Mr. Bee Travels The World

It wasn’t just the two of us on our travels around the world. We had a stowaway who tucked himself into Lana’s backpack but managed to find his way out for a photo op whenever we got somewhere touristy.  The story behind Mr. Bee is that he comes from Alice Birney School (home of the Birney Bees!) in San Diego, where a certain friend of ours is currently enrolled in second grade. And so we thought what better way to introduce the world to Alice Birney and vice versa than by taking Mr. Bee along with us. 

Mr. Bee had his own share of adventures, including a flight he took when a sudden gust of wind in front of the Sphinx in Egypt sent him down off a ledge and into the sand. Thankfully one of the boys who takes shots of tourists kissing the Sphinx hopped down and retrieved him for us for a small fee.  We’re glad that we were able to finish the journey with Mr. Bee in September, driving him home to San Diego via the Grand Canyon.  Mr. Bee was an excellent traveling companion, keeping to his spot in the luggage, never getting lost, and being light and flexible. Mr. Bee was such an undemanding companion that there were times when we forgot to whip him out for a photo shoot, and some places that, while interesting, weren’t particularly indicative of a place. But we still believe Mr. Bee got a good flavor of our trip, and he added some fun himself.  He also inspired chuckles from onlookers in many different cultures.

Somehow, now that we’ve returned Mr. Bee home to San Diego, it feels like we’ve finally finished our travels too. At least for now.

Here’s a slideshow, for a slower-paced, silent version:

Mr. Bee Travels The World