Shoppin' Saturday's Best Shopping Cities in the WorldHappy Saturday! I love saturdays - no school, no homework, schedule full of fun activities and the anticipation of an enjoyable, leisurely evening! What I also love about Saturdays is that here on Travelin' Cousins, it's "Shoppin' Saturday!" 
know that Tanya and I cannot be the only ones who believe that shopping goes hand in hand with traveling. So why not talk about the world's best shopping cities. Earlier this year CNN ranked the Top 12 Best Shopping Cities around the world. They detailed a great deal of information about each of the cities that made their list, well worth the read. How they arrived at their ranking was based on four criteria: 1. Getting around: Quality of public transportation, affordability and availability of cabs, transport time 2. Value: Bargain opportunities, such as sale seasons and average prices. 3. Variety: Number of available brands, range of shopping categories, quantity of upscale shops, department stores, boutique and vintage retailers and market stalls. 4. Experience: City beauty, quality of window displays and shop décor, friendliness and competence of clerks and service staff, dining and accommodation options. Then, they used a one to ten scale for each of the criteria, which resulted in the rank for each city. Are you curious as to which international cities made the list?? Ok, so here they are, starting with number 12: 12. Seoul Getting around: 4 Value: 7 Variety: 4 Experience: 6 Total: 21 11. Milan Getting around: 5 Value: 5 Variety: 4 Experience: 8 Total: 22 10. Madrid Getting around: 6 Value: 6 Variety: 4 Experience: 7 Total: 23 9. Dubai, United Arab Emirates Getting around: 6 Value: 6 Variety: 8 Experience: 4 Total: 24 
Vienna (2014)
8. Vienna Getting around: 6 Value: 8 Variety: 3 Experience: 8 Total: 25 7. Buenos Aires Getting around: 6 Value: 8 Variety: 6 Experience: 7 Total: 27 6. Hong Kong Getting around: 10 Value: 5 Variety: 6Experience: 7 Total: 28 
Paris (2013)
5. Paris Getting around: 6 Value: 6 Variety: 8 Experience: 9 Total: 29 4. Kuala Lumpur Getting around: 6 Value: 10 Variety: 8 Experience: 6 Total: 30 3. London Getting around: 6 Value: 6 Variety: 10 Experience: 9 Total: 31 2. Tokyo Getting around: 8 Value: 8 Variety: 9 Experience: 9 Total: 34 1. New York Getting around: 8 Value: 7 Variety: 10Experience: 10 Total: 35 Now, I have to tell you, I was especially thrilled to see my hometown of New York ranked number 1!!! Though, out of all the cities (with the exception of New York!), my personal favorite city to shop in is Hong Kong, out of the 5 cities I have been to. These include New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Vienna. 
Shopping in Hong Kong Market (1990)
Where is your favorite destination to shop - we'd love to hear! I do have a number of things to still buy for our New Mexico road trip later this week. Gianna needs new sneakers (even though I just bought her a new pair in July) and me and the girls could all use some new t-shirts to bring with us. I will hit the mall early next week as I have a packed schedule for the weekend. Hope your first official Fall weekend is a great one! See you back here tomorrow! -E 
| SAFETY-SPECIAL-SATURDAYYES!!! The Weekend is here! We are heading to a Fun and International themed event that the kiddos are performing at; Irvine Global Village, since we are usually out of town during this Festival, I'm a bit excited to go and to check it out! It's been quite a few years since I've been to it, and as I recall there was quite a number of travel related booths that had caught my interest! 
CLICK ABOVE for more information on this event!
This was where we were last year during the Irvine Global Festival. CLICK ON PICTURE for the story!
After hanging out at the Festival, we'll go and grab lunch at Veggie Grill, and then maybe head back to the book store, or some other type of shopping. We'll shall see.. Last night I went and got my nails done in what I consider a desert themed color for our upcoming Arizona/New Mexico road trip - happening in only 4 more days!!! WooHoo!!! 
Now in regarding to all things, I have always been taught that safety comes first. I have always managed to have plenty of fun and have always abided by this rule. I am the adventurous type, so I still manage to get my bumps, bruises, and broken bones. But never would I do anything that I felt was going to risk my safety!! On this note, as I promised today I would do a Safety Special Saturday - here is a very important video that could save your life! FACT: On average 300 Americans die each year in submerged cars! That's scary...and I'm here to help you KNOW WHAT TO DO in case of this type of emergency!!! 
*Thanks to my mom for introducing me to this link! Please CLICK HERE and watch the video. It is all about How to Survive a Sinking Car. Share it with as many people as possible!! Staying on the note of Safety Saturday, I also came across this information by a former CIA officer that reveals his tips for the best rows to sit in on a plane in the event of an emergency: THE SAFEST ROWS TO BOOK ON A PLANE! 
Well, that's about it for today. Not trying to be Debbie the Downer, but as a rule SAFETY always comes first! And I've lived by this rule and have still managed to have TONS of fun and some very EPIC adventures - So, you definitely don't have to be BORING in order to be SAFE. REMEMBER that it's always better to be safe than sorry. Think of it this way...you'll have longer life to experience more FUN & more ADVENTURES with! And live to tell your story!! 
That's all folks... I hope that you have a wonderful Saturday! Until tomorrow, -T 
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