Have Teddy Bear, Will Travel

My wife has three stuffed animals, which, therefore, means I have three stuffed animals. It's admittedly something I've had to get used to, but as my wife points out, at least she only has three. Point taken.

As it turns out, ABC News reports that quite a few guys also have stuffed animals, and they're taking them on the road. Travelodge, the British hotel chain, did a survey of 6,000 Britons and found that 25 percent of males take cuddly critters with them on business trips.

Upon learning this, one of the first questions that sprang to mind is, why did Travelodge even do this type of survey? As the article notes, in the past 12 months, the company has "reunited more than 75,000 bears with the owners," so they decided to look into this stuffed phenomenon further. Fascinating.

As to why men bring them along, it's because the travel mascots (My friend calls his stuffed armadillo "Armand.") both remind them of home and help "fill a cuddle-void left by distant partners." Aside from road trips, 10 percent of single men surveyed "hide their teddy bear when their girlfriend stays over" and nearly 15 percent of married men "hide their teddy bear in the wardrobe or under the bed when any family and friends come to visit."

Part of me can't help wondering if this is a particularly British phenomenon. At the same time, I feel like I've just discovered some sort of mysterious male subculture, or maybe it's just men being more comfortable embracing their feminine sides — you know, so long as others don't know about it.

Photo by kalebdf via Flickr.