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
Turkey, Karaman Prov, Road Landscape
N Ireland, Carrickfergus Prov, Castle
Tribal Woman with Ax, 2010 Laos, Phongsaly Province (Khoueng) Worldwide Photo Project - Laos
Slovenia, Podlehnik Prov, Farm Scene
Easter Island, Moai In Town, 1997 - One of the charms of Easter Island was the Moai in unassuming places such as this one, in the middle of town. The woman I stayed with had a Moai in front of her house.
Thailand, Chanthaburi Prov, Landscape
Thailand, Khon Kaen Prov, Flooded Plain
Seram, Pipina Calls Deer, 2006 - On my third venture into the rain forests of Seram, I heard about Pipina. Her brother, Hatu Upu, had died two years earlier. i traveled ten hours on foot from Manusela to meet her. On the way, I felt as if she was aware that I was coming. I asked myself, "Does that mean she had died and it is her spirit that is aware of me?" Half way to Kanikeh, in Sulamena, a young man told us she'd died. But when I got to Kanikeh, It so happened that she was in Kanikeh. She told me she had dreamt of my arrival. The next day, we met her at her 'rumah gantung', or raised house, about an hour away in the direction of Mount Binaya. She took me to her brother's grave and spoke to him and introduced me to his spirit. Hatu Upu could not speak back, she said, as he was dead. He could only respond to her in her dreams. Hatu Upu was renown for his ability to call deer and pigs. She said she could also. When I asked her to do so, she said the deer would not come because I was there. I asked her to do so anyway. About ten minutes later, I heard what must have been a deer not far off, stepping on dried bamboo. One of my guides, Edi, heard another deer off in the opposite direction. Deer droppings all over her garden evidenced that deer often frequented her house.
Taiwan, Ilan County Prov, Boats in Harbor
Slovakia, Spisske Hrad (Spis Castle), 1997 - Spis is the largest fortified castle in Central Europe. I just stumbled upon it as my then-girlfriend Paula Nguyen of Australia and I drove around Eastern Europe. Sighting it with no idea as to what it was filled me with excitement. It was magnificent. Sometimes not knowing about a country prior to going there makes it more exciting - the discoveries you make feel more personal.