You carry around a stuffed toy?
Jaime has a tight group of fraternity brothers from college that still get together often and even take frequent boys trips all these years later. On one of the BA (before Angie) adventures to Europe, each of them bought a stuffed monkey in various different colors. They had long arms that could be Velcroed above its head and dangly stuffing free legs. The idea was that they could “pose” these monkeys for pictures, hang them on their backpacks and ultimately give them away to fun people they hoped to cross paths with during their journey. That’s why I can’t show you a picture of Jaime’s travel monkey. The details of each little monkey’s fate are sketchy and seem to change over time – but assuming “what happens to travel monkeys in Europe, stays in Europe” you can come up with some likely scenarios for yourselves given the guys were in their twenties at the time.
One flight delay later…
The first time I heard about these traveling monkeys, Jaime and I were stranded in DTW (our home airport). We were ironically on our way to Europe and thanks to some strong thunderstorms found ourselves with a few extra hours to burn before getting on our way. After a couple of airport lounge cocktails, we decided to wander the shops in search of a suitable travel mascot of our own. Time was not on our side. It was getting late, and the shops were closing, so the pressure was on to find something quick. Further complicating things was the limited selection of small stuffed animals in terminal stores. With minutes to spare we spotted a smallish round stuffed guy wearing a Detroit Tigers uniform. He would have to do. Another cocktail later and we settled on calling him Bob, Detroit Bob.
Oh the places you’ll go
On that inaugural trip we learned that Detroit Bob might not have been the best choice. He doesn’t fit well in a pocket or a purse. He gets dirty and is hard to clean. And given his shape, he rolls away easily. But we decided that fate connected us for a reason, so we’ve stuck with him. Over the years he’s curated quite the wardrobe: a Santa hat, cowboy hat, captains hat, and even a crown. He sported a grass skirt to a destination wedding in Hawaii and even has his own pool floaty. Yes, it’s ridiculous but we don’t care. Detroit Bob has been a source of fun for us and others all over the world. He’s been snowmobiling on glaciers, backpacked all over the place, taken trains, planes, and tuk-tuks. He makes friends wherever we go and even got to meet a well-known cruise ship Captain who invited him on deck to drive for a while. Funny enough, he didn’t go to a Detroit Tigers game until just a few years ago.
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Detroit Bob is honored to have inspired several of our friends to find their own travel mascots. Maybe you will too?
