My first real adventure trip was a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.  I was completely hooked.  I decided that I was going to take some sort of adventure trip as often as possible.  Over the years my trips have gravitated towards wildlife photography.  Wildlife photography and adventure travel are actually a good combination.  It turns out that to photograph a lot of wildlife you need to travel to remote locations.  My travels have taken me across both the Arctic circle and the Antarctic circle.

As a child my family was not well off.  We weren't poor but we didn't have a lot of extra money.  As a result most of our family vacations were spent camping.  Even when we drove to California we spent each night at a different campsite.  We did not stay in hotels and we never flew anywhere.  I still enjoy camping, although I do it in a trailer now instead of a tent.  However, I don't mind roughing it.  Which is a good thing because the accommodations you stay in to get close to wildlife are not always good and sometimes they are downright bad.

I have always loved animals so it is not surprising that one of my hobbies has turned out to be wildlife photography.  As I child I would feed anything I could coax close enough.  Usually chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and deer.  Who am I kidding, I will still feed anything I can coax close enough.  Unfortunately my dogs make sure I don't get much of a chance on my camping trips anymore. 

Speaking of dogs, I also breed Cairn Terriers.  I am afraid I couldn't resist adding a page of adorable puppy pictures.  I know that they don't fit in with the theme of my page but they are very cute!

A good source for outfitters who provide adventure travel is Outside Magazine.  I have had a subscription for many years.  At the back of the magazine is a expedition guide with several pages of outfitters and descriptions of the adventure trips they offer.  Many of my trips  have been booked with outfitters I have found there.

Another excellent source for adventure travel outfitters is a book by National Geographic called Ultimate Adventure.  It has sections on ballooning (a sport that I find boring), diving, horseback riding, trekking, skiing, sailing, wildlife encounters and many more.  It gives you the outfitters phone numbers, websites and gives you an idea of the trip prices.  It also has recommendations on books and videos.

If you really want wildlife photography trips the best place to find them is in the back of some of the photo magazines like Outdoor Photographer.  My favorite company to travel with advertises there (International Wildlife  Adventures). 

I have a store at cafeshops.com where you can buy framed prints, posters, calendars, t-shirts and more with my photographs on them.  If you see something on this site you would be interested in buying that is not available at my store send me an e-mail and I will try to add it for you.

By the way, my favorite poem is The Land of Beyond by Robert Service (below).   It describes the way I feel about exploring this world.

The Land of Beyond

by Robert W. Service

Published in 1912
Public Domain in the US

Have you ever heard of the Land of Beyond,
That dreams at the gates of the day?
Alluring it lies at the skirts of the skies,
And ever so far away;
Alluring it calls; O ye the yoke galls,
And ye of the trail overfond,
With saddle and pack, by paddle and track,
Let's go to the Land of Beyond!

Alluring it lies at the skirts of the skies,
And ever so far away;
Alluring it calls; O ye the yoke galls,
And ye of the trail overfond,
With saddle and pack, by paddle and track,
Let's go to the Land of Beyond!

 Have you ever stood where the silences brood,
And the vast horizons begin,
At the dawn of the day to behold far away
The goal you would strive for and win?
Yet ah! in the night when you gain to the height,
With the vast pool of heaven star-spawned,
Afar and agleam, like a valley of dream,
Still mocks you a Land of Beyond.

 Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond
For us who are true to the trail;
A vision to seek, a beckoning peak,
A fairness that never will fail;
A pride in our soul that mocks at a goal,
A manhood that irks at a bond,
And try how we will, unattainable still,
Behold it, our Land of Beyond!