Introducing my Inanimate Travel Companion

The budgerigar, commonly known as the budgie, is a beautiful variety of parakeet  native to Australia. Adults tend to be about the size of an adult human's hand and wear feathers of vibrant yellows and greens. They are the third most popular pet in the world (after dogs and cats), and are known for their ability to repeat human whistles and phrases.

Mine, however, is made of plastic.

I first saw this idea on a travel forum: somebody had traveled through Europe and taken pictures of his Lego Gandalf minifigure along the way. (Link for the curious) I thought it would be funny to bring a mascot of my own. So, I ended up at Toys R Us in the aisle with all the animal figurines and chose a budgie.

It's so adorable!

After a little budgerigar research, I found out that the figurine in question is female (source), and so I set to name it either something elaborate and French-sounding (think "Bernadette" or "Clementine") or something simple and amusingly unfit for a parakeet (think "Wanda" or "Dolores").

I decided on Evangeline. Evangeline the pocket-size plastic budgie.

The name Evangeline came from honoring local Cajun heritage and from one poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about Acadians falling in love while being run out of Canada. Also, in Disney's Princess and the Frog, the goofy Cajun firefly's romantic interest was a star he called Evangeline.

She will be more well-traveled than actual feathery budgies, and you'll see her in some of the pictures I post on here. Hopefully she'll come with me wherever I happen to travel, to Ireland and beyond!