It seems that wherever you go in the world every knows Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean. He must be one of the UK’s most successful exports. But do we want the world to think we all have teddy bears and are a bit pathetic? I think as long as we’re happy, who really cares. I wasn’t going to take Eric on holiday but he begged me – he doesn’t like fireworks and during the Spring Festival the whole city explodes. If I had know that this year the city government banned fireworks, I might have left him there. But as it turned out, he made it into my bag at the last minute.
As I travelled through the Philippines people would often ask whether I was travelling alone. Yes, I was. People would often look surprised by this and I would explain that I like travelling alone. After a week or so, fed up of the questions and not wanting to appear like ‘Billy no mates’, I started saying that I was on tour with my friend Eric and then he would make an appearance and cause much hilarity. 
I realised that Eric, far from being an embarrassment to be kept shut in my bag, should be used to my own benefit and I started to bring him out more often, especially when I wanted to break the ice and it worked. I would never have thought that a bear would be such a positive thing to travel with. Everywhere I went, people wanted to hold him, stroke him, cuddle him and he became a bit hit. However what I wasn’t prepared for was my new nickname…. Mrs Bean! OMG has it come to this, that I am now compared to the most pathetic Brit of all time albeit fictional.
The real test of Eric’ persuasive powers came in Coco Grove on Siquijor when I found that the trip to Apo Island was full to capacity and nothing I could say would persuade them to take me. I got Eric out and explained that I had no friends and therefore had to travel with a bear, and they laughed a lot of said – OK.
I have reassessed the idea of travelling with a bear. Far from being a hindrance, Eric became a really useful travelling companion and I would consider travelling with him again.