This is the story of Chiquita, the traveling monkey. It is not exclusively my story to tell, as she is not exclusively my monkey. (Note: I’m using other people’s photos here, with their permission. If your image has slipped into the batch without permission and you would like me to take it down, I’d be happy to. I’m sorry if I ganked the wrong photos!)

Chiquita lives in my office. For the most part, she sits on a shelf with some equipment, and sometimes she gets thrown at people. The story of how she ended up in the office is irrelevant at the moment. One day I stole her from my colleague Anne’s workspace, and stuffed her in Big Bertha. Chiquita was officially a stowaway.

Chiquita in the Dominican Republic

In the years since that first stowaway, Chiquita has become a legitimate traveler on the bulk of my adventures. But I’m not the only person Chi travels with – some other people in that office have started bringing her with them. She’s a proud traveler – from luxury resorts to rickety youth hostels, she’s seen it all.

Chiquita in Jerusalem

If memory serves me right (and it might not), Chiquita has been to Toronto, New York, Florida, Israel, Egypt, the Dominican Republic, Quebec City, Italy, England, Scotland, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. I don’t have photos from all of these adventures, but she’s popped up in some interesting places…

Chiquita at the New York Public Library

She has a knack for getting into places humans can’t manage, and spoiling otherwise lovely photos.

Chiquita à Paris

The logistics of traveling with a monkey aren’t too complicated. She’s quite happy to hang out in my backpack most of the day, waiting for her opportunity to emerge. She periodically complains about the lack of bathroom facilities in my daypack, and verges on getting me into trouble when I whip out my monkey.

Always monkeying around...

Sometimes she poses for photos alone.

Lonely Chiquita in Jerusalem

Chiquita in Jerusalem

Sometimes she hogs the spotlight.

Chiquita and the Sphinx

She even managed to sneak into Bethlehem, which as you can imagine, was no easy feat. Clearly I couldn’t leave her unaccompanied in that city.

Chiquita in Bethlehem

In Cambodia, Chiquita was able to realize a life-long dream: to meet other monkeys.

Chiquita meets other monkeys

She got into all kinds of monkey business at the temples of Angkor.

Chiquita at the Angkor temples in Cambodia

Rumor has it she parties hard, no matter where she goes.

Chiquita in Bangkok - drunk as usual

She ended up drinking all of my wine on a wine tour of Tuscany.

Chiquita in Tuscany

And nearly got us in trouble in Florence at the Duomo.

Chiquita at the Duomo

She doesn’t share my loathing of Venice, apparently. Traitor.

Chiquita in Venice

Chiquita played hide and go seek with me in Pompeii.

Chiquita in Pompeii

She even tried to meet the Pope. She didn’t get to meet him, but she’s been blessed by him!

Chiquita inside the Vatican

Chiquita goes to meet the Pope

She ran amok in Bangkok for a bit…

Chiquita at Wat Pho

Chiquita at Wat Pho again

Once more at Wat Pho

I really cannot say where Chiquita will turn up next. She relies on my whims, and at the moment there’s nothing concrete in the works. Her other travel companion is also working on other projects at the moment, so for the foreseeable future, Chiquita sits on a shelf, longingly staring in the void of the office space. Until next time…