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Multiple Bolivia entry stamps in a passport. Photo: Henrique Bente / Flickr
An Internet meme going around is about five guys who took the same photo for 30 years. These were friends who would vacation together at Copco Lake. What started as a lark turned into a regular tradition: the group of people, the poses and facial expressions stayed constant.
Reading that story prompted me to wonder if I’ve ever done anything like that. Then I realized I had. When I lived in Taiwan, I would often make visa runs to Hong Kong to apply for a new Taiwanese visa. My pattern would be:
I probably went through that pattern a half-dozen times, if not more. Funny how you fall into habits without being aware of it. Doing those things became part of my regular Hong Kong routine.
Have you visited the same place with the same friends on multiple occasions? Do you have a personal ritual you like to re-enact? Please share your stories in the comments.
July 30th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Wow, after reading the article about the five guys, I kind of wish I had four friends who had a tradition like that. It’s hard to keep five friends together that long. Anyway, I’ve sort of got a ritual when we visit my wife’s home country, Trinidad & Tobago. The last three times I’ve made the shape of Trinidad & Tobago out of rocks at the beach. It’s been a different beach each time, and the size of the rocks have been different, but the shape has been unmistakable. If you know Trinidad, you know its shape and that’s what makes it fun. Also, we just got back from Berlin a couple weeks ago. I’ve been four times, and every time I find myself going back to the Brandenburg Gate among other sights in Mitte, and have rented
several bicycles and driven a Trabi and a Smart Car.
July 31st, 2012 at 1:36 pm
From 2000 to 2011, my husband and I visited Warner Springs Ranch (California) religiously, every other month. Less than a two-hour drive from San Diego, Warner Springs is a century removed from the modern world. Rustic accommodations. No phones. No TV. Nothing to do but hike, horseback ride, read, play Scrabble, or take ridiculously long naps. We did have one ritual: Walk to the hot-springs source, inhale the sulfur fumes, and practice our aim tossing coins into a make-shift wishing well. Those days are over. This rustic resort is closed and the 2,300-acre property is up for sale.
August 1st, 2012 at 4:51 am
The photo’s kinda like marking your children’s height on the wall with a pencil every birthday. It’s something that’s premeditated, and something we hope that each time it happens, we’ll see some sort of growth or change. Everyone who goes to their high school reunion every 5 years is technically doing the same exact thing.
I make a habit of going solo camping once every year, usually to the same spot in Shenandoah National Park. As much as I’m hoping to find some sort of inner change, the only things I usually notice that seem to change are new road signs or new stores popping up on the drive down, new camping equipment, new changes around the park—everything but me.
August 6th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
I just made my 7th trip to Spain. I have been to almost all of southeast Asia, and many European countries, but now whenever Spain beckons, for whatever reason, off I go.