Grieving wife travels the world with cardboard husband

A Taylors Lakes woman has gone to great lengths to deliver on a promise she made to her late husband.

Michelle Bourke and her husband Paul had always planned to travel the world, but sadly Paul died from melanoma before they had the chance.

But that hasn’t stopped Michelle from taking her late husband on her travels.

She has a life sized cardboard cutout of him, which she has taken on trips to the United States, France, England, Ireland and Scotland.

The idea came to her shortly before Paul’s death three years ago.

“He actually asked me ‘What are you going to do when I’m gone?,”

“I said ‘I’m going to travel with you to all the places that we were going to go to. I’m going to take a photo of you and take photos of us at all of these landmarks we were going to visit,” she told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

Michelle said other travellers have been very understanding.

“When we did a tour we were given some time to get up and say who we were. I was very upfront and said ‘This is who I am, I’ve lost my husband and this was his wish and my promise to him. They just took him on board,” she said.

Michelle says travelling with the cardboard cutout of her late husband helps her to deal with the loss.

“It does give me some comfort to just take him with me. Now I have so much fun with him and if I don’t travel with him I feel upset,” she told Neil Mitchell.

You can see more of Michelle’s travels with cardboard Paul at michellebourke.com.au.

Press PLAY below to hear Michelle’s full chat with Neil Mitchell.