Have a Quirk and a Smile

On Visiting Everyday Places

On any given trip, I’m typically at a destination for some architectural, artistic, or geographical reason: Chichen Itza in Mexico to understand the Maya and to marvel at the engineering of this ancient city, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia for its breathtaking art, Niagara Falls, Canada for that impressive water flow. No matter where I am, though, there are a few additional places—not on most tourists’ itineraries—that I’ll stop and visit. I personally have a penchant for graveyards (love the peaceful stillness and the history in these places), post offices (I actually still write and send postcards), and American fast-food places when on foreign shores (for a little taste of home).

While I have pictures of myself before all sorts of post offices (big, small, old, new), and in graveyards of all types (big and pricey, old and overgrown, bright and cheery), and before McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks in cities where I’d really like to spend more time, other travelers have their own idiosyncrasies. The Brawny Sherpa, for instance, given his work in tree care, can be seen hugging unusual specimens in any number of our travel pictures. One of our youthful adventurers visits anything basketball. To each his own.

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These are the little indulgences that will give a traveler a sense of a place, or its people, or their attitude toward American quick-serve restaurants. Some of these whims aren’t always camera-ready, but then I’m not always, either.

—Lori Tripoli

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Like everyday places that are sometimes quirky? Consider these posts:

• If Money Machines Could Talk
• Of Fire, Ice, Blimps, and Ships at the National Postal Museum
• The Bright Side of Death
• Fast Food Traveler
• Paris: Macarons and Macabre All in One Morning

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