Ages ago, archeologists would join their country's diplomatic service for the chance to be paid to travel and live in far corners and dig. Peter joined the Foreign Service to bird, for much the same reason. Not much of a carbon footprint to hop in a car and visit neighboring countries. It's what we all did, to see the sights. But Peter did it to see birds.
A very, very nice man. I worked with him for over a year before I was told his status in the birding community, and I didn't hear it from Peter - he didn't talk about birds in the office: hardly anyone that was not his close friend knew he was an obsessive.
But again, to your point. The government ferried us around the world and dropped us off in interesting places where we lived for generally, about 3 years and then moved on. He took advantage of that and I would imagine his footprint is about the same as anyone who takes a car to see the neighboring sights on a weekend.
Ages ago, archeologists would join their country's diplomatic service for the chance to be paid to travel and live in far corners and dig. Peter joined the Foreign Service to bird, for much the same reason. Not much of a carbon footprint to hop in a car and visit neighboring countries. It's what we all did, to see the sights. But Peter did it to see birds.
A very, very nice man. I worked with him for over a year before I was told his status in the birding community, and I didn't hear it from Peter - he didn't talk about birds in the office: hardly anyone that was not his close friend knew he was an obsessive.
But again, to your point. The government ferried us around the world and dropped us off in interesting places where we lived for generally, about 3 years and then moved on. He took advantage of that and I would imagine his footprint is about the same as anyone who takes a car to see the neighboring sights on a weekend.