GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT

January Monthly Challenge — Signs

Interesting, funny or ordinary things you spotted on your travels

Happy New Year everyone.

A new year has begun and it is said to be the best one yet, isn't it? It's all about perspective and the right mindset I've heard so I hope you're all bursting with positivity and are excited for a full year filled with loads of interesting travel tales.

To start things off, we decided to begin the year with a different challenge.

Signs.

Signs that present us with the right direction we are moving toward. Signs that show it's going to be a great year. Or simply signs that are here to make us smile or laugh.

Signs can be confusing or misinterpreted if you come to a new country and don't do your part of research on road signs. But mostly, signs are made for everyone to understand. If illiterate or not.

Signs can be cute.

Signs can be funny.

Signs can be encouraging.

Or discouraging you from drinking and driving.

So let's dive into what I've found.

Signs of hope

After living for several years in Namibia, where the ladies in the supermarket called me the no-bag-lady as I always refused any plastic bags being handed to me arriving with my own shopping bags, I was hit into the face arriving in the Southeast Asian country handed out soups in plastic bags.

We lived in Thailand for almost a year and when we arrived on the island of Koh Tao for a holiday, I saw a spark of hope reading this sign outside our resort.

They don't have plastic straws on this island? I wouldn't believe it as the Thais even drink beer with straws. Some at least. But it was true.

No plastic straws are anywhere to be seen. Restaurants handed out metal straws and I had no issues drinking the cocktails with my own bamboo straws I always carry in my handbag.

This sign was certainly a sign of hope. Until the pandemic arrived and broke down everything by producing billions of single-use masks, gloves and other plastic protection crap. But that's another topic...

Signs of the past or the future

Think about that one. Have you seen signs of the past? I remember road signs in Germany indicating dangerous turns with a number of how many people have died in accidents on that specific spot.

It's a sign of the past for a better future, isn't it?

Or what about that one below? I moved to a tiny village where the landlady had this sign up. The place might not have been anything you'd expect paradise to look like.

No palm trees. No beaches. No tropical island.

But it turned out to be our paradise being located in the mountains with forests all around us.

Signs to guide you

Oh, there must be plenty of those. Walk here, drive there, share the road with cyclists and turn left if you want to drive to the beach.

Most signs found on the sides of roads are there to guide us. In some way. As long as we follow them. If we don't and follow our own ignorance or stupidity, it's on us if something happens.

Signs to make you laugh

And then there are those kind of signs. Most of them still guide us in some way, but they mostly make us laugh.

I passed the sign below in the Caprivi Strip in northern Namibia. I'm not sure if it's only an African thing but Landrovers are known to give troubles. Well, and they should clearly take the 2x4 track according to this land owner.

Signs to make you think

What signs made you think?

I couldn't find a road sign but the word 'sign' can be interpreted in many ways. What did you see or experience while abroad that made you think? Deeply.

I remember staring at the sky while capturing the stars at night just as the sun was rising on the horizon and thinking the best twilight hours are always those with a little bit of clouds.

Clear skies never make for the best sunsets or sunrises. Those with patches of clouds do. Just like in life. Perfect places or moments always involve a little hurdle or challenge you first have to overcome.

Signs of creativity

Yes, there are many signs or things I've seen that showed me how creative people are.

This was also in northern Namibia. We arrived the night before at the campsite as it was pouring rain and when I went for a walk along the shores of the river I saw this boat docked. And a line of wooden constructions guiding you even in wet, muddy and flooded conditions safely to the boat.

It didn't require much but a little bit of creativity including that old dugout canoe in the walkway.

Signs to keep you alive

Oh yeah. There is an abundance of those as it seems our society these days doesn't live off the Darwin theory of 'survival of the fittest' but who can sue the best.

While we used to think about what we do and where we walk, today we try to find a way to get injured to sue someone else for not writing a warning sign about it. How crazy is that?

I know it's a lot worse in the US than in most countries I travel to where many still struggle when not applying common sense on their daily walks but some signs are certainly there to keep you alive.

If it says 'be aware of crocodiles' you should not, under no circumstances walk down to the shore at this lodge. A crocodile luring in the water will take you down and drag you into the river without anyone noticing.

And no, there are no fences. This is Africa. They wrote a sign. Which is about as good as it gets. Welcome to the abundance of wildlife, dangerous or not, in the Okavango Delta.

Signs of failure

Mmmh, yip.

I remember this one. Taking up a small sedan car to drive up a dune in the Kalahari in Southern Namibia was maybe not the smartest idea but I got about 50 meters to camp.

This picture was a sign of failure on two levels.

First, we were stuck.

Secondly, I had no shovel and made my mom dig out the tires with a plastic plate.

End of story? We left the car right there and then, carried our things to the camp and rolled backward down the next morning.

Share with us your experience with signs

I think you got the idea. We are looking for different signs you have encountered while traveling the world. Funny, ordinary or obscure. Whatever it is, share it with us.

Signs.

We want to begin the new year with signs leading us in the right direction.

Be creative.

Pull us in with your captivating narrative.

If you need some ideas, here we go:

The Ultimate Place to Find Funny Signs

My First Time Seeing This Sign in XXX

I Have Been Walking Down an Alley When I Found This Sign

The Most Fascinating Signs Around the World

I Didn’t Know I’d Fall in Love With the Meaning of Signs

A Very Different Kind of Sign

I Never Understood Why People Would Follow Signs

A requirement for the monthly challenge submissions is to tag 2 articles that either inspired you to go to this place, have quality content about the same country you’re talking about or maybe it’s just a travel piece you really enjoyed reading.

You can use the search function to review our publication and look for articles about your destination. It’s easy and a great way to show appreciation to other writers out here.

Also, don’t forget to tag writers properly. We no longer correct them for you. Read this article if you are unsure what I am talking about.

We’re looking forward to your submissions. As always, at the end of the month, the editors of Globetrotters will announce their winners. While we also submit our entries, we do not participate in the competition.

Please remember to follow our guidelines when submitting an article:

• The maximum article length must be 10 minutes.
• Always credit your images. We only accept your own photographs. Please review our image policy if unsure.
• Write your article in the form title-subtitle-title image.
• Please add the tag “monthly challenge”.
• Make sure that travel is still a focus of your story.
• List 2 articles and tag the writers who created them (if unsure of how to tag writers, please read this article)
• The challenge will run from January 1st until January 28th. We reserve the last days of the month to post the results from the challenge.
• For more clarification on submissions, visit the Globetrotters submission guidelines.

We, the team of editors at Globetrotters (JoAnn, Adrienne, Jillian, Michele & Anne) want to thank each of you for contributing to our publication. You’ve sent so many fascinating articles on past challenges and we can’t wait for the next ones.

Thank you.

Jillian Amatt has kicked off the challenge with the first prompt submission.

Read here the final post of our previous monthly challenge. We asked you to share stories about spiritual sites. In this article, the editors announce their personal winners: