Been There - Done that - Got the T-Shirt
A Travel Rant
No. Seriously. You should see my house. It is filled with touristy crap goodness from Australia, Miami, Galveston, London, Latvia, Scandinavia, New York, Los Angeles, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong, Thailand.... you get the picture. I know a lot of folks think this stuff is silly, but I love it. I live for accumulating all the schlocky tourist crap my house can hold - and then some. I want to go everywhere before I die. I want to see it all. I want to win the Been There-Done That- Got the T-Shirt grand prize.
I get T-Shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, sweat pants, little too-tight girly tops that make me look positively obese, ash trays, wall plates, stuffed animals, Aussie hats, wooden ships, post cards, statues, clocks... let's just say that the most expensive part of our travels is not the hotel or plane tickets. Oh no. It is all this junk. I even bring an extra suitcase just for tourist crap. Seriously. Ask my husband.
The problem is, I earn this crap. I have Been There and Done That so I can rightfully say Got the T-Shirt. Unfortunately, in my travels I have seen the most obnoxious things imaginable to me: New York t-shirts in a shop in Sweden; Los Angeles t-shirts in a Melbourne shop; London souvenirs in Kissimee, Florida; German stuff in Williamsburg, Virginia. And so it goes. What the hell is up with that? I'm sorry, but that just ain't riiiight....
My souvenirs are trophies to me. Been There - Done That - Got the T-Shirt.
Apparently the Been There - Done That part is no longer necessary, if it ever was, and that ticks me off no end. I was strolling through the French Market in New Orleans last year wearing a ball-cap from Stonehenge when some guy stopped me and asked me: Have you really been there?
Yes. I have really been there. I'm proud of my travels. I want people to know that I have Been There - Done That - Got the T-Shirt. And that is why I get so damned annoyed at shops that sell souvenirs and t-shirts for other countries and places. Why do they do this?
So I'm asking you: Do you buy fake souvenirs? Do you wear the T-shirt when you haven't really Been There - Done That? Do you write articles here on AC or other places about countries and cities you have never stepped foot in? Don't mislead people. Please. Internet research is often wrong because of this. I know, I have visited places based on false articles only to find it was all only so much BS. If you have not Been There - Done That, then please don't wear the T-Shirt. It is irritating to those of us that have.
Published by Lori Leidig
US citizen living in Sweden; Retired shrink cum criminologist who is now trying to string two coherent words together for various publications. View profile
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64 Comments
Post a CommentOh yes. They sure are. I've caught a few writing travel articles based on Internet research and it is very clear they had not been to those places at all because I HAVE been those places and some of what they said is totally wrong.
I also will always post photos of places I've been unless otherwise stated! Heavens!!! Are people doing that???
I never wear T-Shirts, but I always believe when I see one that the person had been there....up to now.
Me either - most this article was mostly a lead-in to the last zinger aimed at a few writers around these parts ;>
I know what you mean. I don't like to wear a T-shirt for a place I've never been.
This British T-shirt company make the exact things you're talking about, although I feel they may be being ironic!
http://www.balconyshirts.co.uk/Mens-T-Shirts/British-Towns-and-Cities-T-Shirts/sc1388_p0.aspx
"and what about the ones who say they have been there but never have?" - and that was the main point ;> I have visited a few places based on articles I've read here on AC only to find the author could not possibly have ever been within 500 kilometers of the place.
So many people wear T-shirts,sweatshirts, sport bumper stickers(yeckkers). buy coffee cups,with emblems of some far off mystical destination they want to go but never do. Maybe by wearing them they advertise a place but if they have never been there a T-shirt etc. will certainly not coax me into going! Maybe they want others to think they are worldly and have had the priveledge. But once you find out they have never been there does not the place lose its' flavor?'...and what about the ones who say they have been there but never have?....hmmmmmmmm....I hear ya loud and clear, great submission -I will visit here often. Do you sell T-Shirts?...lol
I am a little surprised that anyone would buy these fake souvenirs. But, I often am surprised at what people will do.
Glad you got this "off your chest." What an opening line for this piece. LOL