Schauumburg has a trolley–which I have never ridden. Looks like a fun way to get to know the town.

Geetings from Chicagoland. My sweetheart and I make an annual trek to the town of Schaumberg, just outside of Chicago. We go there to meet with game playing friends and to help prepare for our organization’s annual convention season. I don’t normally get to see much of Schaumberg. Most of our time is spent in a large meeting room of our hotel sorting, counting, evaluating, and inventorying the various games (and their individual pieces) that are used at the conventions. It takes us about four to five full days to get this done. Of course, since we’re all friends, we have a great deal of fun while we work. (If you’re curious about what we do you can take a look at the TGA FB page.)

Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL

Today, I managed to take a few moments to shop at one of the local malls. Now for millions of US citizens shopping at the mall is a fairly ordinary experience. It was for me, once upon a time. Since we moved out of the country (more about that in a later RAmblin’ Author note), I don’t get to the mall very often, and when I do the experience is rather different than in the good ol’ US of A.

I’ve been to malls in Managua Nicaragua and Panama City, Panama

The few Central American malls I’ve been to are very (and I mean VERY) high end. Most locals, including me, can’t afford the name label and artsy products. My experience of Central American malls is that they are designed for very rich tourists, who want familiar products and services no matter where in the world they are.

I don’t mind things that are familiar, but I do wonder why folks who want what’s familiar when they travel bother to travel at all. The differences, the unique, the surprising are what I look for when I travel. What about you? Do you travel? Why? When? How? Where to? Please drop me a comment and share your own RAmblin’ Notes. Can’t wait to hear from you.

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