The Harvard Travellers Club is an organization that has provided a venue for adventurous travelers to gather and socialize since 1902.
The club meets 8 times each year, holding over 875 meetings since inception. Our speakers include many legendary explorers, scientists, mountaineers and adventurers. An affiliation with Harvard University is not required for membership. |
NOTE: Meetings for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season will be held remotely via Zoom. The Club's Council has monitored the situation ongoing, and has determined for the safety of our members and guests to go virtual for the rest of the '20-'21 season.
Please continue to join us! Although our presenters are remote, they have made (and continue to make) their journeys and adventures as accessible to us as ever. Club meetings are held in the Massachusetts Room of the Harvard Club on Commonwealth Avenue. Cocktails (cash bar) will be served at 6:00 PM, dinner ($71) at 6:45 and the presentation will commence at 8:00. Club meetings are attended by members and their guests. If you are not currently a member of the Harvard Travellers Club, but would like to attend this meeting as a guest, or would simply like more information about the Club, please contact Swing Robertson at swing@harvardtravellersclub.org. The dress code for our meetings is business casual. |
The 2020-2021 Season at a Glance
Speaker
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Subject (click date button for details)
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Crossing the Empty Quarter of Oman
Mark Evans Eightyeight years later, Mark will speak to the Harvard Travellers Club about the same trip he and his Omani companions made when they left Salalah in 2017 on December 10th, exactly the same date that Thomas set off in 1931. They arrived in Doha 49 days later. Mark is a modern-day explorer in the vein of the olden days. He has a passion for historical exploration, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in London. He has lived and explored the Middle East over the last 20 years, and has undertaken adventures in Greenland, Svalbard, Melville Island, NWT, and more. |
Mark Evans |
Crossing the Empty Quarter of Oman |
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Exploration and Excavation in the Siberian Arctic
Trevor Wallace For the past 5 years he has been working with Dr. Gino Caspari on the archaeological docu-series Frozen Corpses Golden Treasures, which is set to be released in 2021. Trevor will be sharing with the Club about his years excavating the oldest Scythian tomb in Siberia and working as a guide in the Arctic. He will talk about the lessons he learned living out in the field for months at a time, documenting discoveries that have rewritten history. As the youngest Vice President in the 116 year history of The Explorers Club, he will talk about being part of this incredible legacy and forging a new path for the next generation of explorers. In 2018 he was awarded the Explorers’ Club “New Explorer of the Year” distinction. |
Trevor Wallace |
Exploration and Excavation in the Siberian Arctic |
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Breaking the Cycle:
Worldwide Bicycle Expeditions as Training for the South Pole Kate Leeming
Crossing 22,040 km over ten months, Kate’s Breaking the Cycle in Africa Expedition was not only a physical quest, but an odyssey to highlight the development needs and activities of war-torn and poverty-stricken nations. Kate will also speak about her latest challenge, Breaking the Cycle South Pole, which will include the first bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the South Pole (2021-22). Preparations so far have included polar training expeditions in Svalbard, Northeast Greenland and Arctic Canada, and in 2018/19/20, a preparatory expedition on each continent (except Antarctica). These challenging expeditions are integral with Kate’s Breaking the Cycle Education program that aims to help "prepare our future leaders to make informed decisions to create a better world". |
Kate Leeming |
Breaking the Cycle: Worldwide Bicycle Expeditions as Training for the South Pole |
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Global Rescue Adventures Across the Planet
Dan Richards It provided services to its members during major events including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and the 2013 civil unrest in Egypt. As founder and CEO of Global Rescue, Dan Richards has seen it all! Join us as Dan shares stories about dramatic rescues in many parts of the world and under seemingly insurmountable circumstances. |
Dan Richards |
Global Rescue Adventures Across the Planet |
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Members Night |
Tina and Frank Slingsby on "Camping in Polar Bear Country, Svalbard", and Ken Maclaurin on "My Bid for the Seven Summits" |
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He's also the author of Critical Hours -- Search and Rescue in the White Mountains (UPNE, 2018). Based on his years of experience documenting accidents, Sandy will cover key ways accidents come about, and what could have been done to prevent them. |
Sandy Stott |
Accidents & Rescues in the White Mountains: The Clueless, The Unlucky, The Boundary-Pushers
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Traversing the NorthwestPassage: East to West and West to East
Sean Meagher He has completed numerous historic voyages, among which are the two he will speak about tonight: traversing the NW Passage from East to West (his was the 216th vessel to do so) and again from West to East (where his was the third private ship and 9th vessel of any kind to have made the journey.) Tonight's talk is co-sponsored with the Harvard Business School Alumni of Boston. |
Sean Meagher |
Traversing the Northwest Passage: East to West and West to East. Co-sponsored with the Harvard Business School Alumni of Boston |
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Re-creating the 1883 Greely Arctic Expedition
James Shedd and Geoffrey Clark Of the 26 men that started, only six returned. James Shedd, Greely's great-great-grandson, was tapped by Geoffrey Clark - a HTC member - to help re-create the expedition - minus the depressing return rate - for a documentary. Join James and Geoff as they tell their story about this 250-mile, 5 week kayak expedition along the narrow sea between Canada and Greenland, near the North Pole. |
James Shedd and Geoffrey Clark |
The 1883 Greely Arctic Expedition Re-created |