New website tracks outrageous souvenirs
Have you ever wandered into the airport souvenir shop while trying to kill time between flights? Sometimes all it takes is a little accidental inspiration.
When Doug Lansky stumbled upon some of Wisconsin's most awkward souvenirs while killing time in a Milwaukee airport—including the "Wisconsin: Who Cut The Cheese?" magnet shown above—a new website was born.
CrapSouvenirs.com, allows travelers to submit photos of tacky souvenirs and otherwise wacky discoveries from around the world.
Photos on the website range from the comically misspelled camel from "Egybt" to the locally humorous canned fog from San Francisco ("The San FrancisCAN original.") Other souvenirs are just plain bizarre: Jamaican bananas from Tennessee, a 3 feet tall British telephone booth and "Certified Cow Tipper" coffee mugs.
The "Accidentally R-Rated" category is not for the faint of heart, but contains the strangest souvenirs on the list, ranging from Italian Statue of David boxer shorts (showing off his most prominent feature with the Italian flag in the background), to bottle openers made from kangaroo testicles, among other naughty images plastered on blankets and shot glasses.
Lansky is also the mastermind behind Signspotting: Funny Signs From Around the World, and creator of Signspotting.com, an online forum where travelers can submit photos of humorous signs from around the world. He is currently working on a book to complement the new souvenir website.
So far, my craziest souvenir is from a trip I took with my friend and her family in the summer of 2009. We had traveled around Italy for a week, exploring Milan, Lake Como, Venice and Rome before I stumbled upon my favorite souvenir: A Pope Benedict lollipop. I had been waiting in line at a gelato shop near the Pantheon when I spotted it on a nearby shelf.
We want to know: Have you ever bought—or received—a really strange or ridiculous souvenir? Tell us below!
MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL:
Should souvenirs be authentic and locally sourced?