Born in Innsbruck, Austria, as the oldest of 6 children, Birgit discovered early on that she loved meeting people from different countries and practicing the languages she learned in school. She travelled frequently with her family in a big VW van visiting neighbouring countries such as Italy, Germany and Switzerland. When the opportunity arose to spend a summer working in Montreal, Birgit grabbed it.
Living within the multicultural melting pot that Montreal is notorious for, she didn’t take long to fall in love with this city. Birgit decided to stay and have been living here ever since. Speaking several languages (German, English, French and Italian) most of which she learned in high school in Austria, has allowed her to work in several travel related endeavors and event planning. She spent a brief time living in the beautiful city of Paris doing an Internship at the Austrian Trade Commission. Birgit lived in Chicago as well, where she worked as Chief Hostess at an Austrian Tourist Exhibit called Wintertime in Vienna.
For 14 years Birgit produced and hosted a bi-weekly half hour television show called “Austrian Diary”. The program was filmed primarily in German, covered many different subjects/themes and allowed her to meet a lot of interesting people.
She has been privileged to explore many places in her lifetime including Europe, North America, Hawaii, South Africa, and Asia (China, Thailand, Singapore, HKG). However Birgit is most familiar with Europe, especially Austria, southern Germany and Italy. Around the state of Tyrol, where she grew up, Birgit had the chance to hike and explore some of the area’s most beautiful natural spots including those in southern Germany.
Most of her time in the recent years, besides bringing up three children, has been spent volunteering in the Montreal area. Birgit has been affiliated with the Alexander von Humboldt International school for many years in different capacities as well as with the Austrian Society, specifically for the Viennese Ball, which raises funds for many youth related local organizations.
Now that Birgit’s children are all at university she is looking for new challenges and wants to keep following her passion for travel and cultural exchange. She recently joined Alyra to contribute to the promotion of cultural ecotourism and responsible travel, to help develop innovative expeditions in Europe and to share her love for nature and history in the region of Southern Germany and Austria.
