While studying abroad in London, Dalton Ross (Reddit user EverythingFerns) was an ocean away from his family back in Nashville, Tennessee.

To make sure they didn’t forget him, the 22-year-old Belmont University student sent his mother, Susan Talley, a cardboard replica of himself as a joke.

“I thought it would be funny if my mom checked the mail and there was a giant goofy cutout of me waiting for her,” Ross tells Upvoted.

She ran with it.

Talley brought her new fake son along on her daily activities, then shared his adventures on Facebook. She described the photo project as a sort of “Where’s Waldo meets Elf on the Shelf.”

“Everyone got a kick out of the different scenarios,” says Ross, who shared the images in Reddit’s Funny community.

The photos help close the distance a bit. Ross describes his mom as “great, funny and absurdly generous.”

“I do miss home, and also Taco Bell, which they don’t have here,” he says.

Here are some of the things fake Ross has done:

He watched a basketball game.

He went on a Valentine’s date.

He got caught up on current events before bedtime.

He made personal hygiene a priority.

He ate with the family.

He went for a stroll.

See more photos of his adventures in the original Reddit post.