elevator eyes

Everett Williams for Shelborne Miami

Everett Williams for COS

This is Wilfred Thesiger at Lake Como in 1932, a fit 22-year-old Englishman fresh out of Oxford.

Born in Addis Ababa, he went on to become one of the last great gentleman explorers. He crossed the Empty Quarter twice by camel with Bedouin companions, lived for years among the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq, and traveled vast stretches of Africa and Asia on foot.

A decorated soldier from World War II, he deliberately rejected cars, planes, and modern comforts in favor of traditional ways of life that were already disappearing.

His books, especially Arabian Sands, remain classics not because of drama, but because of honest respect for the people he traveled with and the endurance they shared. Thesiger showed what it looked like to live with real curiosity and grit in a changing world.