in a supermarket line with a years supply of tampons? That was me, yesterday. The annual pilgrimage to the supermarket aisle labelled feminine hygiene to check out the latest in floral packaging and wing placement. Ever had to declare your tampons at customs? Or perhaps you’ve stood in a crowded foreign airport (using a mixture of broken English and sign language) explaining what you do with your tampons and why you’re currently carrying hundreds of them? If the answer is yes, chances are you’ve been away from home for an extended, ahem….period.
I think most traveling women have learnt how to strategically pack 10 boxes of tampons in their suitcase, (they make great shoe-fillers), it brings a whole new meaning to “fill your boots”. One of our readers Liz described flying back to her expat location with a suitcase full of tampons and a single thought running through her mind “Damn…if this bird goes down I’m gonna dry up the South China Sea with my stash!!!!”
It wasn’t until I started traveling that I realized women differed so dramatically in their choices. All of us, at different ends of the globe, have been given different information, usually handed down by the women in our life. As young women we listened and followed the customs of our surroundings.
As a new expat, within my first few months in Jakarta I soon learnt tampons weren’t for everyone. My Indonesian teacher warned me it was unnatural for anything other than my husband to go “in there”. I’m sure she didn’t speak for the entire Indonesian population but it was definitely the belief of a lot of women I met. Even though tampons were taboo, the subject of Aunty Flow coming to visit was one to be shared with everyone. Lets discuss it at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner. Lets discuss it at the office, lets just talk about it all day long. “I’m sorry, I wont be at work today, I’ve got my menstruation”. Okay, thanks for that, I’ll see you and your menstruation tomorrow.
A girlfriend of mine who was working as a journalist in Jakarta, got more than she bargained for on a trip to interview the President. On passing through security an entire discussion was had about her tampons. With no idea of what they were holding up to the light, an intense conversation developed. What sort of weapon was she carrying? Was this to be an assassination by tampon?
While our American friends statistically prefer an applicator one of my favourite Aussie bloggers describes the use of an applicator as “feeling a bit like someone else putting your glasses on for you”. This may be an irrelevant discussion in years to come as there’s a few new players in town for the travelling woman. The cup, the sponge, or if one wanted to investigate more drastic measures the IUD (many Mirena users are period free for the five year warranty, erm, here I go again, period). While the benefit of the cup or sponge has you both saving money while saving the planet.
While tampons feature prominently on “the list” for many expat women there’s the day to day items that just can’t be found. I have a list in my phone that add to throughout the year: hundreds and thousands for fairy bread, tins of passion fruit syrup for pavlovas. For my fellow podcast host Sarah it’s a $2 set of kitchen tongs. Aussie expats talk of bringing back Pawpaw cream, Golden Syrup, Vegemite and Fantales. For the Brits it’s often a trip to Marks and Spencers for knickers and “proper” chocolate.
What about you? What’s on your list? What do you buy on a trip home?
My list is on my phone ready for the trip back home to Canada every 18 mos. What l can’t buy in Australia includes: wax paper, SOS scrubbing pads, stick deodorant for me, hubby & 2 teen boys, Crisco shortening, graham crackers, Tylenol, tapioca, turkey stuffing bags, cherry pie filling to use in Black Forest cake, Olay daily facial cloths, Q-tips, grape jelly, Shreddies cereal (good, good, whole wheat Shreddies!) and Fruit of the Loom undies for me and one of the boys.
Additional things which cost significantly less at home include hair care products, razor blades, antihistamines, MAC cosmetics, so these squeeze in when there is extra room.
Luckily a little op removed the need for feminine hygiene products and over 5 years we’ve found substitutes for a number of things. Costco in my new city also now carry some other stuff that used to be on my list.
On the other hand there are so many new things I buy or eat living in Australia that I would miss if I ever moved back away. That’s a whole other blog post.
My list is on my phone as well. When you say wax paper do you mean baking paper? Is it different in Oz? I agree on the price, when we lived in Canada it was always bulk purchases as Superstore – so much cheaper.
Definitely tampons when we lived in Korea, and too many other thing to list, including brassieres (difficult to find larger ones in Asia in general, so stocking up back home is a must for those of us who are larger.) We’ve only been in the UK for 6 months, but we already have a list for things we’ll buy back in the US in August – either because they can’t be bought here or they are prohibitively expensive. At the moment,my list includes Ro-tel tinned Mexican-style tomatoes, L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara (they have it here but it’s hard to find and about 4x the price when I do- one of the few mascaras that works for me and doesn’t make my eyes itch), hair products they simply don’t have here (bizarre – they seem to have everything else, but every product line is missing 1 or 2 things and it always seems to be the 1 or 2 things I use) and really stout ziploc bags(the ones here always seem to be just about to tear, which is very nervewracking if you’re dealing with marinades) A-1 Sauce, and Ibuprofen in bulk. Oh, and just like Audrey C: Crisco!
I have multiple, UK to Spain and Spain to UK, and also UK to USA and vice versa. For stuff like, marmite, proper ziplock bags of various sizes, olive oil, Duncan Hines brownie mixes (memories for my adult kids), advilPM….. The list sometimes seems endless, but it’s in a note book that lives in my handbag and is updated constantly!
Wax paper looks like baking/parchment paper but has a thin coat of wax on each side and is thinner. I use it for wrapping raw meat before freezing or lining cake pans for various recipes. In Aus you can buy Go Between which is a good substitute for freezing but would melt in an oven.
Deodorant! Women’s shave gel! Dry shampoo! Real vanilla extract! Reese’s Eggs! Travel-sized toiletries! NyQuil! Anything from Trader Joe’s! Abu Dhabi may have a lot to offer expats, but it doesn’t have any of those… And thank goodness for Amazon Prime and a DPO!
Guests are only welcome to San Francisco if they have in their suitcase a box of Yorkshire Gold tea, Frank Cooper’s Oxford Marmalade and Marmite. Another fab post – keep’em coming.
I think the aussie equivalent for crisco might be copha. anyone? good for making chocolate crackles, anyway!
Heading back to Melbourne from Vancouver this Christmas, I’ll be stocking up on Bonds bras and undies at the post-xmas sales, while my husbands eats his body weight in ‘real’ bacon!
You can get dry shampoo in Lush in Dubai ☺
Yes! The $2 kitchen tongs! Can’t find them anywhere in Dubai. I usually get people to bring Allens jelly babies when they come to visit from Oz. The 1.3kg bags from Officeworks! Also suet and passionfruit pulp (but I can find it here occasionally now). I am heading back to Australia for the first time in 6 years in October and am going to eat my body weight in Marathon dim sims, proper fish and chips and violet crumbles.
I just got my sister to send me over a heap of bonds bras and undies from Australia. They are the best.
Tried copha when we first arrived. It’s more like parafin wax – made from coconut oil vs vegetable oil in Crisco. Some things have no equivalent. but, yes, I keep hoping to find something local. I really need someone to teach me how to make a good pie crust using butter, I can’t get it to work.
I’m in the Marks and Spencer’s pants queue. And a pharmacy for reliable paracetamol – although sold all over the world there are places where I wonder if I’m really being sold chalk.
Condition makes a great leg shaver. I buy the cheap $2 stuff to use
Baking paper for the oven.
We used to bring Kraft Macaroni and Cheese back to England and to Switzerland by the suitcase-full until a lady at a Kansas City check-out counter told me how to make home-made mac and cheese, with cheddar and gruyere, and now that’s all anyone wants. Now I can’t believe we ever wanted the original orange stuff!
When we were in England we used to import American Cheerios in our suitcases. Yes, you can buy them in the UK but they are crazy expensive.
Mine gets ordered and delivered to my mother-in-laws house usually underwear, clothes and Yorkshire tea bags. Then whoever is coming across delivers it. Have to be careful though I wouldn’t want to shock her! Shopping for clothes is very restricted here, that’s one thing I miss from the Middle East. Now I’m trying to work out the best place way to get henna here?
we once flew a baby Q weber in a suitcase to Peru. No questions asked.. But when we tried a coffee machine..Didnt know cocaine smugglers use coffee machine to hide their goods?!! Many questions later… All was cleared.. Love stocking up in Australia for vegemite, Eta bbq sauce, Vanilla bean paste, Chicken flavor chips & Chux super wipes. While you can buy vegemite in EU and US, it’s stupid expensive. Many expat years later the list just grows & grows with more flavors from different countries you crave down the track. It’s always an adventure down strange grocery store aisles hunting and gathering 🙂