When you head out on a trip, do you bring along a little token or keepsake?

The idea of seeing the world together with LEGO minifigures
actually comes from British photographer Andrew Whyte.
Living in the seaside city of Portsmouth, England,
Andrew takes his photographer minifigure with him wherever he goes.

For example, to make a phone call

Or to go camping outdoors

Or drive a Beetle to the beach for a weekend surf session

I love his creativity so muchthat I almost want to post every single photo here.You’ll find the link to his full collection at the end of this article.

A few years ago, I came across Andrew’s work and was blown away.

As a fellow LEGO fan, I started wondering:

could I bring minifigures along and let them join my own discoveries of the world?

Seoul

In the fall of 2014, my company sent me to Seoul for new-hire training.

It was also the first time I took my minifigures abroad.

At a weekend street market in Seoul, we went looking for kimchi and fried chicken.

In front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, we took the standard tourist snapshot.

Gyeongbokgung was the largest palace of the Joseon dynasty.

At the time, my feeling was: once you’ve been to the Forbidden City, this place feels a bit like a small courtyard in a village.

A little romantic moment.

These minifigures came from the first Modular Buildings set I saved up for: 10221 Grand Emporium.

The two of them were window mannequins, so I guess this counts as an office romance.

A confession of love in late autumn in Seoul — like Autumn in My Heart.

Taipei

For New Year’s at the end of 2015,
I took the “splash brothers” to Taipei.

Elephant Mountain at daybreak, with 101 in the distance.

(Looking back now, I’m shocked by how terrible the image quality was.)

Then we had soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung beneath Taipei 101.

One minifigure is a window washer working at a department store.

The other is an ice cream vendor at the shop entrance.

Saving up for an out-of-town trip~

A Rail Journey Across Eurasia

In the summer of 2019, I took a rail trip across Europe and Asia.

I brought the whole tour group along to check in on train K23, the sister train to the one featured in Lost in Russia.
Traveling as a group really is more fun.

As we sped across the great grasslands of Inner Mongolia,

everyone couldn’t help but stare out the window at the scenery.
For some reason, the song “Borrow Another 500 Years from Heaven” started playing in my head.

By Lake Baikal,

it was a shame I didn’t have a guitar prop.
Otherwise, the minifigure could have sung and played for the girl he loves:
“where the spring breeze is intoxicating, where the grass is lush and green.”

In Moscow, at Cathedral Square inside the Kremlin,
my mentor was about to get married, so I took a photo to send to him
and wish him a happy wedding.

Japan

Then I went to Tokyo during the quietest cherry blossom season.

In front of Toshogu Shrine in Ueno Park,

why not hold a wedding beneath the cherry blossoms?

These two minifigures are my favorites.

They’ve traveled with me the most.
I can’t just leave them sitting in the department store display window all the time.

I still don’t understand why the woman is so much taller than the man.

At Kodai-ji Temple in Kyoto,
in front of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Kita-no-Mandokoro Nene,
we were showing off a little PDA too.

On the newlyweds’ honeymoon, they went to Hakone for hot springs
and had Owakudani’s famous black eggs.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, gazing out at Mt. Fuji together.

Being single is a bit rougher — you can only face the whole world on your own.

As long as your heart is still in it, the dream is still alive.
This world is just too rich and wonderful.
You have to zoom in to really see it.

One regret is that I often forget to bring my minifigures with me when I go out,
so I’ve missed plenty of wonderful foreign scenes.
From now on, I’ll try harder and not be afraid of the extra hassle.

What keepsake do you bring along for travel check-ins?
Leave a comment and share your photos with me.

About

This article comes from a friend’s WeChat public account, and the author is Basically Harmless. If you’re interested, feel free to follow.

Also,

  • Andrew Whyte’s collection, Legography: https://www.longexposures.co.uk/legography
  • Instagram: @andrew_whyteee
  • Twitter: @LongExposures