My Padders Sandals' Soles melted in the heat

 My shoe soles melted in the heat. Black sticky mess on the floor. June in London 2026 HAS A HEATWAVE.

This is not unique to Padders good value shoes but general. I have had the same from Marks & Spencer shoes. 

Once, when my shoes disintegrated, and I tried to return them, or at least register a complain about the composition of the sole, the staff asked me how long ago I had bought the footwear. 

Buying New Shoes

I also had a pair of shoes disintegrate although I had never worn them. I didn't wear them because they were a size too small, my feed are different sixes so one shoe was too small, and my weight and ankles had increased. I kept them lovingly because they were very pretty, bought on impulse in an end of season sale.

If your shoes disintegrate you might need to provide a receipt. The shoe or shoe box may have a number telling the manufacturer the date the shoe was made, as well as the date of your purchase.

From now on I shall be keeping my shoes in the shoe box with the receipt attached, and keeping a photographic record of the footwear alongside the receipt. 

I have now stopped saving shoes for a special occasion.  I am well past fifty and my dancing days are limited.  

Second Hand & Sale Shoes

Shoes which have been hanging around in the shop, or worn by a previous owner, might be nearing the end of their useful life. Another reason to wear them soon, whilst you can, and get your money's worth.

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Bargain Shopping in New Zealand

 In London we look for 'charity shops' which are in almost every high street (Americans say main street). In North west London I have shopped in Barnado's, Cancer Research, Oxfam, and St Luke's Hospice shops.

Americans and New Zealanders have thrift shops.

Australians and New Zealanders use the terms op shop, re use re love, second hand, thrifters. Charity shop had slightly downmarket and negative connotation, so, I remember being told by a New Zealand friend, an Australian woman coined the term Op Shop, short for Opportunity Shop, which resulted in more sales and more status for buyers.

I had even more success in New Zealand's North Island, at Gisborne, which had a huge shop.  They opened on a Sunday and had suitcases, basic buttons, crockery, clothes on a bargain rail (hurray) and other clothes at higher prices.

Signs to look for in New Zealand

Cancer

Dove Hospice shop 

www.dovehospice.org.nz

SPCA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Salvation Army

St Luke's

Auckland also has lots of second hand boutiques.

If you are prepared to pay more for clothes on consignment (the term used in the USA and New Zealand usually meaning a shop stocking second hand goods - usually designer or upmarket and good condition - for sale or return to the owner, not for a charity, and more expensive) I found one on the corner at the top of the road slope, mountainside, in Waikeke.

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Learning Vietnamese

 Ha Long Bay. Picture from Wiki.

Duolingo makes it easy to start.

Useful Websites

https://www.duolingo.com/guidebook/vi/1

For reference, print off the phrasebook from Wikivoyage.

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Vietnamese_phrasebook

Lonely planet phrase books are available new, or second hand on ebay.

Hiring Clothes For Conferences & Hotel Events At home or Overseas

 I always pack one fancy evening dress, even if I have no plans to eat out anywhere fancy. You never know what might happen. 

Indian Wedding Clothes Needed

On a plane to India, we were delayed several hours and got to chat to other travellers. One of the Indians was on his way to a family wedding and invited me. I suddenly needed something really grand to wear. And not something revealing. 

Ski Clothes Needed

On another occasion I travelled from the UK to Singapore and had tropical clothes for Singapore, then we extended our flights and took a trip on to New Zealand where it was ski season in the UK summer. I needed ski clothes in a hurry, not another set at large prices. I ended up in a charity shop. Clothes problem solved. 

The only difficulty was packing the bulky jacket. No hire shops were available for clothes at the ski area of Queenstown at that time. But you could look at collecting hire clothes from the capital or airport city on arrival in a foreign country, or having them sent to you family, friends, or colleagues, if you attend a conference with a last night grand ball.

Fancy Dress Needed For Hotel Murder Weekend

You could be out in the street, joining a parade, or indoors at a private wedding reception. or conference.

On another occasion I was at a hotel in the UK for a murder mystery weekend. The opening night was a mock wedding. Americans arrived well organized, with fancy dress in their luggage. Unfortunately, their airline had misrouted their luggage which was due to arrive the next day, after the dinner.

Party Hire Shop For Conferences

Another solution is from Swanwick Witers Summer School in Derbyshire. They have a fancy dress night on a theme sometimes, the FORTIES (1940S) or Sixties. The committee of the Summer School arrange for a local party shop to deliver a rack of fancy dress clothes. In some cases you have to order and pay in advance. The copany collects everybody's party clothes the next day. This is good for those traavelling by train and not wanting to carry extra clothes in additon to the books they have bought, or brought but not sold. 

https://www.hurrcollective.com/

https://thevolte.com/dresses

How to make a travel scrapbook or photobook

Captain Cook kept a log book. 

Marco Polo's travel records, with coloured pictures and text, coloured contrasting fonts, and a fancy border. 

Christopher Columbus wrote records. 

The Titanic has records. 

Your baby photos and baby travels will be interesting in years to come. I was recently asked by my grand-daughter's other grandparents, 'Do you have any photos of your son, so we can see if she looks like her father at that age?'

I hunted all over the internet. Nothing from forty years ago.

I looked in a couple of boxes of old photos. I found one of him in the USA aged about seven. 

Then I searched framed pictures on the walls. I found two school group pictures. But no baby pictures.

Finally, looking for a family tree book, I found a baby album! I had started compiling when I bought it from the hospital trolley when he was born. Baby's first year. Four more good photos. One shows him trying to eat sand at a Lido (Ruislip in London) and grimacing. 

The in-laws were impressed and delighted. They said, 'He looks just like her. She looks just like him!' 

I bought a baby book second hand from the second hand charity shop in London. I prefer to keep books and photo in London. If you carry them around, they can get bent or lost. In the tropics, the heat makes the paper go brown and develop brown spots, or go mouldy - or get insects. Books 

The simplest book has a cover picture of a country or the traveler. Use a map or signpost or picture of yourself or your family at the location. (If you want to take a local photo, think of the classic, some say cliche, a picture of a tourist with their right arm outstretched, apparently holding up the Leaning tower of Pisa or the Eiffel Tower or any local skyscraper.) 

Cover the book with wrapping paper, such as birthday paper, anniversary, Xmas. Make a mosaic from the photos inside. Photos can be horizontal, vertical, or turned at an angle.

Out of focus pictures or faded pictures can be a backdrop to text.

Make A Book

The Pages

To make a book from scratch, you can fold A4 paper or card in half. Take half a dozen pieces. Stitch them together with one to three stitches along the seam, securely knotted on the outside. 

Put together two to six sections like this. 

The Spine

Cut a piece of fabric larger than the spine and glue the paper folds to the fabric. 

Outside hard Cover Base

Then add card for the hard-backed cover. You could use thin card from a new shirt. Two of these stuck together. 

Alternatively, thicker card from a cereal packet. Or corrugated paper from packaging. 

Cover with wrapping paper - cut larger that the cover to fold over. Cut two slits to go inside the spine. 

Use plain coloured paper for the inside cover. Cut this slightly smaller than the book pages, big enough to stick over the outside cover. 

I would stick on a printed photo on ordinary paper. If possible, print with a frame printed around it. 

You could create a window. Or use the window for framing photos from a craft shop, or download an oval or rectangular frame pattern and cut it out.

You can also buy book protectors in transparent plastic, cheaper if you buy half a dozen rather than just one. If you can't find the right size, instead cut the card cover to fit the plastic over-cover.  

Windows

You can create windows from window envelopes.

Your Travel Record Book Titles

Think of an alliterative title. For example: 

A-D titles

Angela's Adventures. Ava's adventures.  Air travel and Anna. Amy in Asia. Astrid's travel around America.

Baby's First year travels.  Baby's First Year in England. Bob's Biking Tours,

Carole's car journeys. Clare's Climbing Holidays. Clara in Canada. Claud's Cruises. Charlie and churches. Carrie at College. Caroline's Coach tour(s). Camping with Corinne.

Dining out and in with David.

E-K titles

Emily Emigrates. Exploring with Emily.

Frankie and Family holidays, Frances flies around the world. Fun times with Florence. Florence in Florence. Fanny in the Fall. Fun with a foodie family. Flora's first year. Fiona's first five years. Fanny's/Philip's photos.

Great times with Greta. Global traveller Gwen. George and the Great outdoors. Greg's Guided Tours.

Harry's Hiking. Happy days with Hilary. Holidays in Hungary. Our history of Hatch End. Home and Away with Harriet. Harry's Holidays.

I Ingrid in Italy and other countries. Imogen In and Out.

Jerome's Journeys.

King of the Road, Karl.

L-R titles

Lovely views of life in London.

Mark in the Middle East. Maureen at Music Festivals. Mike's meals out. Me and my take out (UK take away) food.

New things seen by Nora and Nigel

Old and new New York. Old and New Newcastle. Olive in the Outback. On the road with Olga.

Peter in picturesque places. Pictures of Pinner. Penny the passenger. Philip at Public school. Pamela's parties. Pammy's paintings. 

Quiet times with Queenie. Queenie and her Quests.

R to V titles

Raymond's Road trips with Louise.

Sailing with Simon and Suzie. All Seasons with Sarah and Steven. Solomon's Synagogue visits. Susan at School. Sonya's sketchbook.

Travel with Tony,Tony's Travels. Tessa's Travelogue. Tim's Travel Journal. Terence Tours Temples. Touring with Tom.

Umbrellas and Sunshine Days with Urs with Willisula. Ulysses at Uni.

Victor and volcanoes, Vera in Venezuela. Virginia's voyages. Veronica's Vacations. Valerie's voyages. Valerie's visits.

World traveller Winnie. Wanda waking, walking and sleeping. Wild times with William in the Wild. Warren in the Wilderness.

Xanthe in Xanadu - and other places. Xanthe's excellent trips. Xanthe and her ex travelling.

Young Yvonne in Yellowstone

Z Zoos and Places seen by Zoe

We have a well travelled grand-daughter. She has been to the UK, France, Andorra, Spain, Israel.

I looked for a baby album or baby's first five years. I found one with acid free paper. 

Stock Image

Personalized Baby Photo Album with Babys Handprint (Holds 200 photos-4x6- acid free)

Place For Baby Handprint; Place For Baby Handprint

Published by havoc, 2005

ISBN 10: 0741684438ISBN 13: 9780741684431

Seller: Ebooksweb, Bensalem, PA, U.S.A.
Contact seller

Seller Rating: 

Book

Used - Hardcover
Condition: Acceptable

US$ 32.64

Convert currency

Free shipping

Within U.S.A.

Many book sellers offer free postage within the USA or the second book delivered at no extra cost. 

I found that 26 US dollars (the combination of a book price and postage to Singapore) is equivalent to about 22 British pounds sterling.

For the UK, you can find books occasionally in Charity shops, as well as on Amazon.co.uk

Useful Websites

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Abe books (for second hand books with reasonable postage costs)

The history of travel writing and notable books, blogs and awards:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_literature#Travel_journals

For the cover

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Book

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Travel_writing#Q1072723

https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Travel-Journal-Leather-Notebook

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A Day Out with bargain shopping at UK's Poundstretcher, Poundland or second hand in Europe

Poundland in Harrow, N W London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Where can I buy on a budget when out for the day or away on holiday? Usually I look at goods at stores far away in the UK and think, I'm not driving that far. It's too much time and effort. The cost of the petrol outlays the savings in post and packing. I also have trouble persuading my family that shopping is a valid way to spend a weekend or holiday.

Answer
Later in the year on a bright day, when I want to get out, I am thinking, where shall I go? At this point I wish I had thought to keep a list of stores out of town which have bargains, or items I'd like to see before deciding whether to order on line.

I could make a note of the store, search for a good restaurant or place of interest in the area, then present to the family the place of interest, with my shopping diversion as an optional add on.

UK
What inspired this thought? Today's bargain in the UK.

JACK AND JILL WOODEN BENCH SET | Poundstretcher

Pound stretcher emailed me. Their website lets you type in your postcode and find the nearest store. They are a a discount store. They stretch your pounds, so items can be well over £1.

This is where you will get larger items such as this garden furniture.

If you want a store where everything is a pound, try Poundland.

Poundland in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You'll also find factory shops all over the UK, such as the Denby factory in Derbyshire, and factory outlet shopping complexes. A budget clothing store is Primark.

Charity shops include Oxfam and St Luke's. Oxfam and other charities also have online websites and sell through ebay.

In the UK on line you will find (alphabetically) : ebay;  gumtree; preloved.co.uk ; vented.co.uk; and several more websites.

EUROPE (countries listed alphabetically)

BULGARIA

Mania has many second hand shops in Bulgaria's capital Sofia and other towns .

See 

website: maniastores.bg

Bg stands for Bulgaria, not bargain!

FRANCE
Look for troc.com

GERMANY
In Germany look for flea markets in summer called Flohmarkt. (I typed f l e a. I came back and found spell checker had sneakily changed it to fly when I wasn't looking!)
Markt is German for market.

GREECE
Bulgarian shop Mania has opened a couple of branches in the capital of Greece, Athens.

HUNGARY

Hada has about sixty shops.

ROMANIA
Bulgaria's Mania has moved north into the adjacent country of Romania and opened a couple of shops in Romania's capital city, Bucharest.

In Romania as we drove out through Brasov I noticed stores called Second Hand (yes, written in English), operated by a company called Humana.

Second Hand Humana shop, Brasov, Romania. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

http://www.humana-slovakia.org/en/second-hand-clothes/why-second-hand-clothes

In the UK we had some controversy.  Charities distributing collection bags for collections made for second hand goods. Many donors assumed the goods went directly to needy people, or the charity's shops. Some donors were disappointed, or angry on learning that that the goods were being sold by a third party which took a profit.

Whether you want to support registered charities, discount stores, or just want to buy second hand clothes and goods, up to you.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on shopping for bargains and discounts and charity shops in the UK, Europe, and Asia including Singapore. Please share links to your favourite posts.