REI is absolute crack. Here we have lots of outdoor shops because outdoor stuff is very popular, but because of the small population we never get all of an overseas range. Walking into an REI and seeing racks and racks of stuff is sheer heaven. My particular vice is rainwear - I can never resist buying just one more for a slightly different situation than all my other rainwear is for. To be fair I like to visit other countries when billions of other people aren't visiting too, and that usually means travelling in the rainy season.

The other outdoor shop experience I've loved overseas is visiting the Arcteryx shop in Vancouver. Arcteryx gear is ridiculously expensive, but it's fantastic quality. When we were out in driving rain in a Zodiac in Antarctica, I was the only one whose rainwear didn't let in water. Not only did the Arcteryx shop have everything in every permutation, they even had some things on sale!) Sheer joy. I also went to a great Patagonia shop in LA...hmm, I think I might be addicted to outdoor shops.