Hi, everyone! My name is Christoph. You’ve probably seen me around Wanderlustkind, and you can read a bit more about me here. I’ve accompanied Wanderboy and Wandergirl on many-a-journey, from their month in Italy four years ago, to their time in London and beyond last year.
They’ve shared a lot with you about their thoughts on travel, but what is it like for me, a little earless elephant?
One of my biggest concerns about leaving the comforts of home was making new friends. I know a lot of travellers feel worried they’ll get lonely on the road. I had WB, WG, and Leonard, but I wanted part of travelling to include not only trying and seeing new things, but also meeting new people (or elephants).
You might think that elephants are only in Africa and Asia, but you’d be surprised! Elephants like to travel too, and I made plenty of pachydermite friends during my journies.
In Montreal, I met Herbert, who lived in our hostel. When WB and WG wanted some alone time, we would hang out. He even taught me a little bit of French: “Je suis un petit elephant bleu.” “Répétez, s’il vous plaît – je n’ai pas des oreilles!”
Herbert was one of the few elephants I met who was small like me, but it wasn’t too hard to make friends with other, larger elephants. They might be intimidating, but most elephants (and people) are friendly if you give them a chance. Just introduce yourself, and tell them you’re a traveller, hoping to explore the area. And if they don’t want to chat? No biggie – some elephants just like to travel alone.
This guy let us hang out on his trunk for a while, but he was really popular. We had to wait to take a photo with him!
I had a little crush on this pretty Dutch elephant, with her lovely blonde braids.
This was another very popular elephant! Lots of people were taking his picture.
Sometimes there weren’t any elephants to be seen, but it gave me a chance to get to know some other creatures around the world. You’ll be surprised how much in common you might have with someone who seems so different. And it’s fun to learn about how different folk live!
These turtles in Florence are kind of like elephants – they like the land and playing in the water! But they are also very different. They found my trunk peculiar, whereas I found it neat that they carry their homes on their backs.
I loved this goat’s cool hairdo! He lives in Rome (Italians are so stylish!).
Swans aren’t very friendly, and pigeons can be a bit pushy, but there are lots of birds everywhere to befriend!
(en Paris)
(or their cousins, at least! top: in Barcelona; bottom: in Highgate Cemetery)
(top: Cardiff Castle; bottom: Natural History Museum)
I learned a lot from the different creatures and people I met on my travels. Some will be friends forever, some won’t; but if you put yourself out there with an open mind, you definitely don’t have to worry about being lonely abroad!
