Meet Greg the Gecko!!!
He’s a gecko we have befriended and has been with us in every country since Greece. No, we do not have a pet lizard that we carry in our backpacks. But play along with us if you will.
We met Greg in Greece. Our teammate Ashley actually introduced us to him. I was walking down the hall to our room when suddenly I hear a scream and look up… Ashley is standing just outside our door and tells me there was a lizard that ran into our room. I thought to myself, “Great, now I’m going to have to flush out this lizard and try to catch it and throw it out.” A few days went by and no sign of the lizard until one day we left our patio door open and flies came pouring into our room. We left for dinner, flies still buzzing around our bed. We return to find our room completely fly free and the lizard chilling on the ceiling with a very full and satisfied look on his face.
Flies had been an issue for us in Greece so it was a pleasant surprise to find the room fly free. When we woke up in the morning the lizard was gone and we didn’t see him again for a few days. We once again left the door open and our room was invaded by flies. That night we get home from work and sure enough all flies are gone and Greg is chilling over our bed. It was then that I decided he could stay and be our “pet” as long as he kept our room a “no fly zone”.
This is a big deal for me because I am one of those that has to have a nice safe controlled environment around me to be able to sleep. Having a lizard running free range in our room is not exactly that controlled for me. But like I’ve learned to do on the race I found a way to make the abnormal normal. Naming him may have just been a coping mechanism for me, but it stuck and has carried on to every country since. Malaysia, Thailand, and now Myanmar have all had geckos running wild in our kitchens, bedrooms, and anywhere else you can think of. We’ve learned to live with Greg and he helps with pest control. We’re excited to see how many more countries Greg travels with us and hopefully he’ll finish his race strong!
