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

Vietnam, Dong Thap Prov, Selling Bags
Papua New Guinea, Clear Water, 1983 - This photograph shows the remarkable cleanliness of the streams in the forests of New Guinea. Though I drank freely from the steams at virtually every opportunity, I never got sick from doing so.
Thailand, Narathiwat Prov, Ricksha Driver In Rain
Taiwan, Tainan County Prov, Country Field
Congo Zaire, Fight on Riverboat, 1984 - The Congo River steamboat was a lively place. Here a group of soldiers get into a drunken brawl. One raises a bottle to strike another. Diary, October 24, 1984 Bolombo, En route to Kinshasa, Zaire Even though we were still docked against the island in early morning, we awoke in the morning to find our ship in Bolombo. I bought ten mangoes for Z8 (20 cents) and some fresh peanut butter from a pot full. In the morning we went over Spunky. The refrain had to be done over. We went to take showers and stood in line. I used a technique: to write down anything and everything that came to mind until something good come up: Minnie T shirt Bounce in place, Beauty marks Smiling Face, What’s Behind It? Loosely fastened cloth sarong No need to say what’s going on Resign to It. I shot clandestine of a women with hair in one foot spike. A fight broke out on the side barge. Bottles being broken as weapons. I had my camera handy and I snapped photos of a soldier with a knife in had, another man with a bottle, ten men holding them back and half the people on the boat jammed against the rails on looking. We bought a dried fish for Z120 and could eat only one quarter of the delicious meat. We took photos of soldiers eagerly posing on top of the barge. We traded for an “Operation Manta: Tchad” medallion from a Zairois soldier for Tanzanian Shillings (worth Z200) and a lighter on top of the side barge under the stars. We smoke with the electrician downstairs. We go drinking Malafu with the soldier and John. The bars are closed down (since the afternoon fight). Out of beer. At the end of the night, the manager and wife ask us to breakfast.
Composite of Soaps that Landed Stuck on their Sides, 2010/2014 USA, Singapore, Laos - Happenstance
Myanmar, Unknown Prov, Water Scene
Mexico, Yucatan, Chichenitza, 1993 - The Mayan ruins of the Yucatan in Mexico were phenomenal. I overheard a guide telling his group about the games they played, much like basketball, where the object was to throw the ball through a rock hoop (part of the construction that is still visible) in the wall. He said that at the end of the game, the lead player of the team would be sacrificed to the gods. The guide posed the question, 'Which player would be sacrificed to the gods, the winner or the loser? Only the best would be sacrificed!" The idea that the leader would try to win the game knowing that his fate would be death posed a somewhat humorous contradiction in my mind!
Azerbaijan, Shaki (SAK) Prov, Mountains
Cambodia, Otdar Mean Chey Prov, Loading The Truck