Okay, in case you're wondering who or what "Tilley" is, here's the story...
It's a hat!
I know that doesn't seem very exciting, but this is no ordinary hat. I bought it for my travels because I was sure I would be in extreme weather – from the stifling heat of Singapore, to the nearly constant rain during the "rainy seasons" of Southeast Asian countries. Tilley offers protection from both, while promising to keep my head cool and comfortable at the same time.
It comes from Canada, though I bought it at an REI store in Austin, Texas. My point of departure from the United States was my sister's place in Kokomo, Indiana. When she saw Tilley, she laughed – in her words, "It doesn't flatter the wearer." She speculated that the name came from someone with a lisp saying, "You look toe tilly."
So she came up with the idea for this page of my web site: a tribute to the Traveling Tilley. Browse on and enjoy...
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Deja vu... Is there one Tilley or two? Onojo, Japan. |
Tilley as a fashion accessory. Ishigaki Island, Japan. |
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East meets west. Taipei, Taiwan. |
Sitting atop a ciza(sp?). Guangzhou, China. |
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Modeled by our friendly map and guidebook vendor, Hue (yes, the same name as the city). Hanoi, Vietnam. |
Tilley spinning on the finger of... what? a Mandarin? Anyway, it was "guarding" a pogoda. Hue, Vietnam. |
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I think Tilley adds a bold new look to this familiar figure. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. |
Tilley traveling in style on the Oriental Express. Butterworth, Malaysia to Bangkok, Thailand. |
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Hanging out at the base of a very large, very old tree. Angkor Wat, Cambodia. |
Teila, Kumiko's camel for the day, looks quite sporting in a Tilley. Manvar Desert Camp, India. |
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Whereas, it is simply dwarfed by the elephant that carried us to the Amber Fort and Palace. Jaipur, India. |
Here he is braving 35 to 40 knot winds. Santorini, Greece. |
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Tilley standing in for a gladiator's helmet. Rome, Italy. |
Tilley trying to keep my head warm in the coldest (and highest) point in our trip. Mont Blanc, Italy/France. |
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Tilley supervises the purchase of our bicycles to go with the camper. Solothurn, Switzerland. |
Tilley adds a whole new color to the Salzburg Bull. Salzburg, Austria. |
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Tilley gets a little culture. Vienna, Austria. |
Just hanging around at Epidaurus Theatre. Greece. |
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And Tilley found this little buckaroo on the playscape at McDonald's. Lauf, Germany. |
This boy is not looking as happy as our little buckaroo. Maybe he didn't get a Happy Meal. Oslo, Norway. |
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Tilley doesn't quite fit the head of this silhouette that is, I assume, marking the site of a fatal accident. Bordeaux, France. |
Tilley lends a helping hand to this automated flag-man. Antwerp, Belgium. |
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Expressing his disdain for the straight line, Gaudi once said, "If you can find a straight line in any of my work, I'll eat my hat." But here, one of his creations does it for him. Barcelona, Spain. |
Even the trolls of Norway wanted to keep their heads cool and dry. Bergen, Norway. |
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Here Tilley does his civic duty by helping keep pigeons off the statue of a local hero. Chamonix, France. |
And arguably the sexiest Tilley photo of all. Solothurn, Switzerland. |
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And here's a story about one of Tilley's adventures...
I was in Interlaken, Switzerland and had decided to go hiking with Neal, a Canadian I met at the hostel. We took a twenty minute train ride up into the mountains where we were to begin our hike.
We had chosen one that wouldn't be too strenuous. We were to take a lift to the top of one of the peaks in the Jungfrau region and enjoy, as the guidebook described it: "a hike that follows a gradual descent for a duration of about two hours, affording breathtaking views along the way."
Well, as luck would have it, it was too early in the season for the lift to be in operation. So the hike we settled on turned out to be quite grueling indeed – a very steep ascent for a couple of hours, followed by an equally steep descent back down into the next valley.
For the first part of our hike, we were alternating between shadows and sunlight. It was while we were negotiating one of the sunny sections – mostly facing the bright afternoon sun – that I started wondering: what's wrong with this picture? That bright sunlight shouldn't be bothering me so much since I'm wearing my hat.
Wait a minute... My hat! Where's my hat? Then it dawned on me – when I boarded the train in Interlaken, I had placed Tilley on the overhead rack so I wouldn't have to hold it. That's where it stayed as I left the train and began my hike.
Oh no! Not Tilley. I'd rather lose just about anything else – but not Tilley. Oh well, no use worrying about it now. It's gone, and that's that.
I decided that I would ask at the train station when we finished our hike to see if some kind person might have turned it in, or maybe the conductor himself found it. But since we were doing a different hike, we ended up returning from a different city and, as such, from a different train station.
I brooded about it all the way back to Interlaken. When we arrived, just on a whim, I decided to ask at the ticket counter in the station. The agent directed me to the Lost and Found counter around the corner. Lost and Found? What a concept! I approached the clerk behind the glass and inquired about my lost hat. He searched for a minute or so and came back to the counter holding my lost article.
So for a nominal Lost and Found fee, I was reunited with my favorite hat.
