Neighbor: Travel is part of his job

06/11/2012

Written by Kaley Kalil

Monthly travel column from award-winning writer Kaley Kalil.

(This story first appeared in the June edition of the Arcadia News).

Phoenix native Colin Tetreault and his wife, Jenny, have lived in Arcadia since a year ago March.

“We have found our neighborhood to be more than a place to live; it is a true community, filled with gracious, kind and caring people and families,” Tetreault said.

Since January, Tetreault has been serving as the senior policy adviser of sustainability to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. He oversees the development and recommendation of policy pertinent to sustainability for the 520-square-mile area of Phoenix, which has a population of 1.5 million people.

While busily preparing for a visit by the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Tetreault made time to share some personal travel stories. During the past several months, his work at the mayor’s office has brought him to Portland and Washington, D.C.

“I particularly enjoyed spending time in D.C. with the secretary of energy,” Tetreault said. “I was directly next to him on a Colonial-era couch in his office. We discussed emerging technologies and the future of energy. It was at that moment that I thought, ‘Wow, this piece of furniture was around at the founding of our nation. We’re sitting on it and discussing physics and business.’ ”

Tetreault was no stranger to travel when he joined Stanton’s office five months ago. He has spent time traveling in Sweden, Japan, Mexico, across the U.S. and through parts of Europe.

Recently, his favorite trip has been to Japan in 2009, where he completed the Ironman Triathlon.

“After 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of riding and 26.2 miles of running, you are in a different place than when you started,” he said. “While competing in Japan, you finish the marathon by running through a Shogun-era castle and into a cheering crowd of hundreds of people. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know who you are; the crowd goes wild whenever a competitor comes down the finishing chute.”

It also was on this Japan trip that Tetreault realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jenny.

“As I crossed the finish line, there she was,” he said.

Tetreault has competed in three Ironman triathlons and plans to compete in several more, both in the U.S. and abroad.

He also lived in Kalmar, Sweden for about six months while consulting and studying international business and development at the Baltic Business School.

“I would most definitely live in Sweden again,” he said. “The people are warm, the culture is robust and it is generally a great place. It also helps that part of my family heritage hails from Sweden.”

Tetreault said he and his wife “rejoice in the variety and wonder of things different than ourselves.

“The world is such an interesting and complex place. I certainly know that my travels have helped shape who I am, both professionally and personally.”

Tetreault and his wife hope to visit Argentina this fall for their belated honeymoon. They look forward to dancing the tango, sipping Argentine Malbec and getting lost in Buenos Aires.

(Traveled lately or know someone who has? Contact Kaley here.)