Category Archives: Ridiculous Street Signs

Ridiculous Street Signs #16- Warning: Deer May Attack- Nara, Japan

Ridiculous Street Signs,

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One of the highlights of our visit to Nara (during our visit to Japan), was interacting with the abundance of tame deer which were roaming all over the area. Even though the deer are relatively harmless, they could be a nuisance and a pain if they noticed you had food.
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Our biggest run-in on Nara (and on Miyajima Island) was when a deer in each area decided to eat a gate-check tag hanging off of Lucas’ stroller! It was pretty funny but I have to say that I was a bit upset when our Singapore Airlines tag from our trip the previous Summer became deer food!
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Contributor Ridiculous Street Signs #8- Please Sit On The Pot- Ghana

Ridiculous Street Signs

photo f0f240e4.jpgI recently received an e-mail from Jason with the subject Ridiculous Street Signs. He wanted to share a sign that he came across while on a trip to Africa!

Jason works in international business and has been writing the BoardingArea blog Milesquest since 2008.

Kim and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Jason and his wife at the BoardingArea Conference (aka BAcon) back in May. We then ran into them at the airport in Denver while waiting for our flight to New Orleans.

After receving Jason’s e-mail I sent him a few questions to find out a little more about his sign photo.

Continue reading Contributor Ridiculous Street Signs #8- Please Sit On The Pot- Ghana →

Ridiculous Street Signs #15- Train Fishing- Tokyo

Ridiculous Street Signs
a sign with a man and a girl on a leash

While waiting for the train in Tokyo, Kim and I spotted this interesting and odd sign.

Although we don’t speak Japanese, we felt that the sign was pretty much self explanatory.
If you drop something from the platform onto the tracks, don’t go and get it. One of the transportation employees will reel it in for you.

a train station with a sign

I was curious as to what they use to get your item back.

Continue reading Ridiculous Street Signs #15- Train Fishing- Tokyo →

Ridiculous Street Signs #14- OK Meat Place- Brooklyn, NY

Ridiculous Street Signs
a storefront with signs on the front

A couple of weeks back I was driving with Kim to Prospect Park. We were heading to the park to go for a run and visit the local Farmers Market after.
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I’ve driven to the park many times but decided to take a different route this day. This turned out to be a big mistake. The roads got pretty congested and it took us much longer than we liked to get to the park.

Contributor Ridiculous Street Signs #7: Keep Off Grass- Australia

Ridiculous Street Signs, ,
a sign in the dirt
The easiest sign in the world to follow, Coober Pedy, South Australia
While checking out Twitter last week, I came across a tweet by Gary Arndt (@EverywhereTrip) which caught my interest. The tweet said “An easy sign to follow in Coober Pedy, South Australia”. A link to a daily travel photo that Gary had posted to his blog in 2010 was included.
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Gary writes the very popular, award winning travel blog Everything Everywhere. He’s been traveling around the world for over six years, visiting many interesting places and taking incredible photos along the way.
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I had the opportunity to interview Gary last August. (Check out the interview HERE)
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Contributor Ridiculous Street Signs # 6- Mile Run- Pennsylvania

Contributor, Delta, Pennsylvania, Ridiculous Street Signs
a green and white street sign

I recently received an e-mail from Nina (aka Delta Gold Lass on Milepoint) with a pretty funny sign. While the average person might not see the humor, most of us in the mileage collecting hobby should see the humor here!

Nina is a speech language pathologist working with children ages 0-5. Most of them have autism spectrum disorders (I happen to work in the same field as a special educator). 
She was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, living directly across from the Atlantic Ocean. She is still not back in her condo yet but her saving grace is travel.

I wanted to find out a little more about this sign and sent Nina a few questions.

Here they are:
MW: Where did you spot the sign?
Nina: I spotted the sign along Route 80 in rural central Pennsylvania.

MW: When did you spot it?
Nina: I saw it on April 19 & 21. I was on the way to a gymnastics event at Penn State with some friends that love gymnastics.

a road sign on a hill

MW: What was your reaction when you saw it?
Nina: I had to stop and pull over to take a picture because it was hilarious. To me it was hysterical in the eyes of a flying freak. I deliberately wait for Delta fares to drop and then take flights to no where just to accumulate MQMs. 

MW: How did your friends feel when you decided to pull over?
Nina: My companions are accustomed to my lunacy and some have reaped the benefits. They also laughed, seeing my perspective but also rolled their eyes and grinned to bear the detour!

I want to thank Nina for sending in this sign and sharing a little about it with us!

***For those that don’t know, a mileage run (according to Wikipedia) is “an airline trip designed and taken solely to gain maximum frequent- flyer miles, points or status”.



Have your photo featured on Michael W Travels:
If you have a Ridiculous Street Signs photo that you would like to contribute and have featured on Michael W Travels, feel free to e-mail me at michaelwtravels@gmail.com
(Not all photos will be featured but thanks in advance for sharing)

Don’t forget to:

A Step By Step Guide To Washing Hands in Singapore

Ridiculous Street Signs, Trip Reports,
a sign with instructions on it

Most of us know that Singapore is a very clean country. There are laws to help keep it that way like no littering and gum chewing.

In a country so clean you should expect people to know how to wash their hands. I was definitely surprised to see these signs in multiple places. One thing I did learn (from the sign above) was that you can reduce your germ count by up to 99%. To accomplish this you need to wash your hands for 30 seconds with soap and water.

Contributor Ridiculous Street Signs #5- Crush Hazard- Sweden

Ridiculous Street Signs
a yellow sign on a wall

Back in January I was happy to have Rene’s sign photo be the first Contributor- Ridiculous Street Signs post on Michael W Travels. He seems to also enjoy funny and humorous signs and was nice enough to send in another that he noticed while visiting his mother back in his homeland of Sweden.

I was glad to receive the photo and find out some more about the sign. I asked Rene to translate for us and also answer a few questions.

Here is the translation:
Crush Hazard (squeeze risk direct translation)
Dangerous to transport goods in an elevator that does not have an inside door or gate.

Here are a few questions that Rene answered:

MW– When / where did you spot the sign?
Rene– Outside the elevator in my moms flat in Gothenburg Sweden

MW– What was you and your wife’s reaction when you saw the sign?
Rene– OUCH! What a stupid way to go!

MW– Is there anything else of importance that you’d like to add?
Rene– The risk is clearly real for serious injury thus the sign. My mom’s building was built in 1975 and I doubt this style of elevator would be allowed today. I have not seen this type in the states but maybe your readers have some NYC experience and can chime in!

I was curious to see a photo of the elevator but Rene did one better for us. He took a short video to show us how the elevator works.

Check it out:

Thanks Rene for contributing another funny and ridiculous sign!
Check out Rene’s blog Delta Points (which is on travel site Boarding Area) HERE.

Have your photo featured on Michael W Travels:

If you have a Ridiculous Street Signs photo that you would like to contribute and have featured on Michael W Travels, feel free to e-mail me at michaelwtravels@gmail.com
(Not all photos will be featured but thanks in advance for sharing)

Don’t forget to:

Ridiculous Street Signs # 13- Don’t Drive In Water- Moscow

Ridiculous Street Signs,
a road sign with a picture of a car on the side of the road

While visiting Moscow we headed over to a small island that was the former home of the Red October Chocolate Factory complex. We wanted to check out the transformation it has been going through. The area has gone from making chocolate to an area filled with people involved in the arts. There are galleries, photographers, designers, cafes and many other businesses setting up shop there.

While walking around the area we were coming close to the inner section of the island. Across the street we noticed a very familiar sign. It reminded me of one that was posted on the blog in late January.

Continue reading Ridiculous Street Signs # 13- Don’t Drive In Water- Moscow →

Ridiculous Street Signs #12- Exit the U-Bahn

Germany, Humor, Ridiculous Street Signs
a man running in a building

This photo might not fit the exact description of a Ridiculous Street Sign but I thought this was the best place for it.

I’ve always felt that warning and directions signs featuring those silly looking stick figures were pretty funny. Many times I’ve tried to copy the impossible positions they are in on the signs. This usually causes a laugh or two while others might wonder what I find so funny.

While in Germany, we were heading back to our hostel after visiting a beer hall for dinner. On the way out, we were assisted in finding the exit by a stick figure sign.

I decided to take an attempt at imitating the figure on the sign while my brother took some photos. We had a good laugh and apparently others found it funny and decided to join in.

a woman running with balloons

This could go down as the first ever Street Signs Pose- Off!