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
Sri Lanka, Matale Prov, View From Sirigaya Temple
UK, Wrexham Prov, Two Girls
Myanmar, Shan Prov, Motorbike Flowers
Thailand, Opium Smoking, 1984 - On my first visit to Thailand I took a short trek in the hills outside of Chiang Rai. At night our porters smoked opium on the floor of our hut. On the second night, Lode Vanhoot, a fellow trekker from Holland, and I tried smoking with them. A long conversation took place. I did not feel high. But when we tried to stand, it was as if our bodies were drunk, although our minds felt clear.
Taiwan, Hualien Prov, Taroko Gorge
Central African Republic, Portrait Of Pygmy Girl, 2000 - One day during our stay in Bayanga, I went to the nearby pygmy villages and asked the young women to dress up in their traditional attire so that I could photograph them with my 8x10 inch camera. We put out the word and said we would come back. When we picked them up, we managed to get eight girls into the Land Rover with two of us and the driver, eleven people in all. I took this photograph with a 35mm. This girl had a strikingly beautiful face.
Jeff Shea Arrives at Taj Mahal, 1984
India, Uttar Pradesh Province (State) - 35mm film (Photo by Judith Pollack) I arrived at the Taj Mahal, sick with hepatitis.
PNG, Unamo, 1983 - On the way to Unamo, Kely and I were abandoned by our guides, partly because she was slow and it was getting dark, maybe because we had not adequately shared our provisions with them, but also because they had broken an unspoken code of ethics. They had our food pack with them. After backtracking to Wabia through remote rain forest, we rested and got new guides. A day later, we arrived at Unamo. Our food packs had been left in the abandoned houses shown in this photograph. That was all there was to Unamo.
Slovenia, Sentilj Prov, Roller Skis
Slovenia, Gornji Grad Prov, Field