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Who are we?
Gilles Barbier
  Who am I?
My name is Gilles Barbier, I am French & 34 years old.
I have been living out of France for almost 12 years now, six years in Germany and six years in Austria. Actually, Heidi, who I met back in 1998, is the reason why I moved to Vienna in February 2002!
What do I do?
I have been working in sales with Xerox for the past 5 years, managing major accounts in financial services - that is to say banks and insurance companies, selling them production printing solutions.
Before, I was working in the Internet industry, during the great hype and the even greater crash, both of which I experienced - the most intense experience in my career, even though it only lasted for 2 years.
Before that I worked in the Champagne Industry with Pommery, at that time a subsidiary of LVMH. Great products!
What do I expect from our Travel Around The World?
The main reason is that I want to travel with no time constraint, being able to really discover the places where we are. In my opinion, staying in a small village will tell you much more about a country and the people than any sight-seeing done in a rush. This is the only way of getting a glimpse of the local culture and life in general. Our stay with a family in Viñales, Cuba and a few days in the village of Ende, Mali definitely supported our belief.
Moreover, I want to be able to visit places that are difficult to reach to from Europe, like the whole Pacific Area, South Patagonia, or regions we cannot travel to at the right season.
And last but not least: we have the opportunity to do it, I do not know if such an opportunity will come up again, so we simply go ahead and make this dream come true!
Heidi Sequenz
Who am I?
I am Austrian and have lived in the country’ s capital Vienna for over 30 years, though my original home is the most scenic region of Wachau in Lower Austria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for many years.
I will turn 50 during the trip, which makes it a little less scary.
What do I do?
My professional field covers a wide variety of activities.
Primarily I teach at a Viennese high-school: English, History and Sport and coordinate the Bilingual Program at this very school: www.theodor-kramer.at.
But there are so many other interesting and challenging projects that keep my busy.For about a decade, I have been working in continuous education teaching English to adults at WIFI / Wien preparing adult students for their high-school diploma. For the last five years I have also been involved in teachers’ training at all kinds of levels.
I have tried pass on my passion for travelling to my students and we certainly got around. I am convinced it is the method of learning that proves to be most sustainable.
What do I expect from our Travel Around The World?
The idea for this trip was originally Gilles´, but with time I turned more and more enthusiastic about this project.
My primary target for this trip is to discover regions and countries I have never had the opportunity to visit. When starting planning the trip, my focus was on Central and Northeast Asia, but this changed as Gilles convinced me to spend a larger amount of our time in South America. Maybe it will help to bring my life-long project of learning Spanish to a new climax.
I also want to be able to travel with little or no time constraints, especially off season, since this is all I have known for the past 30 years.
And finally, this is a good time for me to take a step back from the frenzy of business life and think about the next step.
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