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
Seram, Poisonous Snake Whose Head I Unwittingly Stepped On, 2006 - On my last day in the forest of Seram on my Search For The Little People 2006 expedition, me and my three guides from Mosso were walking from Kanikeh to Jalan Lintas, or, the Asphalt Road, via Roho. It was a long day. We started walking at about 10 a.m. and arrived at about 930 p.m. on the side of the road. Midday, I was in the lead when I heard a sound. I turned around. Memet, the lead guide, was slashing about with his parang (i.e., machete). He cut this snake in three pieces. Memet, Edi and Saiful all agreed that this snake was so poisonous that if I had been bitten, I would have been dead within an hour unless I'd been given the anetedote: little likelihood out here in the middle of nowhere. They said I was lucky to step on its head - it couldn't bite. Had I stepped on its tail, it would have been a different story, and I would be history.
Morocco, Trail Up The Snowy Atlas, 1988 - One would normally not associate Africa with snowy mountains, but there are a few such mountain ranges, the Atlas in Morroco being one of them. The Kilimanjaro massif in Kenya/Tanzania is another, as well as the Ruwenzori range in Uganda/Congo.
Turkey, Manisa Prov, Farm House
Slovenia, Dobrepolje Prov, Building
N Ireland, Ards Prov, Houses
Chile, Antofagasta Prov, Jeff Shea At PasoJama Swollen Eyes
Antarctica, Patriot Hills Base Camp in Foreground of Mountains, 2001 - This photograph is best viewed enlarged. The area in the foreground that could be mistaken for rocks is actually the entire Patriot Hills base camp for Adventure Network's arrivals in Antarctica. In the far distance is a mountain range. The photograph is taken from the top of Patriot Hills. In the far right foreground is an aircraft, the one used to make special jaunts to places like Mt. Vinson base camp. (This is not the Hercules aircraft used to transport people from Chile to Antarctica.) Just above the camp is a faint line, indicating the ski tracks of the airplane as it landed.
Twisted Torso II, 2000
Greenland, North Greenland Mountains, 2007 - The landscapes in North Greenland, as you can see, are marvelllous. For one thing, the air is clearer than any you might ever see elsewhere. One of the consequences of this is that things that look close may be quite far away. In fact, on our North Greenland Euro-American Expedition, most of the expedition was always in sight of a certain mountain range. No matter where we walked, it seemed - at least most of the time - it was visible. This photograph is taken quite near the most northerly land in the world. Here I am only a few kilometers from the sea ice near Kaffeklubben and Stray Dog West.
Myanmar, Unknown Prov, Boat Vendor