Dad here: Charlie, MacDuff and I recently returned home from our blitzkrieg through the west. The trip was cut a bit short by my perceived sense of self importance; I was convinced that I was needed, so I galloped homeward like Don Quixote attacking the windmills only to find that I shouldn’t have bothered. This was a mistake that will not be repeated: if on the road, stay on the road.
But in the short time we spent “out there”, many incredible stories were discovered and lessons were learned. The following are the top five takeaways:
One: Although traveling be motorcycle will always be important to the story, it is not necessarily THE story. The decision to take the car instead of the bike was instrumental to some of the best stories, as it enabled us to help some others complete their stories, which then caused them to become part of our story. And it’s all about the stories. And the dogs; taking the car allowed me to take two dogs, an undertaking that I was NOT prepared for.
Two: Travel is vital to keeping Charlie’s story alive. While we can and will continue to tell the stories of the Casa, the real stories happen from the uncertainties of the road. I have let government lock downs, gas prices, perceived responsibilities, etc, kept me safely in port when I should have been out there facing the waves.
Three: I have to expand to other forms of expression. It has become way too easy to retreat to the comfortable confines of my own self created crate and tap out these weakly words. Contrary to popular belief, hearing the sound of my own voice makes me cringe so hard that I pinch a hickey on my underwear, but I have no choice; the Bravo Bytes podcast has to happen. As does (gag) TikTok. If I spent half as much time working on different platforms as I do justifying why they’re not conducive to Charlie’s story, I would have many year’s worth of podcasts already in the can; gotta get out of my own crate.
Four: money. While being self employed allowed me the time to take this trip, time spent on the road is time that’s not spent at home building my own business. But Charlie’s message IS my business; not in the traditional meaning of “business”, more like a (dare I say it) a ministry. Whether the solution is the Charlie Bravo store, the Patreon account, or another revenue stream that I’m not aware of, it has to happen if the story is to continue its growth.
Five, and most important of all, this is all about you. Charlie’s story has always been not just about animal rescue, but people rescue. That if people are reminded of their absolute significance in the face of a society that seems to deem the contributions of many as insignificant, those people will rise to the occasion and do what must be done. As you will see reflected in the upcoming stories, the people that we encountered on this trip were many times more impactful than all of the beautiful vistas witnessed, the wildlife viewed, the adventures experienced. People are what really matters; if the unfortunate soul that abandoned Charlie in her crate had believed that her actions actually meant something, I have to believe that the Crate would have never have even been a consideration. But it was, and here we are as a result. Although the beginning of the story was brutal, the middle has been beautiful, and the end nowhere in sight.
We be of one blood, ye and I.
