Jeff Mee Interview

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Jeff Mee Interview

1) What is your favorite place that you have been to on the planet?

The Northwest corner of Ireland, a small town called Dunglow. My mothers family was from there and when I visited I fell in love with the area. Very rugged, green and the people are very friendly.

2) Do you shoot pictures with a digital or film camera?

About two years ago I finally caved and went digital and have wondered ever since why I waited so long. I now have several thousand pictures stored on my PC to remind me of all kinds of things. Camping, hiking, kayaking, friends, places I want to go back to, items of quirky interest, fuzzy pictures of things I have no idea what they are to remind me to pay attention next time I take a picture.

3) When you have 2 hours to squeeze an activity on a Saturday morning, what do you do?

Hike, walk, and/or scout for places for the next time I have a day to spend.

4) What is the number one reason why you don’t get outside as much as you’d like?

I have this very annoying habit of over committing and it eats into my outdoor time.

5) Where would you build your ideal vacation house?

Just today I found 100 acres for sale in WAY northern Maine (7 hours north of Boston) that sounds like it could be the spot and it looks like I might be able to afford it too...

6) What adventure, that you have yet to do, is number one on your list?

Australia! I'm headed there this coming fall for two weeks. 1 week in the outback and 1 week on the Great Barrier Reef.

7) What is the most significant gear invention?

Tough call, lightweight tents, camelbacks, LED flashlights, I guess I should say all the neat stuff that is now made that makes backpacking so much better than when I had to carry a 75 pound pack.

8) What is your number one priority when buying a car?

I'm all over the place on this one. I drive a tiny Honda for the gas mileage but also have an F-150 for the times I need to carry all my gear (kayak, stoves [yes, plural], bikes [plural again], kitchen sink, etc.). Looking forward I don't think I will be able to continue with two vehicles so it will need to be a car that gets decent gas mileage but has space for my gear or the ability to haul a trailer for my gear.

9) What do you do to enhance your outdoor fitness?

Not nearly enough. I have good intentions but seem to always run out of time to actually exercise on a regular basis.

10) What was your scariest moment on an outdoor adventure?

There have only been a few close calls and only once that I got hurt. I was backpacking part of the Appalachian trail in late September several years ago with my two dogs when they tripped me and I fell down the side of a rocky hill with a 60 pound pack. I sprained my ankle, badly bruised my hip, shoulder and forearm and then realized that no one was expecting me for 4 more days and I had no way of making contact early. Fortunately I was not to far from a lean-to and was able to hole up and rest for two days and then hike out.  Probably the next scariest was the day last spring that I slipped in the algae on a rock ledge of a water fall and slid 15 feet towards the edge, stopping just 2-3 feet from the edge, my heart stopped beating for like 10 minutes (no, really...) and then it made up for all those missed beats in the next 15 seconds.