Having spent some time in the southern U.S. during Canadian winters, I understand the appeal of being a snowbird who lives in Canada during the warm months and travels south for the cold months. I respect those who choose to embrace Canadian winters with outdoor activities, but many of us, particularly as we age, prefer to avoid winter. With this in mind, I read the fourth edition of Douglas Gray’s Canadian Snowbird Guide , revised in 2008. This book covers a wide range of topics including deciding whether you’re well-suited to snowbirding, home exchanges, financial planning, immigration, renting and buying real estate, insurance, taxes, estate planning, and permanent retirement outside Canada. Expecting to cover all these topics in full detail is far too ambitious for a single book. For my money, the main value of this book is that it made me aware of a number of issues that had never occurred to me before. For example, supplemental health insurance won’t do you much good in a...

In the middle of another business trip, I’m once again struck by how the expenses are so much different from what they are in my personal life. My personality begins to change too: “The marble in the lobby isn’t shiny enough.” I’m part-way though a trip with only 3 full days of meetings that will cost over $5000. Yet, I manage to play golf down south for 8 days for less than one-quarter of this amount. I’m not thrilled about the strange blue light in my current hotel bathroom, but I happily endure far worse during a vacation. I think this is more than just a case of having a different attitude when someone else is paying. I actually tried to keep the costs of this trip down, but now that the money is spent, I find myself demanding that my treatment reflect the costs. An amusing side note: there is a big sign at the entrance to to hotel stairway that reads “Stairway Trap”. A little googling revealed that “Trap” translates from Dutch more or less as “step”, but I found it funn...

I’ve had to go through a number of steps in preparation for a trip to China. There are a number of costs and I was surprised at the total. Before I even get on a plane, I’ve spent $391 and counting. By far the biggest cost is the vaccinations. I needed several. Fortunately, the polio and tetanus boosters are covered by my provincial plan, but I had to pay a total of $313 for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Typhoid. My shoulders are like pin cushions. I needed a new set of power plug adapters that include a Chinese adapter. This cost me $28. The remaining $50 was for a Chinese visa. As far as I can tell, this is just a formality that exists to collect $50. But, who knows. Maybe some people do get rejected. As far as I am aware, my only remaining expense before taking off is the exchange on buying some Chinese currency. I’m expecting to enjoy the trip, but these costs could easily be overlooked by someone preparing a travel budget.