This website illuminates my life and adventures. My longing for freedom has led me to over 2600 of the world’s 3978 provinces, to every country on earth and to the summit of the highest peak on each continent (thank heaven for good weather!). In my travels, I learned to respect the intelligence and ingenuity of people of all races and callings both past and present. Come see the world as I see it: as a peaceful place, full of nature and beauty. With the right spirit and intent, we can make our world a virtual Garden of Eden.
DISTINCTIONS: BBC 2017 Travel Pioneer • Journal Articles • Explorer’s Club Flag Expeditions
World Parks Project • Walk Across South America • Jeff Shea Travel Map
Myanmar, Ayeyarwady Prov, Flag
Haiti, Les Cayes Province, River Beauty, IMG_5198 - In the village river, the people play in the rapids, using inner tubes, dunking each other or jumping from the overhanging tree. The sun bears down. A market place hugs the wide bank of the river. The people are friendly. I walked down to the river side and jumped in!
Tibet, Everest, Altitiudes Of North Ridge Route, 1995 -
This chart shows the sequence that I used to climb Mount Everest over a period of six weeks of acclimitization. High altitude's low oxygen content shocks the body into producing more red blood cells. But the body cannot recuperate at high altitude. This means you have to descend and rest, then go higher again, then descend again.
Thailand, Sukhothai Prov, Buddha Faces Sky
Thailand, Krabi Prov, Coastal Scene
Philippines, Romblon Prov, Romblon House
Slovenia, Idrija Prov, Village
We were in Skane province and headed towards Karlskrona, a large city in Blekinge Province. A beautiful morning sunrise against trees.
Solomon Islands, Umbuni, 1982 - The area of the world known as Melanesia had the most profound impact on me of all my travels. From the moment I arrived, I began to see the world differently; the people lived in a society with such different values than the ones I had previously been exposed to. Here, life was hard and men lived boldly. Umbuni was the chief's son. To reach his land, the Kwaio, I sailed across the Pacific Ocean to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, traveled to Malaita by local boat, took a truck across the island, then caught a ride with Fred Billy Akwafaasie across a large stretch of ocean in a motorized canoe to Sinalagu Bay. Fred Billy was a Christian. He walked Kelly Soma and I up the steep bush track to the frontier of the Kwaio. Fred Billy's village had been converted to Christianity by missionaries, whereas Umbuni's people rejected conversion. On the way up the bush track I asked Fred Billy if he still believed in the old ways. At first he flatly denied it, but then he revealed that traditional beliefs linger for a long time. He said, "No, I don't believe in the old ways?but sometimes at night, you can feel the spirits of the ancestors." Ancestors were worshipped in the Kwaio in skull houses, where the skulls of their forefathers resided. I asked Umbuni what would happen if I entered his land without his father's permission. Umbuni, a gentle and kind man, stated his case simply and without aggression: "I would kill you."
Slovenia, Sveti Andraz v Slovenskih Goricah Province, Barnside, 2006, IMG_4953 - A patchwork barn roof.