Some time ago there was a story that went viral on the Internet. A little boy lost his favourite plus elephant. His parents were clever and told him the toy was not lost. It was on holiday and travelling around the world. The parents asked for help in the Photoshop community, and they did help. Photoshoppers created lots of photographs of the toy in famous places such as the Great Wall of China and Athens, Greece. When the little boy was sad, the parents showed him the ‘postcards’ his elephant sent him and he saw that his toy was having fun.
Toy Voyagers
Clever and sweet. However, there’s a community of people who have a funny hobby. They send a toy on a travelling holiday. Each toy has a tag with an identification number. There’s a list of hosts on a website. You activate a travel log and look for a host. The point is to let the toy travel and update its adventures on the website. Hosts post photographs, videos or write travel blogs. Most hosts keep the toy traveller for about a month and pass it on to another host.
So, if you have a toy which is in need of an adventure, why don’t you join the toy voyaging community? Send your favourite teddy or doll on a long holiday.
Does It Ring a Bell?
If you have seen the film Amelie and it all sounds familiar, you’re right. Do you remember the gnome who travelled the world? This is where the idea of toy voyaging came from.
Discuss
Do you think this is a nice/ cool/ strange/ boring idea? Why?
Answer the Questions
- What is Toy Voyaging?
- What must you do if you want to send your toy on the road?
- How did it originate?
Written by Jana Chrtianska who lets her dolls have adventures and go skiing.