And here's GI Jane at the gas station on the way to Seattle...

July 25, 2009 5:05 AM

Help me prepare for my trip! What are some fun/funny things we can do abroad, not location-specific but rather things that have to do with being on a trip?

We'll be in SF, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, and NY (and mabye Montreal).
I'm thinking of things like taking an action figure with us and photographing it in various places and making it a photo album.

I realize this is really broad, and really general, but what are some fun things you did on your trips other than actual trip stuff?

posted by alona to travel & transportation (20 comments total)

Photograph all the mundane but different things. Trash cans, bus stops, road signs. The built environment is a huge part of how you know you're abroad - it's everything you see in a big city!
posted by mdonley at 5:37 AM on July 25

Find a drag bar in each city. Trust me.
posted by Unred at 5:52 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]

Honestly, the highlight of any trip, for me, is visiting the city's grocery stores. Grocery chains different even in-between states, so there are always fun off-brand items to check out. One amusing thing is to note the different names of off-brand Dr. Pepper. In the southern US, I've seen everything from Dr. Perky to Dr. Bob to Dr. Thunder.

While I've been in Europe, I've looked at the local grocery store in every new city, and it's been a pleasure.

I also agree with photographing the mundane things rather than simply the tourist hotspots. Variety in public transport, road signs, stickers on windows, funny store signs, graffiti--all of this adds to the joy of travel.

Taking note of the names and types of local businesses is also really fun and interesting. You might drive through and area and realize that, hey, there are a huge number of churches! Or you might see an excess of dog groomers. When I was in Bratislava, I liked looking at the ways that English loan words were incorporated into Slovak. Everything ended in "y"! This observation made my entire trip very, very amusing. "Banky!" "Printery!"

Some of my fondest trip memories come from talking with friends during the actual journey, i.e. while on the road. We played lots of silly travel games and told jokes. At times, memories of us "chewing the fat" are stronger than memories of, say, the inside of the Köln Dom.

If you stay in hostels, you'll make tons of memories just from that. Hostels just have an aura about them. They can be skanky, silly, wonderful, terrifying, awkward... But they're hardly ever forgettable! If you're staying in hostels, I recommend looking for really weird ones. Our hostel in Berlin had themed rooms. The idea had merit, even if the execution was a little... bizarre.

I think your idea of specific "trip photography" has merit. A friend of mine took jumping photos in every city; her trip album consists of photos of her mid-air amongst the tourists. I've taken photos of food and of store signage.

I hope you have a wonderful time! :)
posted by ElectricBlue at 6:23 AM on July 25

2nding grocery stores, where you will see city life from the inside and have a chance to pick up inexpensive trip mementos (from jam to a different brand of toothpaste) which can bring a trip and country back to mind months later, when you are using what you brought home. Alas, there are fewer and fewer differences cross-border these days -- another reason to do this now. You will also see people going about their lives, and cultural differences as well. Bookstores are good, too. Go for local. And ask, ask, ask when you are there -- I've found great restaurants asking an interesting shop clerk where HE goes for lunch. Have a great trip!
posted by Bet Glenn at 7:32 AM on July 25

3rd grocery stores. I'm one of those people that absolutely loves going grocery shopping and so I get an extra special kick out of wandering around different grocery stores trying to find things. I even found my favorite crackers in the whole world that way.
posted by sperose at 7:52 AM on July 25

Stay in hotels that are as cheap as possible, when I was traveling in India, we stayed in this dirt cheap hotel the night before we left, and it was mental. One room had a strobe light in it, one room had a circular bed, and another room had a massive fridge.
Also, although it is quite mean, playing pranks on each other by using room service is always fun (phone up a friend, put on a local accent and tell them they have a complimentary breakfast or something, then phone up room service and order a breakfast to that room)
posted by saralk at 8:03 AM on July 25

Actually I like your "action figure photographs" idea. You could also use a stuffed animal/teddy bear sort of thing. These two friends of mine have a stuffed plushie moose toy one got for the other on a trip. They always take it on trips with them and take silly photos of it. It's very cute!
posted by dnash at 8:19 AM on July 25

From Ms. Vegetable:

Shoes.

Photograph everybody's shoes.


I lived in Denmark for a while, and I recently found a journal entry where all I wrote about was shoes. It was fantastic. They were very artsy and different from my "American" shoes.

(And yes, hit the grocery store. In Denmark, one shape of pasta (spirals) was always cheaper than any other shape, and organic milk cheaper than conventional. In Russia, everything is behind a counter. And there's a meat counter, a cheese counter, a bread counter, a fruit counter, etc. You have to pay at each counter.)
posted by a robot made out of meat at 8:21 AM on July 25

When you go to a restaurant, always ask the server what the best dish on the menu is, and order that. Unless they just say the most expensive thing.

I've seen or heard of travelers who come up with projects that give them an excuse to talk to locals, which seems like a good bet. When I was in India, I met a guy who asked everyone he met to tell him their happiest childhood memory, which he would write (or have them write) in a notebook he carried with him. Totally cheesy, but he got into some amazing conversations. I've thought a less-cheesy version could be to ask people to tell you a joke.
posted by lunasol at 9:45 AM on July 25

I'm not the type who would photograph action figures, so I can't speak from personal experience. That being said, here're some ideas from the Internet:

- The traveling gnome prank - Basically, your action figure idea with a garden gnome. If you have a friend or family member who wants to go but can't make it, it might be cute to borrow their gnome or action figure, and send them the photos after the trip.

- Where the hell is Matt? - I thought this was cute. A guy does a little dance around the world.
posted by larkin123 at 9:49 AM on July 25

We did what you were thinking of - we took an Ugly Doll around Europe with us and made her a substitute for the cheeseball "here's me in front of the Eiffel Tower" pics - she basically was the face of our entire trip. We have her standing next to a Palace guard in London, propped against the Eiffel Tower, perched on tables with drinks in her hand, all sorts of stuff. Then when we got home we put together one of those boring "here's our trip" slideshows but with the Ugly Doll as the star.
posted by pdb at 10:27 AM on July 25

Honestly, the highlight of any trip, for me, is visiting the city's grocery stores.
This. I remember the trip that first gave me this idea: I was visiting Georgia for the first time with the future Mr. Adams, and while browsing at the Piggly-Wiggly I saw Armour canned Pork Brains. My brother has this strange tradition which I apparently inspired....see, I get squicked out by the thought of sitting on or laying on a hotel or motel room bedspread. (They launder those things once per year, maximum.) Brother thinks this is a goofy idiosyncracy, and years ago started sending me a photo of himself whenever he on vacation (used to be Polaroids, now cell phone photos sent via email) of him laying on a bedspread somewhere in a hotel, motel, B&B. Each photo came with some commentary (like "This is the small B&B I stayed in not far from Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. When I left in the morning to go sightseeing, the woman at the front desk told me I wasn't dressed warmly enough and loaned me one of her husband's sweaters.") This is the type of info that brings back specific memories of a trip, but is the type of thing Brother wouldn't have bothered writing down if he hadn't been sending me a photo.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:51 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]

You know those machines that you put a penny and 50 cents in, and then you turn a crank and the machine presses an image into your penny and returns it? On one trip, we made it our goal to collect as many of these as possible. It worked out super well because those machines are often in interesting locations. So throughout our road trip we ended up at a mini-golf place, an aquarium, a lookout point, a state park, a candy store, a mini zoo, a "mystery spot", a train station, a local restaurant, etc. I loved it.

A squished penny is the kind of souvenir that doesn't take up much room. AND later on in life when you go through a period of needing to throw stuff away, you'll chuck these with no qualms knowing they only cost 51 cents.

Check out Penny Collector for a great database of machine locations.
posted by TheClonusHorror at 11:07 AM on July 25

Oh my, grocery stores yes. And here, I thought I was the only one.
posted by rokusan at 11:42 AM on July 25

Send a lot of postcards. Use interesting stamps. Simple, popular, easy.

Photograph the awful stuff; the train you missed, the bitchy desk clerk, the ugly bathroom, the rain that never stopped.

Photograph graffiti.
posted by theora55 at 6:29 PM on July 25

Photograph the awful stuff
I will definitely start doing this. These are some of the funniest stories, but too easily forgotten...

Also seconding grocery stores (weird fruits!) and signs (banky!). Some of my favorite pictures from Cuba, in particular, are just signs. The minimal commercial advertising - replaced instead by propoganda for the ongoing Revolution - is really telling of the current environment. Thinking back on billboards in the US, I could see them telling to totally different but equally quirky story.
posted by whatzit at 7:40 PM on July 25

I collect my plastic card hotel keys. I probably now have well over 250 of them from all over the world. Some are plain jane (those I write down the hotel name and location and date of my stay), but others are really colorful and are a great way to keep a cheap souvenir (since you already paid for your stay!).

I also collect little strange ephemera in foreign languages. My rule of thumb is that it's gotta be free. I got hooked on this when I was in Amsterdam in the 1980s and found a little menu from Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Dutch. That just cracked me up. Or free city / transportation maps - I highlight where I've gone, where I stayed, where I ate.

When I used to lead tours to Africa and got tired of taking pictures of the millionth and one wildebeeste, I got in the habit of taking pictures of people's butts. Big ones. Skinny ones. Flat ones. All kinds of people's butts.

And just for the heck of it, sometimes when I see a huge group of Asian tourists taking a picture, I always ask if I can join in. What the hell. They always think this is somewhat hilarious, it always earns a grin and a conversation starter with someone in the group eager to practice English. There are probably dozens of Japanese people looking curiously at a group photo in front of someplace like the Taj Mahal or Torres del Paine or the Royal Palace in Bangkok wondering who the hell that chick is in the corner.
posted by HeyAllie at 10:00 PM on July 25

Truck stops are fun to visit, just to see the tacky knick-knacks they have for sale as souvenirs. In need of a pewter wizard figurine? Try a truck stop.
posted by illenion at 11:48 AM on July 26

Grocery stores absolutely.

But also street food. It's probably not as extreme within North America, but i love the fact that different places have such different "late night drunk food" and "snack on the way to work" food, but everywhere has them.
posted by kjs4 at 11:21 PM on July 27

Oh, and photographing small things that are different is awesome. A significant proportion of the photos of my last trip to Europe is photos of doors.
posted by kjs4 at 11:23 PM on July 27