Article content It took 18 years, but has now seen the world. When he landed on Oct. 24 in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu — an island nation in Polynesia made up of nine atolls and reefs — the retired physician could claim to having been to every one of the United Nations’ .
But it’s no so much where he’s travelled, as how he travels. “Unless there are no other options, I avoid tours, guides, hotels, restaurants and taxis,” Perrier said from his home in Courtenay. “I don’t buy souvenirs, not even fridge magnets.
I don’t take photographs but look at things for visual memory. “I travel alone with no fixed itinerary.” Perrier has , a form of autism that makes it hard to relate to others socially, so travelling solo suits him.
He had a medical practice in Castelgar, while also working in the Canadian Arctic. After his divorce in 1995, he had a relationship with a woman who encouraged him to travel with her to Patagonia. “That planted a seed and I just developed a cheap lifestyle and saved until I thought I would never have to work again,” Perrier said.
“And that’s what happened, I was 53 and I’ve never had to work again.” If anything, he added, because of his frugal lifestyle and wise investments, he’s probably wealthier now than he was in 2006. His travels are often oriented to seeing World Heritage Sites, of which he’s visited 896 of 1,201, the sixth most visits in the world according to , a website for keen travellers.
Picking favourite.
