This month, Seattleite will feature a series of articles by Jon Meyer, our official Food + Travel Aficionado. Mr. Meyer recently completed a most excellent excursion throughout British Columbia, and has returned to the United States with tales of fine cuisine, outdoor adventure and charming encounters. Without further ado, here is the first installment of Jon’s Adventures in Canada.

Portable travel guides help tourists navigate two of the world’s most confusing cities.

Traveling to a foreign country, eating delicious food and visiting exotic hot spots is an exciting, pleasurable experience. A crash course in Chinese, on the other hand, is not. The biggest travel nightmare is getting lost and having no way to communicate for directions — and this can easily become a reality if you are unfamiliar with your destination’s strange alphabet.