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, Shan Prov, Khayaing Tong Temple
Cambodia, Pousaat Prov, Village House
Philippines-Bulacan, Butterfly, 2007 - I pulled off at a toll exit on the main highway back to Manila. I saw a butterfly flitting about. I shot a photograph. The police pulled over and asked what I was doing. I told them I was photographing a butterfly. I wondered if they believed me. I showed them on the view screen on my camera. They said to continue. Then I took this photograph of the butterfly searching for nectar in the flower, which I shortly thereafter used on the Splash page on my website. The policeman came out of the car again and asked me if I would help him contact his father in California, with whom he'd lost contact. I still have to call information.
Vietnam, Thai Nguyen Prov, Globe
Chile, Antofagasta Prov, Salar De Imilac Camp 12
Tibet, Everest, View Of Kanchenjunga From North Ridge, 1995 -
This photograph was taken in the morning of my ascent to the summit of Mount Everest above the Second Step, in the vicinity of the Third Step. In the foreground is snow that I am standing on, and below it, a 10,000 foot drop off to the Kangshung Glacier. In the distance is Kanchenjunga.
UAE, Dubai, Wind Catcher, 2000 - For years I have been trying to explain this without a visual aid, but I finally came across this photograph I took in 2000. This is a structure in the museum in Dubai. Inside, there is a carpet on the floor. If you lay on the carpet, you can feel the breeze! It enters the "chimney" shown in this photograph, and it is deflected downward by a large cloth that is positioned diagonally across the chimney. I have seen many such examples of ingenous architecture all over the world. Some similar examples of ancient ingenuity can be see in the Deutsch Museum on the river Isar in Munich, Germany.
Azerbaijan, Ismayilli Prov, Fiery Trees
Myanmar, Ayeyarwady Prov, Tea Shop Kitchen
Vietnam, An Giang Prov, Wok Fire