I was born very young. A bunch of stuff has happened since. But I don’t think you really want to know about all that. Instead, You might be interested to know that I love travel and adventure. That I have travelled to over 30 countries. Mostly for months at a time.

After 28 years working for the same employer, I took early retirement shortly after a colleague was diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer two months before he and his wife were to start travelling the world on their retirement. It made me realize how fragile and short life could be.

The day after my own retirement, I started a 36,000 mile journey from a small town on the east coast of Canada, across the USA to California, through Mexico and Central America, into Colombia, and down through South America, all the way to Ushuaia, Argentina, the most southern city in the world. Then I rode back. That epic trip took nine months on a big heavy 1200cc motorcycle. I have never looked back. That adventure changed the direction in my life. And if I was to do the trip again, it would take me much longer as I’d take more time getting to know better the different cultures.

In 2014 I did something similar. I rode the length of Vietnam on a small classic 110cc Honda Super Cub over 5 months, and had just as much fun. Maybe even more. Bigger is not always better. Often the simple solution is the better option.

I’ve also owned and travelled in a VW camper (fun but not reliable) and a truck camper (top heavy), and I have spent months at a time visiting Cuba, Thailand, Cambodia, India, the USA, and other places.

I’m a perpetual student. Curious about people, cultures, things. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy travel. It’s also the reason I read so much. I sometimes point to and comment about the things that interest me.

I’m a big fan of things that are reliable and work. I’m not tied to any particular brand. I am, for example, still trying to make my Apple iPad Pro work as a laptop. Most of the time it doesn’t, despite what their marketing department might want you to believe. Apple products might look nicer, but they aren’t necessarily better. Often they are just an expensive wrong tool.

I’m a big motorsport fan, particularly Formula 1. In my younger days I raced an open wheel Formula Ford, and a 4-wheel drive Subaru in the Canadian Rally Championship. In my much younger days I dreamed of racing against the likes of Gilles Villeneuve.

I like to live a healthy lifestyle. I try to be conscious of what I consume. I’ve run seven marathons, including the famous Boston Marathon on a couple of occasions. I’ve yet to run a marathon in my home country. Something else on my bucket list.

I own a hyperactive Cairn Terrier. She is a happy, spunky, determined, playful, busy, independent, scruffy, sturdy, scrappy, wilfully stubborn, a barking beast. A big dog in a small body. I’ve named Skye.

I’m a licensed ham radio operator, though I haven’t turned on the radios much in the past few years. I am changing that and rediscover this wonderful hobby.

I’m also a sailor and would like to solo sail a small boat across an ocean some day.

My first language was French. I was educated in English. I was born and grew up in Montréal. That makes me very fortunate. I think we have a wonderful country. True North, Strong and Free. I don’t take that for granted.

We all live on the same beautiful blue marble and have more in common with each other than most of us realize. Travel is important. The world is a better place when we take the time to get to know each other a little better.

I have visited the ten Canadian provinces and lived in half of them. I plan to see more of them. I am also planning to visit our three northern Territories. That will be another epic road trip!

There’s a whole lot more to this story that I’m not quite finished writing. If you want to know something, ask me.