Hosted
by Jeffery Lehmann
At
the ripe old age of 14, I was considered an explorer. A unique set of circumstances
landed me in Western Europe with a passport and a Eurail Pass in hand, and
for three months I explored the continent alone. My daily postcards home
of adventures from chasing reindeer in the Arctic Circle to crawling through
catacombs in Rome become so popular with friends and neighbors my mother
resorted to creating and distributing a weekly newsletter.
At
17, I spent a year as an exchange student exploring New Zealand, and took
the opportunity to visit Australia and Hawaii. Kayaking over waterfalls,
scaling glaciers, and diving with sharks off the Great Barrier Reef only
increased the interest in my postcards.
While
still in college, I bought a travel agency. The six travel agents working
with me made the reservations, while I promoted the agency and shared
my first hand knowledge of the many destinations I had visited. Sharing
great adventure stories and precious
travel information soon led me into organizing and guiding trips and then
into photography and finally into video and film.
After
traveling the world, I learned that there was precious little information
and intense interest in those places I knew best. By leading bicyclist
through the Sierra Nevadas, rock climbing in the Rocky Mountains, guiding
whitewater rafts through rapids in California's Gold Country, searching
for whales off Cape Cod, studying the ancient and Pueblo Indians of New
Mexico, exploring ghost towns in the 'Old West', captaining sailing adventures
in the Pacific Ocean, and escorting groups through the rugged Baja peninsula,
I gained valuable experience. This interest and specialized knowledge
drove me to share this information through the Weekend Explorer television
series.
I
invite you to join me on this journey!
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