Five Months Later

On April 10th I posted the embryo of an idea. Now it is reality!

I am beyond happy.                                                                                                          
I am excited like a little girl going to enjoy a carousel for the first time! With the help of only a very small group of enthusiastic people who believe in this idea and the wonderful collaboration with High Country News that I respect and love (and read religiously) more than anything, I will soon be on the road. The thing I like most since I moved to the Southwest, to be on the road.

This tour, On the Wild Road, is the first of many that HCN and Seven Directions will develop in, about, for, in defense of the American West. And its WILDLIFE.

I already have learned a lot, talked with incredible people for their knowledge and dedication, met with organizations whose support is very important to our cause.

Combining the business skills with one's passion is undoubtedly the best thing that could happen to a person. Work and interests, technicalities and passion are combinations that many of us have searched through our life. After a long and varied career in many different areas, I now feel fulfilled and happy. 
The purpose, or purposes, of these travels through the Western organizations dedicated to save, help and support our wildlife will become even better defined on the road through the participants' discussions and the learning process brought by talking with the people on the ground.
The overall objective is

TO EDUCATE OURSELVES AND SPREAD KNOWLEDGE.

We have assembled a wealth of books, articles and papers to help us navigate through the wildlife world. An original e-book is provided by HCN with articles published over the recent years pertaining to the different animals we meet with day by day.

Some lessons learned:

1. when you feel you can't go any further, look at the award, your dream coming true. You will find the strength to continue.
2. risk taking becomes for a while your best companion. It works only if you believe in your dream.
3. read anything you find around you...even Facebook posts! One word can lead you to incredible new ideas!
4. Trust your friends, mostly offering negative advice...The energy the anger created in your soul by hearing their remarks is fuel to go forward! Some though may suggest interesting ideas!

The serendipities that brought people together on this project, the new friendships, the bonding that a common cause creates, the ongoing learning process, expectations and thrills are but a few rewards I am already enjoying.

What I cherish more than anything is having the opportunity to see up close a lot of wonderful animals, big and small, threatened or not. They never betray us. I found a place where people like me, meaning with no specific expertise in caring for animals, can stay at to just be and feel their wonderful spirit. That's my next vacation! 

 
 
 
 

 

It is freedom as the absence of other people’s influence, manifested as the nonhuman world around us, realized as a place we can go but should not change. It is the freedom environmentalists restoring wilderness, and animal rights activists liberating animals, fight for every day.

Thoreau wrote of in Walden.