Ian Pineau has spent the past 45 years learning about and working in the Outdoor Education field. From a small PEI farm; close to the coast, his first outdoor education experience would be in a fishing boat with his grandfather. Ian’s first paid job in the field came at 18 when he was a facilitator with at-risk youth.

As a student at the University of New Brunswick, he took extracurricular outdoor skills courses, including Hiking; Canoeing; and Winter Camping. These courses set Ian up to help teach the Canoe Camp skills as a senior at university. A chance encounter with a NOLS van hauling sea kayaks at a highway gas station in Yukon eventually led to a 15-year working relationship with NOLS. Ian now teaches in and coordinates the Outdoor Adventure Naturalist program at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus in the Ottawa Valley.

In this episode:

•   [2:05] Ian Pineau talks about his experience in a fantastic sea kayak and whitewater course, where he enjoyed every minute with some great folks. Later on, he talks about how one of his friends started a  job where he got three months of duty and three months off, which he spent with his college kids on trips or other personal trips. And he also talked about PFD, which you can find out in the podcast.

•   [20:36] Ian shares an awestruck and hilarious incident in his Baha trip when he found his co-instructor Shawn and two other Canadian instructors were broadcasting CBC radio in Mexico teaching students who are all from the US.

•   [26:00] Moving forward, Ian tells us about his personal trip with his friends from Yukon on the Grand Canyon. He shares how this trip happened after the 9/11 incident and what type of high-level security he had to endure.

•   [32:33] He further shares some great stories about Mexico. He also tells us some amazing things about Chico and his family and what a fantastic time it was for him.

•   [53:30] We end the show with our very own rapid-fire questions, and as always, our guest intrigued us with his answer.