A woman is taking her pet hamster’s ashes on a trip through some of the European cities she claimed he visited when he was alive.

In reality, Spud never left his home in Birmingham.

But owner Lisa Murray-Lang made him cardboard cutouts of exciting locations to play in, and now she’s taking his remains to the real spots.

Lisa, 47, already spent £3,500 on scattering some of Spud’s ashes in Waikiki, Hawaii, last March.

But she kept some of them to put in a special necklace so her beloved pet will be able to accompany her on some travelling this year.

The graphic designer said: ‘The idea is that we’re tracing his “paw-steps” and actually going to the places that he “visited” during his lifetime.’

Lisa and her husband William, 66, are headed to Paris in September, London in November and Amsterdam in December – or ‘Hamsterdam’, as the couple call it.

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This is ‘the most important’ destination on the itinerary as the set Lisa made of the Dutch capital ‘was always a favourite’ for Spud.

The couple will also be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary and they think the trip with Spud is a ‘really special way to do that’.

Lisa said: ‘It’s a lovely way to keep celebrating his life, and a lot of it is actually being funded by the sales of my book about him. So in a way, it’s like an anniversary gift from Spud.’

The whole journey is inspired by Lisa’s book A Year in Lockdown #BeLikeSpud, which featured pictures of Spud visiting various holiday destinations.

Lisa said her book also saw a boom in sales following Spud’s sad passing last year – and that people now take copies with them abroad.

She added: ‘I still have people send me stories about their children reading the book to their own hamsters.

‘I know one young boy is taking his copy to Portugal on a holiday to this year, so it’s like Spud is still travelling.

‘It’s been amazing to celebrate his life this last year with all of these trips. I’m not sure what I’ll do next – but there are still places he “visited” that I’d love to see.’

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