When you spend 17+ months on A Great Journey around the world, you see all kinds of stuff.
Beautiful landscapes, shocking driving habits, incredible architecture, an insane amount of stray dogs, ancient temples and pyramids, amazing animals, presidential speeches, a random In-N-Out in Ethiopia; the list goes on.
Some of the things you see scare you.
Modern Coast bus drivers running cars off the road. Honey badgers & elephants at your tent in the middle of the night. An angry silverback gorilla pounding his chest 3 meters away. The essay prompt on the FSOT. The price of avocados in New Zealand.
Just the beginning of the sticker shock. And avo withdrawals.
Others leave you speechless.
The Kigali Genocide Memorials, the lava lake at the Nyiragongo volcano, Adele, an insanely bright Milky Way, and a quartered pedestrian, stand out in particular.
Twinkle, twinkle. Clear skies and no light pollution made for awesome stargazing at the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.
Often, they make feel quite happy.
Like Gelada monkeys at sunset, Bag End, a negative malaria test, someone pulling over when you’re hitchhiking, single-rider line signs at Tokyo Disney, a leopard stalking near your car door, and garbage trucks (and Chelawasi!) in Arequipa.
Bag End!
Anger was warranted at times.
It was hard to stave off at the Apartheid & District Six Museums, upon seeing poacher tracks, at the Atomic Bomb dome in Hiroshima, and when looking at my watch while the adhan was blasting in Lilongwe. It was four a.m.
And then there are those that make you laugh; sometimes aloud, other times internally because you’re clearly immature, yet too mature to do the former. Or they were so great they warrant props.
That’s what this post is all about.
Bad translations, stereotypos, sage life advice, misspellings, warnings, great ads, misplaced murals, and sacrilegious (for some, not me) signs are all part of this short list of the best things I saw while on A Great Journey.
Some you’ll get right away, others require translation, and one will be understood only by Seattleites. Enjoy!
Favorite African mural. Loved this at Malambe Camp on Lake Malawi.As seen at the bar in Stone Town, Zanzibar.Playa del Carmen, Mexico.“Morr: Exclusively for fatties.” Chiclayo, PeruGreat name. Great prices. Musina, South Africa.Ass disposable cutlery. Kirijia, Peru.Cause and effect. Johannesburg, South Africa.Um, Cum Books, a Christian book store in South Africa.“Used Beer” Barranco Beer Company, Lima, Peru“Drinks as cold as a hug from your ex…” Santiago, Chile.“Bring your wife, girlfriend, or lover for a meal…or bring all three at the same time and the four of you drink free.” Santiago, ChileGolden Shower beer, Lilongwe Craft Beer festival, Malawi.One of the best church signs I saw. In cool little Kaikoura, New Zealand.Peru has great chiken.Motherf*cker/Your whore mother cafe. Valparaiso, Chile.Cheers to elementary schools in the wine lands. Mendoza, Argentina.South Africa, where you can get a Seattle Freeze.Hurt me just thinking about this in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.Dr. Prince in Zambia.“Thieves caught stealing will be burned alive.” Puno, Peru.The father, son, and the holy ghost. Argentine pizzeria in Puebla, Mexico.Flash! On the Zambezi night train from Livingstone to Lusaka.Super polite people in Lusaka, Zambia.Cheers from Bondi, Australia.Chinese proverbs seemed so much wiser in the olden days. Shanghai, China.Unfortunate stereotypo in Harajaku, Tokyo. But great crepes nearby.This Kyoto Museum owner, ftw!Shrimp stew, suck shrimp. Tomato, tomahto in Arequipa, Peru.Al Anon and a store where Corona is king. Coatepec, MexicoA winning beer by Behemoth in Nelson, New Zealand.That 30 USD entry fee does not include “Drinking Water” at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.Well-executed ad on the streets of Auckland, New Zealand.A welcoming, progressive church in Auckland, New Zealand.
Not the best sign to see as you’re walking to Zimbabwe, but so it goes on A Great Journey.
