Jorge Serpa

BIO

I like to describe myself as “a world traveler with a deep love for photography and writing.” Born in Portugal, I grew up in Mozambique, where I lived until 1974. In 1979, I moved to the US where I completed my college education (BS and MS degrees in Engineering from URI and an MBA from Georgetown). In 2000, after a career in the energy business, I decided that I would spend the rest of my life doing what I love to do: traveling, and preferably by “alternative modes of transport.”

Some of the projects that I have undertaken since then include:

• Crossing from Brazil to the US on a 35 ft sailboat (2000);
• Campaigning a 40 ft sailboat in southern Europe’s racing circuit (2000-2002);
• Crossing the Atlantic from Portugal to the US on a 39 ft sailboat (2002-2003);
• Driving app 17,000 miles on a 4WD through Sahelian Africa (2005-2008);
• Traveling extensively by car and motorcycle around Europe and Africa (2007-2013);
• Going around the world at “see level” (Pacific crossing on a container vessel; and US, Asia, and Europe crossings by train) (2009);
• Driving a motorcycle from Paris to Guinea-Bissau in West Africa (2010);
• Driving a motorcycle through the Americas, from Washington, DC to Alaska and the West Coast; and then through South America to Tierra del Fuego (2014-2015); and
• Driving app 4,400 miles on a 4WD through southern Africa in support of the scientific expeditions of The Wilderness Project (2024 – 2025).

Travelling far and wide has given me the opportunity to practice my love for photography. In 2018, some of my travel-related work was the subject of an exhibition at the Institut Français du Bénin in Cotonou, Benin. Prior to that, some of my work on Portugal was exhibited at the Embassy of Portugal in Washington, DC. My photos have also been used to illustrate articles in a variety of media outlets.

As far as writing, in 2018 I published Benin: Land of Magic, a book which I describe as a brief introduction to Benin—the country, its peoples, and their culture—in 13 illustrated essays. Prior to that, in 2011, I published Slow Roads! Beautiful Drives through Portugal for Cars & Motorcycles, a practical touring guide for Portugal’s scenic back roads for the independent traveler. I am also a regular contributor to a few travel-related magazines.