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
Slovenia, Sostanj Prov, Town River
Slovenia, Sempeter-Vrtojba Prov, Maypole
Iraq, Marsh House, 2002 - In our eight days in Iraq, six months before the American invasion in 2003, we saw this traditional Marsh Arab house. We were on our way from Basra to Baghdad. I felt fortunate to see this exquisite example of construction from natural materials. It reminded me of Wilfred Thesiger, the author of The Marsh Arabs, famed British explorer who traveled across the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia.
Slovenia, Luce Prov, Bridge To Mountain
Slovenia, Tolmin Prov, River Scene
UK, Stoke On Trent Prov, Street Curve Mirror
Bangladesh, Jamalpur Prov, Oxen Bath
Seram, Pak Simpson Wearing Chawat, 2006 - On my second visit into the interior, I waited for three nights to meet the Suku Terasing (the tribe that has no contact with the outside world). Pak Simpson was married to one of their women. Pak Simpson was a kindly old man. When it came to questions involving the simplest math, he would say, "Beta seng skola," which means, in Maluku, "I have no schooling." He is wearing "kulit kayu," which means the skin of the tree. The emblem is his own design. Later, he showed me how to make kulit kayu from scratch. He does not wear a chawat in day-to-day living.
Nepal, Judith Standing, 1984 - In Tengboche, Solu Khumbu, Nepal, I invited Judith to climb Island Peak with me. On the way back, we lost contact. On the way to Lukla, I saw her footprints on the path ahead of me. I met with her at a teashop. We spent the night there together. She insisted I take a bath. The woman running the teashop (essentially a stone house on the side of the trail) heated a tub of water, and I took my first bath in a week. Here, a week later, Judith stands outside the doorway to our room in Katmandu.
Slovenia, Loski Potok Prov, Village