As a young boy, Shawn first traveled the world through books. But it was not until he snuck out of his house to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 that his fate was revealed. He was called to a life of imagination and exploration.
In his early twenties, Shawn began to travel extensively. He traversed ancient ruins throughout Europe, sipped tea with desert Bedouins in the Middle East, lived with indigenous tribes in the mountains of Central America, and crawled through Celtic passage tombs in Ireland. Wanderlust became his passion.
In 2000, after ten years as a youth minister, Shawn became the founder and Executive Director of Wonder Voyage, a unique non-profit organization dedicated to leading pilgrimages across the globe. To date, thousands of these Wonder Voyage pilgrims have experienced a life of exploration, adventure, and sacred travel.
His first book, The Via Crucis, was a bronze medal winner in the 2009 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Two years later, his second book, The Via Advent, won silver. His first children’s book, I Dream of Water (2021), won the Independent Publishers Awards for ‘Book Likely to Change the World.’ Shawn has written, directed, and produced two award-winning documentary films, Ru: Water is Life and Acres of Diamonds.
Shawn has been married to his best friend, Cheryl, for three and a half decades and is the father of four children and the grandfather of four grandchildren who inspire him to embrace life. In 2015, Shawn became an inductee into the world-renowned Explorer’s Club. After traveling to over 90 nations, Shawn feels like his adventures have just started.
Hero Image : Shawn Small : Montenegro
Organizations I founded and directed for the last 25 years:
https://wondervoyage.com/
Wonder Voyage is an extraordinary non-profit organization that creates personalized pilgrimages and educational and service trips to distinctive communities around the globe.
https://legacyvoyages.com/
Legacy was birthed from a desire to connect people with a purpose bigger than their job title. We give people the opportunity to be investors who connect with fellow philanthropists, put their hands on life-changing global projects, and experience the world in a new way through unique travel opportunities.
https://boundlessexpeditions.com/
Boundless Expeditions is a curiously-not-so-secret-travel-club-for-exploration-enthusiasts designed to provide exceptional voyages for like-minded explorers.
Documentaries:
Ru: Water is Life (2010) https://vimeo.com/160465021?share=copy
Jina Keji’s world revolves around walking six miles daily to collect enough water to sustain her family. At twelve years old, Jina is the primary caretaker for five siblings and a blind grandmother. Brilliant, beautiful, and gushing with joy, Jina will melt your heart as she represents a billion women seeking clean water in countless villages worldwide. How will one little girl’s life be changed if she is given easy access to clean water? For most of us, fresh water is a tap away. For others, it’s an arduous daily journey. For every human, water is life.
Acres of Diamonds (2015). https://vimeo.com/268453731
It is estimated that in India today, there are no less than twelve million children held in bonded slavery. Rather than attending school with other children their age, these children are forced to perform menial and even dangerous tasks for landlords with financial control over their families. Acres of Diamonds follows the work of Good News India, the largest 24/7 care provider in the world for neglected and destitute children. GNI rescues children from bonded slavery, providing them with a loving environment, nutrition, and education – 3 major pieces they need to be able to escape the cycle of poverty.
Books Written:
Into the Wonder (2024) https://shawnsmallstories.com/store/into-the-wonder/
Into the Wonder is an invitation to walk with a guide who has dedicated his life to connecting people with wonder. Shawn Small invites you to be part of his adventures from Milwaukee to the movie theater, Africa to Ireland, and beyond. You get to experience wonder through the eyes of a rare adult who has taken the struggles of childhood trauma, death-defying car wrecks, and the pain of church leadership gone awry and turned them into stepping stones on his adventure rather than painful memories that weigh him down. Through his stories, we see that wonder isn’t just for the lucky few but for anyone willing to step out of their comfort zone. Reading Into the Wonder feels like sitting by a campfire and listening to an old friend share his stories. The book will leave you asking why one man experienced so many amazing stories while simultaneously calling your soul to start your own wonder-filled adventure. Because wonder changes everything.
I Dream of Water (2021). https://shawnsmallstories.com/store/i-dream-of-water/
Jina dreams of water. This dream is shared by millions of girls whose lives revolve around the responsibility of finding enough water to sustain their families for one more day. This daily burden is their one obstacle to getting an education and the opportunities it brings. When water flows freely, so can these girls’ dreams of a better life. ‘I Dream of Water’ is the artistically stunning and hope-filled telling of the story of one girl who was given the opportunity to fly when her village was gifted with clean water. Water is basic. Water is life. This children’s book won the largest independent book contest in the world, the IPPY’s, for ‘Book Most Likely to Change the World.
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