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.
 

More about Bernard Cloutier in his site: Berclo.net