When Jeff and I travel, we usually bring along a stuffed animal to take photos with.  It’s something fun that makes the pictures feel more personal (and spares us from awkward selfies in every frame). We started our travels with Owlie, who we took to Cabo in 2010.  Due to an incident in the resort pool, Owlie was retired.

In 2011, we found a sock monkey in Orlando, FL.  We named Travel Monkey and he joined us on every adventure from 2011 through 2020.  Travel Monkey was a race track monkey.  He spent lots of time in the paddock and pit lane.  He even went on the trip back to Florida in 2012 to pick up an RV to drive back to Massachusetts.  Trips to Memphis, St Maarten, several One Lap races – Travel Monkey was there for it all.  He was even with us on our first trip to Mazatlan.

But in 2020, there was a fire in the RV where Travel Monkey was staying. Sadly, he didn’t survive.

Fast forward to Tuesday, April 19, 2022. We were on our way to Japan for our first tandem bike tour, flying from Phoenix through L.A. and on to Osaka. We knew we wanted a new stuffed companion—but after weeks of searching, we hadn’t found the right one. Still, we kept our eyes open, even browsing airport gift shops along the way.

While walking to our gate in the Phoenix airport, something caught my eye: a bright red stuffie perched on a high shelf in a bookstore window. The color stopped me instantly. Red is Jeff’s favorite color, and our biking gear is red and black, so the little guy already had potential. I got closer… and realized it was a red dragon holding a taco. I laughed. It was the perfect size—not too big for photos, not too small to get lost on the bike.

I pointed it out to Jeff. His immediate response:
“No.”

So we kept walking.

But as we circled back for coffee, we passed the shop again, and I blurted out:
“He’s holding a taco!“

That got Jeff’s attention. I explained that we live in Mexico, so the taco was a perfect little touch. And since we were heading to Japan, a dragon felt like the ideal animal to represent the trip. And again… he was red.

I told Jeff:
“If he’s still there when we walk back, I’m buying him.”

He was. So I did.

While I was in line, Jeff asked, “So what’s his name going to be?” We both agreed it needed a Spanish twist—something to reflect the taco-holding, Mexico-living side of his personality. The date was April 19, 2022.  It was a Tuesday, after all… and in Spanish, Tuesday is Martes.

And just like that, Martin was born—named for tacos, Tuesdays, and a tribute to the red dragon who made us smile in an airport bookstore.