Travelog for: Frank

Frank had just turned 39 and his life was changing....

Frank didn't get out much.  Actually Frank didn't get out at all.  He had become quite excited when he was rescued from a cramped cardboard box in an attic 10 years ago, but his little heart sank when he realised he was only to be stuck on a shelf in the spare bedroom.  While he was grateful that his shelf was too high for the dogs to reach, he longed to roam the hills he could see from his window.

Then one day, Travel Ted came to visit.  Travel Ted was a Toy Voyager and he went everywhere.  Frank knew his life would never be the same again. 

As Frank sat at the computer, registering on the Toy Voyagers website, he started to plan his first adventure.

Its a great big world, and Frank is only a little bear and he was a bit scared about leaving home for the first time.  The dogs told him that they went on adventures every day, so he thought he would join them.

He saw fields and trees and sheep, but he didn't like the way the dogs looked at him.  He had seen other toys savagely beaten and tortured by the dogs, and began to worry that they were interested in more than broadening his horizons.  Thankfully he had the keys to Moira's car and was able to make a quick getway.

Frank thought it might be safer to explore his home town without the dogs.  It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and so he sneaked out for a walk along the River Nith.  On his way home he met a scruffy pony that looked like it might be part cow.  Travel Ted had warned him that ponies eat teddy bears, so he was relieved that this one didn't appear to even notice him.

Frank was pretty lonely.  He missed the company of other bears.  He had it on good authority that today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic....so he decided to go down to the woods.

He hunted everywhere.  He found the picnic table, but there were no bears anywhere.  Never mind.  It was a lovely day and Frank thought Mabie Forest was beautiful.  He found out that Mabie has loads of walking trails, some of them several miles long.  Mabie is also part of the 7 Stanes mountain biking circuit, with tons of scary cycling routes.  Frank opted for a leisurely stroll through the trees instead before going home to tell the dogs they were mistaken about the whole teddy bears picnic thing.

Frank hadn't been out in months.  He had a long hard talk with Moira who promised to make up for ignoring him.  Frank made it clear he would not be satisfied with another walk around Dumfries...he demanded a proper adventure.

Moira obliged, and as Frank lay in his sleeper compartment that night he wondered what excitement a weekend in London might bring.....

Having had a good night's sleep on the sleeper train, Frank arrived in London refreshed and eager for adventure.

His first stop was the British Museum.  He wandered around for hours looking at artefacts from all over the world.  Seeing all these wonderful things from such diverse cultures got Frank all excited about being a Toy Voyager...and he started to think about all the places he would like to visit.  He wondered what on earth these things were doing here in Britain rather than being in their own lands.  Moira whispered something about colonialism, but he didn't really understand her. 

He couldn't get near the Egyptian mummies for all the children oggling the gruesome contents of ancient tombs, but he loved the huge Easter Island head.  There was one just like it at home on the kitchen window.  Frank had always been a bit scared of him, but having learned about the sad demise of the islanders, Frank vowed to make more of an effort to get to know him when he got home....

Frank thought he would drop in on his old friend Travel Ted while he was in London, but was told that Ted lived in a strange land called "South of the River".  Since this was clearly out of bounds, he opted for a trip on a riverboat instead.

He saw the London Eye, which looked nothing like an eye at all.  He sailed past the Houses of Parliament and got quite excited when he learned that Tony Bear worked here...but apparently he didn't get that bit quite right.

Being very conscious of environmental issues, Frank offered to help take the household bottles and cardboard to the local recycling centre. 

As he busied himself with sorting the brown bottles from the green, Frank's attention was grabbed by the array of discarded toys and teddys displayed on the perimeter fence.  A little tear came to his glass eye as he saw all the abandoned toys...Frank realised that he could easily have been one of them himself.  At that moment he decided what he had to do - LIBERATE THE TOYS! 

He knew he couldn't take them all, and felt a little bit like Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice as he carefully untied three little toys.  As they huddled together on the roof of the car, Frank promised them a new home, a bath, and an exciting future as toy voyagers....