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Teddy Bear Needs a Vacation? Send Him on a Luxury Trip, While You Stay at Home

by Honey Berk (Subscribe to Honey Berk's posts)
May 19th 2010 5:00PM

22Comments

Filed under: Weird But True

Would you send your child's teddy bear on the trip of a lifetime? Credit: Michal Cizek, AFP / Getty Images

We've heard of parents shelling out their hard-earned dough for teddy bear clothing, accessories and even tea parties, but spending nearly $200 to send your child's favorite furry friend on a "luxury" trip? Well, that just takes the honey cake.

That's right -- tired teddy bears and stressed out soft toys can now leave their troubles behind for a whirlwind tour of northern Finland, topped off by a visit with Santa Claus. You read that right: This is strictly a trip for Teddy. Human? You'll have to stay at home.

Tour company Teddy Tours Lapland bills the expedition as "a trip that you and your cuddly friend will definitely remember for years to come," and offers a choice of either standard or luxury journeys for Teddy, each of which is led by a professional tour guide.

For an additional fee, Teddy Tours will provide a new bear, should your child not want to send her furry friend abroad. And sorry, but no matter how much your child wants to accompany his stuffed friend, the company's website notes, "people or living pets may not participate on these trips."

Extra cash just burning a hole in your pocket? The Standard Journey, which costs about $137, features a hotel stay in the town of Rovaniemi and a tour of the town's top sites, including the library, town hall and Lappia Hall Theatre, all designed by notable architect Alvar Aalto -- which we can only guess is aimed at pleasing even the most discerning stuffed animal.

Then, it's on to Santa Claus Village, where Teddy visits the Santa Claus Main Post Office to send a postcard home to his owner before crossing the Arctic Circle -- for which he receives an award certificate. At the end of the journey, Teddy visits the Santa Claus Office, where he meets with St. Nick for a photo op -- and receives a special gift to take home.

For about $50 more, Teddy can embark on the Luxury Journey, which, in the winter, adds a trip to the Arctic Circle Reindeer Farm where he can feed Santa's reindeer, and a snowmobile safari that offers ice fishing on the frozen waterway and soothing hot chocolate by the campfire. In the summer, the extras include a scenic horseback ride, lunch by the campfire and berry picking in season.

According to Teddy Tours, every moment of the bear's visit is ceremoniously photographed and filmed, so he will return home with a stack of vacation photos and videos to share with the family.

Seriously. And, here we thought garden gnomes were the only inanimate objects who got to indulge in frivolous world travel.

What do you think -- would you pay to send your child's favorite toy on holiday?

Related: Would You Let a Robot Teddy Bear Nurse Care For Your Child?

Tags: santa claus, SantaClaus, teddy bear tour, TeddyBearTour, toys, vacation

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