Clockwise from top left: Machu Pichu, Peru; Havana, Cuba; Chichen Itza, Mexico; Maldives
For the past eight years, I have traveled the world solo with my little photogenic gnome. Alfred’s been my favorite travel buddy since our paths crossed on the garden aisle of a supermarket in Sydney. Since then, we’ve been to five continents together and countless road trips in the U.S.
The idea to photograph a gnome did not come from Travelocity or the French film Amélie. (I saw the movie years later.) It started at 6 a.m. in June of 2006 when I picked up my best friend from high school for an East Coast road trip to Maine from my hometown in South Carolina. I noticed Harvey on the porch when we were leaving. He was laying on his side and covered in a layer of spider webs. I instantly knew he was coming with us.
The original gnome Harvey (who closely resembles Happy the dwarf from Snow White) in Maine in July 2006.
Some frat boys stole Harvey off my friend’s porch a few years later. My first gnome was Albert. He met a tragic end in Niagara Falls. My second gnome was Walt. He was about 18 inches tall with a little bird on his head. When I moved to Australia in 2008, there was no room for him in my suitcase so he went to live with my nephew. I was gnomeless for a few months until that day in Sydney when I stumbled upon a little row of travel-sized gnomes. (Alfred is 8.5 inches tall.)
Alfred barely survived a traumatic experience at the Leh airport in Northern India in 2011. As I was being patted down by an airport security guard, the luggage conveyer belt got jammed, and my bag tumbled to the ground. Alfred was in pieces, and I cried the entire one-hour flight to Delhi. I quickly learned the Hindi word for “superglue” and went off to find a market. My amazing friend, Justin, helped glue him back together. (REAL friends stay up late to help you glue your gnome back together even though you have to be up at 5 a.m. to go to the Taj Mahal.) When I got back to the States, I went straight to a hardware store and bought some spray foam insulation to make Alfred a bit sturdier.
Justin helps glue Alfred back together in Agra after his tragic airport accident in India.
Alfred now travels in a $40 indestructible Pelican case. I keep a 4×6 photo collage (like the first image in this post) with him just in case I need to provide explanation at the airport. He is pretty popular among the airport security staff. In Costa Rica, one of the guards asked me to open the case and called all the other guards over to meet Alfred. They all flooded me with questions: “What’s his name?” “Where’s he been?” Meanwhile, my friends were all convinced I was being arrested.
Alfred’s Pelican Travel Case
I started photographing Alfred everywhere I went but mostly in places with iconic backgrounds that could be easily recognized. I also started making gnome Christmas cards for my friends every year and a few other holiday-themed cards (Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.) that I sold at art shows occasionally. Every year it takes hours and hours to make, write and mail all my Christmas cards to my amazing friends who are scattered across the globe. My goal is always to make them smile, and it’s my favorite part of the holidays. Everyone needs a gnome in their mailbox!
Most of all, I hope Alfred inspires people to travel. If a tiny green gnome can travel the world, why can’t you?
To see more of Alfred’s adventures, check out his travel gallery!
