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
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Papua New Guinea, Frieda River, The New SS Pukpuk, 1983 - This is the appearance of the raft when we first had it built in Ok Esai. Sam, the man who built it, helped me bring it downriver to Frieda Strip, and then he and his son walked back.
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Greenland, Stray Dog West Aerial July 16, 2007 - Four days after the discovery of Stray Dog West on foot, we flew over the island on the way back to Norway. This is the new northernmost point of land in the world. It is north of Kaffeklubben. It is now an official place on Shea's Register of the World. (IMG_5257R) Stray Dog West lies at 83?40'30" north latitude.
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Thailand, Yasothon Prov, Wooden Window
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Myanmar, Shan Prov, Detail Farming
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Nepal, Festival of Holi, Girls Block Car, 1984 - During the Festival of Holi in India/Nepal, children are allowed to do things like block the road. It is obligatory that this car obey their road block.
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Turkey, Konya Prov, Cliff
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Greenland, Warming Island, off coast of Liverpool Land, Warming Island, 2006 - This aerial photograph has an inset map that explains the geography. The arrow matches with the glacier on Warming Island. The protruding glacier in the foreground is part of Liverpool Land on the island of Greenland. The peak labeled N 71 degrees 28.294 minutes by W 021 degrees 51.620 minutes was climbed by our group on Sept 10, 2006. We used two GPSs to record the coordinates and the height at 1620 feet. The map shows it at 490 meters, or 1607 feet. The tabular iceberg in the right foreground is probably broken away from the glacier in the foreground. The iceberg calved on a daily basis.
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Tibet, Monastery, 1991 - In 1991, it was necessary to be part of a tour if you wanted to enter Tibet. I paid for a few day "tour." When they wanted me to stay at the Holiday Inn in Lhasa, I begged them to put me up in a traveler's hotel. This was more to my liking. There, I met many interesting people, including one who had biked from the far east of the country. During a nightly discussion, one person spoke of how disrespectful Westerners were of the local traditions. They told a story about how they saw one Westerner walk across the floor of a monastery, such as the one in this photograph, while the monks were praying. Notably, the storyteller said that the monks did not seem disturbed by this. This seems to me to be an essential differentiation between the mind of a Westerner, or Christian, and that of a Tibetan, or Buddhist.
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Tanzania, Mjini Magharibi Prov, Zanzibar Coffee Vendor
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Thailand, Songkhla Prov, Mosque