Welcome Wednesday: What toy/object do you bring with you on your travels?

[Dave LIAO]

👋 G'day Atlassian Community adventurers!

It's time for another Welcome Wednesday, a chance for you to participate on the forums with questions and prompts that aren't necessarily about Atlassian tools. 🙃 (See past Welcome Wednesdays here.)

For this week's question: do you bring a toy or object with you on your travels and take photos of them? Yes - for those who know about it, that toy/object is commonly called a Flat Stanley (read about it on Wikipedia).

📣 Shout out in the comments if you've heard of this! Do you already do this? Planning on doing it? Comment away!

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🪿 I'll start! For those who don't know, I've been toting a stuffed duck the last 8-9 months, and now that duck has a baby:

Yes, the duckling was searching for friends at Refined's booth at Team '26 in Anaheim! I did not successfully win them a companion.

[Dave LIAO]

This post was not written with AI 😆

[Kit Friend]

I like how the line of measure for human now is "no AI would be this surreal" 😂 

I don't actually travel with him anymore as he's a bit precious and 'well loved' but this is Heartbeat Bear who has always been at home with me since I was a baby and has historically joined me for various travels. He features a beating heart (...which is also slightly creepy as an idea...) which my rather tired parents hoped might soothe me when I was tiny. It failed on that but we were otherwise inseparable for many years and he now takes pride of place in my oldest son's room where he can enjoy his retirement. 

He's accrued a number of special accessories over the years including:

- A full Mets tracksuit! Gifted by my much missed late godfather who was a wonderfully characterful artist

- A replacement heart - this was gifted by a lovely neighbour who then succumbed to cancer which makes it even sentimental for me to have with us. Appropriately her name was Kitty



There's clearly something in the genetic pool about soft toys - here's "Bear" and "Lola" (for the kinks fans! He's apparently a he... but this has varied over time) who are the companions for my sons and have also now lived in 2 continents :) 

[Dave LIAO]

@Kit Friend - haha, I had to mention it since the initial post's subject was "Welcome Wednesday: " 🫠

Oh wow, I've heard about toys like Heartbeat Bear, and a cursory web search shows me tons of like toys. 🧸

If you ever decide to bring one of them to a future conference, let me know! 🙌

The number of mascots with plush equivalents were in full force this past Atlassian Team conference, eh?

[Kit Friend]

There is a HIGH ratio of people to plushies at any given Atlassian gathering 😂 

I think it's nice tbh - whatever makes people smile :) 

Reminds me of: https://news.uq.edu.au/2026-02-viral-monkey-his-plushie-and-70-year-old-experiment-what-punch-tells-us-about-attachment-theory 

[Darryl Lee]

do you bring a toy or object with you on your travels and take photos of them?

Uh. Yes. :-}

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KQvEjpshQy7Kz2Ke8

[Dave LIAO]

🛹

[Anne Saunders]

Hi, Darryl! I took one of those photos! :D

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Darryl Lee 

That's cool photos. I was trying Skateboard as young Person. Never had enough time. Well sometimes other people are inspiration. 😊

[Kythera]

SQUEE!! I actually did win a purple axolotl from that claw machine (sorry @Rob Hean I'm keeping that one). 

I have a couple of plushies that I've taken with me on various trips. It depends on where I'm going, really. I brought Murray the purple monster with me to Team. ^_^ 

[Dave LIAO]

Any reason?

I brought little duck with me because she could actually fit in my bag 😂 

The big duck could not make a cameo this time. 😆 

[Trudy Claspill]

Several years ago on a road trip through the northern states (Idaho, Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana) I took pictures with two glittery lizard toys I got from an arcade many years ago. I was not a good lizard mom though. At one stop I set them atop my car for a photo and failed to get one back inside the car before we drove off. I didn't realize one was missing until many hours later. 

[Dave LIAO]

🦎 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Trudy Claspill 

I'd love to chat with you about the United States sometime if we get a chance. My husband is from America, but I've always been fascinated by the country and it's been on my bucket list. I've heard so many funny stories about it.

[Matt Doar _Adaptavist_]

I usually travel with a comfort object that belonged to my daughter as a newborn. She's nearly thirty now, but I like having something family related with me

[Dave LIAO]

Aw, love it!

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Matt Doar _Adaptavist_ 

My parents sometimes treat me like a small child, regardless of how old I am. It seems like they always see us that way. I find that awesome because the world is so demanding right now, and it's good to feel that some people don't need to work hard and can just be small.😊

[Chris Rainey]

I carry some kind of fidget toy with me everywhere that I go. At Team, I had a fidget spinner with me that I messed with constantly. I'm sure it was annoying at times, but it dramatically improved how much I was able to focus during sessions and conversations.

That being said, if anyone has recommendations for any quieter fidget toys, I'm all ears. :)

[Dave LIAO]

What's your current fidget toy look like?

I got a ScriptRunner clicky key toy, but definitely wouldn't bring that to an event 😆 ...unless it was for keyboard enthusiasts

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Dave LIAO 

Haha great Topic.

I have a Plushy Shark 🦈 

[Anne Saunders]

I travel with Frederick the Flamingo, pictured in St Croix, USVI - though he was at Team.

I DID take Taco (the Trello spokes-husky) all over Anaheim, including to Bash!     

[Barbara Szczesniak]

I have 15 nieces and nephews and remember Flat Stanley making an appearance at my parents' house several times. My parents were young enough then to play along and took pictures everywhere. 

Personally, I've never travelled with a toy. I have had a few, though, whose job it was to guard the house while I was gone. 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Barbara Szczesniak 

I know what Flat Stanley is, but when you translate it to Polish, it sounds pretty horrific and suggests something not proper. 😅

[Vinod]

Interesting fact I got to know today. Thanks for sharing!

[Natalie Beiler]

Oh my goodness, fond memories of Flat Stanley! I don't travel with anything.

17 years ago I was part of the IT team installing and testing the infrastructure and end user devices in a new hospital. During the build, we had open access to areas like the pharmacy, the lab, the operating suites, the rooftop, etc. that would soon be restricted. Our Flat Stanley was a large jar of pretzels with a wig and a lovely strand of purple beads. After the build completed, we had a celebration with a slide show of all that we accomplished and our lovely Flat Stanley visiting every nook and cranny of the building. So many fond memories but not pictures...