Bernard
Cloutier - Profile
I have
always enjoyed the adrenaline rush of adventure. When I was a student,
I preferred to spend my summers working in Alberta, instead of staying
in the East, because I could explore the Rockies on long weekends. At 22,
during the four summer months of 1956, I went on a 15 000 mile backpacking
tour around North America that took me all the way to Acapulco. At that
time, it was still possible to hitch hike and ride empty freight trains
in the USA. Now, that would be suicidal!
In
1962, I went to Paris for post-graduate studies and liked Europe so much
that I stayed there for 8 years before coming back to Quebec. My 30 year
career in the oil and gas industry also provided me with numerous occasions
to travel all over the world. I am no longer looking for work at this time
but I would still be available if a particularly interesting short term
job abroad presented itself. As the saying goes, "Have grey cells, will
travel!"
Now
that I am free as a butterfly, my favorite activities are exploring new
places and discovering new ideas. I have visited so many places that it
can be said that I collect countries like others collect stamps or silver
spoons. I take lots of photos but what I enjoy most is meeting new people.
Learning how they live and trying to understand their values helps me understand
myself better. I travel in winter time and write during the summer. Writing
about the adventures of the previous winter extends my pleasure over many
summer months. It is also a good discipline that forces me to study and
to research the facts that can either confirm, or cause me to modify, the
impressions I come back with.
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