I had a friend (still have the friend, though we don’t have regular access to each other anymore) who liked to “show off” how obscure some of his possessions were, possibly to achieve the “wanderlust effect” (i.e. the reaction of “how did you get these here”). Something about the anticipation that his inventory was alien to whoever he showed.
One day, he was asked to bring games and a console and he brought one of those extremely rare knock-off bootleg gaming consoles they sell in Asia, which we’re not even remotely near.
“What the heck is that” asked my other best friend?
“It’s the Mega Duck. I brought CFGP with me too.”
“Why can’t you be a normal Upstate New Yorker? We literally got Playstation.”
“What fun is that?”
It wasn’t some small quirk either. One day he took a long walk and came across a part of the area nobody had been to in decades and took pictures with my camera which he happened to have. Also having hyperthymesia, he came back and was all like “I took these photos of a place that seems like it was out of a fantasy painting and also recognized someone there who was on the missing persons list when I came back”. Like a boss.
In contrast, alas, ever since moving, my possessions have become overwhelmingly mundane enough you’d expect most of it to be in an 18th century post-colonial American home, the exception (if you could call her that), ironically, being my dog who is of a rare breed.
What’s the most wanderlusty thing you own, something that would be the absolute opposite of mundane if in your possession?
I MADE a clock with nixie tubes. I gave it a friend who is notoriously difficult to buy for. It was the only thing I’d ever heard him express an interest in that I knew he wouldn’t buy for himself. We both talked about how cool it was.
Now it sits on his entertainment center and every time I visit, I’m envious that I don’t have one. How stupid is that? I have to get around to building one for myself.
Oh wow, how are they built? I want to make one!