Charlie the Chupacabra and Cedric the Roaming Gnome studying the Caribbean map.

It has occurred to me in the days following up to Mr. Muse and me leaving on yet another adventure, that I haven’t taken the time to introduce Mr. Muse’s or my traveling companions.  Their names are Charlie and Cedric.  They have joined us whenever Mr. Muse and I travel, they are always with us, they even went to Croatia with us.  They’ve been camping, flying, cruising… they are well-traveled traveling companions.

So, how did we end up with traveling companions?  Years ago, while chatting with an Internet friend from Canada, they were telling me how they had a “travel buddy” that friends got them.  (The “travel buddy” cannot be something you get yourself – it must be given to you – those are the rules as it was explained to me.)  Their travel buddy accompanied them near and far – they literally took their buddy everywhere, every day,  and had a lot of photos of their buddy enjoying wherever they happened to be.  I laughed, thought it was cute and made mention of this story to Mr. Muse, who declared that he needed a traveling companion.  “You,” I asked, “You need a traveling companion?”  He thought that it was a grand idea.

My Internet friend was going to send me a travel buddy, a moose – but as so many thing happen with the internet – nothing came of it.  I asked Mr. Muse if he had something in mind for a traveling companion, and instantly he said, “A Chupacabra!”  I raised an eyebrow, I laughed, I repeated, “A Chupacabra?!”  He looked at me, beaming, “Yeah… that’s what I want with me.”

My search began, and with the all-mighty power of the Internet, I did find Mr. Muse his Chupacabra, Charlie.  Charlie didn’t come with his name on some sticker or tag, no Mr. Muse spent only moments looking at his new companion and declared, “His name is Charlie.”

Now, my traveling companion is with me nearly all the time.  He was given to me my Mr. Muse, and even has his own passport.  Cedric the Roaming Gnome certainly likes to travel, and he often hides out in a mesh pouch on the side of my travel satchel, because firstly, he can breathe in there and secondly, he can peek out the holes in the mesh.

Sometimes we have to stop Charlie from attempting to eat Cedric.  Charlie is a Chupacabra after all, and Cedric is merely a two-bite amuse-bouche to Charlie.  Cedric is always observant, keeping a close eye on luggage, meals, drinks, the people around him…. Charlie often has one thing in mind, “is this edible?”  Cedric just wants to know when we’re at the bar – gnomes like to drink home brew… or away brew when they’re away.

Charlie often attracts the attention of those who spot him.  He’s mischievous and tries to crawl out of Mr. Muses travel pack, sometimes standing on his shoulders as we change gates at airports.  Cedric doesn’t mind missing out on all the attention Charlie gets, however, because he prefers sitting back and watching – he finds people amusing.

I also know what this means… you all are going to want to know what zany adventures Charlie and Cedric get themselves into on our travels with them.  I always take photos of them, however, I’ll see what I can do about keeping everyone updated!

Charlie (and Cedric) studying Spanish before heading to Mexico and Central America. (You’d think a Chupacabra would know Spanish already…)