<\/p>\n

There have been a lot of gnomes in my life lately, which isn\u2019t a reference to our new contributor, Jenna, my weak-ass backyard garden, or my wife\u2014even though she\u2019s the source of all this gnome debauchery.<\/p>\n

She had just assumed I was familiar with the movie Amelie<\/em>. I\u2019m not . . yet. I\u2019ve recently learned that I should apologize for not having seen this movie, and should see it immediatly to better justify yet another bout of child-like giddiness that erupted when I just recently met the Sean Connery of gnomes \u2014\u00a0the Travelocity Gnome<\/a>. The actual <\/em>Travelocity Gnome. I mean, Amelie was so 2001, anyway.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a simple person who likes to take things at face value \u2014 it hasn\u2019t burned me yet \u2014 but I had just assumed the marketing A-Team behind Travelocity\u2019s gnome campaign struck a chord with the public. It happens. I was totally ignorant of the backstory. That happens, too (too often).<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, my wife and I kicked off the summer with a road trip down the California coast to visit friends, check out San Francisco, and catch some live music. It was her (informed) idea to take part in what is known as the \u201cTraveling Gnome Prank<\/a>\u201d: steal someone\u2019s gnome, take pictures of it while on your trip, and return the gnome with pictures afterwards. It is a little known fact that these gnomes sometimes return with a tan, a wife and even some baby gnomes.<\/p>\n

So we did that, and I have to be honest, Augustus P. Gnome \u2014 as we named him \u2014 really injected some fun into the couple thousand miles of highway.<\/p>\n

It was fun scheming the next picture. At one point, I was setting Augustus on the grass of Alamo Square, just in front of San Francisco\u2019s iconic Painted Ladies\u00a0for a shot. A passerby saw me trying to figure it out and asked if she could help.\u00a0\u00a0She held him for the\u00a0picture,\u00a0we exchanged pleasentries, but it was\u00a0her parting words that have spurred this entire post, \u201cI love Amelie, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, I met back up with\u00a0my wife, \u201cThis woman just said, ‘I love Amelie<\/em>, too.’ What was that all about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. His name is Augustus, not Amelie<\/em>. He\u2019s clearly a man gnome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you not seen<\/em> Amelie<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s Amelie<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

And after a spirited bout of insults from both sides, I left Alamo Square a much more rounded traveler.<\/p>\n

I’ve gathered that the gnome sub-plot in Amelie<\/em>\u00a0is this: A tricky girl is determined to better the lives of the people in her life. She swipes her dad\u2019s garden gnome and sends it off with a stewardess friend.\u00a0The dad receives photos in the mail of the gnome from destinations and was eventually encouraged to do some traveling himself. Thus, Amelie’s goal for her father was achieved.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a few weeks and I\u2019m riding my bike to the Montana Folk Festival. I get a picture text from my wife that looks like she re-stole Augustus and took a photo in front of one of the performances. With a shotty track record of travel-gnome related information, I didn\u2019t know if that was part of the prank.<\/p>\n

I met her in as she watched\u00a0some traditional Korean dancers, chilling with a gnome that isn\u2019t Augustus. Instantly, I’m mad: She\u2019s gnome cheating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you like to introduce me to your new friend?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDude! This the Travelocity Gnome! The one on all the commercials! No lie!\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out, Travelocity is one of the largest festival sponsors, and brought their mascot to the event.<\/p>\n

I tried to imagine all of the places he\u2019s been. Then it hit me: There’s only one thing I really had to do. Perhaps it was the beautiful day, the festival atmosphere, the music dancing on a high altitude breeze, but I dug deep into my backpack for a cold PBR, opened it and said the first cheers that came to mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s to you, Travelocity Gnome. One bad-ass traveler. Then, with my Amelie<\/em> research now paying off, I got serious, \u201cOh, and to inspiration. Cheers!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, I had to drink his beer for him.<\/p>\n

By Jon Wick<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon lives in Butte, Montana, spending most of his time on skis or bikes; sometimes both. He began travel writing while teaching in Korea and is currently pursuing his Master\u2019s Degree in Technical Communication at Montana Tech. Jon has begun writing his first book, <\/em>The Story of Will, whose movie rights are still (very) available. Catch more of Jon at TheJonWickproject.wordpress.com<\/a>. (@ExpedJon<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There have been a lot of gnomes in my life lately, which isn\u2019t a reference to our new contributor, Jenna, my weak-ass backyard garden, or my wife\u2014even though she\u2019s the source of all this gnome debauchery. She had just assumed I was familiar with the movie Amelie. I\u2019m not . . yet. I\u2019ve recently learned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,2562],"tags":[2343,2341,1414,2342,2340,2339,2338],"yoast_head":"\n