Jeff Shea

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

UK, Tower Hamlets (London) Prov, Building
Slovenia, Solcava Prov, Hockey Field
Thailand, Mukdahan Prov, Get Naked!
Ascension, Looking Down, 2002 - We hiked to the high point of Ascension Island. This photograph was taken on the way down. Ascension is occupied by the US and British military. Ascension is an important breeding ground for sea turtles. If you go to the beach at night at the during the breeding season, you can see the turtles lay eggs. We saw them on February 19, 2002
Cape Verde, Girl Dancing On Beach, 2006 - On the island of Santiago, I saw a group of young people dancing on the beach. I wanted to take a photograph, but I needed a central figure. As I approached with my camera, a young man told me I could not take a photograph of her. A moment later, he waved me towards her. Nothing was said, but I understood: If I wanted a photograph I needed to dance too. With my pack on my back, I danced with her for a half minute, to the delight of those looking on. I needed to catch the next bus to town, to return to the ship on time for departure. I said, in English, since I didn't speak Portuguese, "I've got to go. Now I will take the photograph." She was OK with it.
Solomon Is, Kwaio Woman Weaving Straw, 1982 - This woman seemed curious about one of our possessions, so we handed it to her. She took this to mean that we gave it to her. The Melanesian people were generally very generous with possessions, possibly an outgrowth of the wantok system. Wantok came from the words "One Talk", meaning one's villagers or greater family. I was told that a person's wealth was based not on how much they had, but how much they had given away. This was a revelation to me. I realized that we strive so much not only to have, but to impress others and to gain their approbation. I developed the concept of Status Structure. Beyond the essentials of survival, people are motivated by what increases their status. So, depending on the Status Structure of their society, one would be motivated in very different ways. Whether the idea that one's wealth was determined by what they had given away was true or not is secondary. What is important is to realize how much nicer our human world would be if we held and lived out the belief that giving was greater than having.
UK, North Lincolnshire Prov, Tree
Vietnam, Nghe An Prov, Woman Street Vendor -
N Ireland, Moyle Prov, Rocky Shore
Greenland, Warming Island, off coast of Liverpool Land, Discoverer Dennis Schmitt And World's Newest Strait, 2006 - Here Dennis Schmitt, the discoverer of the new island, a result of Global Warming, poses above the strait and the broken glacier.