The QSLs below are from some of my own DX & Islands on the Air (IOTA) travels. Mixing my hobbies of ham radio, photography, and scuba diving -- I try to go to an island or semi-rare remote outpost at least once a year. After each trip I enjoy slowly retracing my steps through the hundreds of photographs that are invariably taken, and it's always great fun to try to select a single shot that best represents the place for a photo QSL. Since most QSL companies will print in lots of 1,000, I took to the idea of making a different design for each of those increments. This always keeps me motivated as I added QSOs in the log, always knowing I will have the pleasure of designing a whole new QSL card once I break each 1,000 QSO barrier.

Visiting a relative in Anchorage for a couple summers in the mid 1990s gave me the first chance to really take the show on the road. My first time away from the big fixed antennas and amplifiers in my home shack really opened my eyes; I had not known how easy it would be to work the world barefoot with nothing more than simple wire antennas! Once that mental barrier had been overcome, it was easy to plan to bring the rig with me on many subsequent trips over the years. I also had a great time taking this shot for the photo QSL -- right after snapping this photograph I had to quickly duck to avoid being pelted by that snowball!

---------------------------------------

Rurutu, Austral Islands 2001

In September 2001 I journeyed to southern French Polynesia to the island of Rurutu, in the Austral Islands chain. Whales come here to breed, and it is possible to get very close to these amazing creatures both above and below the waterline.

---------------------------------------

American Samoa 2002

Compared with next-door (western) Samoa, the beautiful islands that comprise American Samoa receive surprisingly few tourists. Only a short 5 hour flight from Hawaii makes it tantalizingly close, and in 2002 I went twice: the first on a mini one-man DXpedition to activate Tutuila (OC-045) and Ofu (OC-077), and a few months later as a team member for the multinational K8T & K8O IOTA expeditions to the same locales.

---------------------------------------

Grand Turk Island 2003

A quick flip through all of the VP5 QSLs I've collected over the years revealed a startling surprise: ALL of them were from the Caicos Islands, none from the Turks. I found this odd, considering it's equally easy to get to both island groups. Since the Turks and the Caicos islands are separate counters in the IOTA program, I have thus concentrated all my travels to VP5 to the Turks side of this country to give contacts for IOTA NA-003 to the many people (including myself) who still needed it for a new one. The scuba diving in this part of the world is spectacular, and I fell into a comfortable rhythm of spending my days in the water and evenings on the air.

---------------------------------------

Salt Cay 2004

Back to the Turks & Caicos Islands again the following year. Once again I stayed in the Turks (NA-003) but switched islands to tiny Salt Cay for this trip. Diving occupied most of my daylight hours while radio was relegated to the late afternoons and evenings.

---------------------------------------

Smith Island, Maryland 2005

For a change I decided to keep things domestic in 2005. I found two islands I still needed that were very close to each other in the Chesapeake Bay. This made it possible to knock out two different IOTA groups in one trip, which was doubly nice. I split a week between the two places and was pleased by how many people said "Thanks for the new one!" during my time on the air.

---------------------------------------

Tangier Island, Virginia 2005

The second half of my 2005 IOTA trip. After the silence & solitude of Smith Island, Tangier Island seemed positively cosmopolitan by comparison.

---------------------------------------

Samoa 2006

Back to the South Pacific to see the other Samoa this time. Despite being on the bottom of the sunspot cycle, I got lucky with solar conditions that topped out with an SFI index over 100 and A & K indexes that stayed at zero for several days during my stay. Had several great evening openings to Europe on both 15m and 20m as result!

---------------------------------------

British Virgin Islands 2006

Another trip just a few months later; I really worked a lot of stations in 2006! I logged nearly 3,000 from Tortola, BVI, in between scuba dives and sightseeing various islands in VP2V & KP2. Got to design three different photo QSL designs as a result.

---------------------------------------

St Kitts 2008

After two trips in 2006, I took 2007 off. Solar conditions were horrible anyway, so I reasoned I wasn't missing much. I sat waiting and wondering when the bottom of the solar cycle would end, but it seemed to go on forever. Even as the horrid propagation conditions continued throughout 2007 and well into 2008, I could no longer put off the travel bug. Back into the scuba diving/radio routine, this time to the relatively uncommon nation of St Kitts & Nevis. Happy to say that I managed nearly 2,200 QSOs even though conditions kept me off the high bands and confined me mostly between 20m - 40m.

---------------------------------------

St Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles 2009

The endless solar minimum seems to continue, but I somehow manage to get 3,033 QSOs in the log from St Eustatius (IOTA NA-145) despite feeling a bit under the weather and taking more time off to watch football, sightsee, and otherwise avoid talking into the mic that might have been the case otherwise.

---------------------------------------

Iraq 2010

My first experience as an operator of a large DXpedition team! Have to say it exceeded all expectations, from the fun & interesting characters I met to having the adventure of visiting a place I'm quite sure I would have never seen otherwise.

---------------------------------------

St Eustatius 2010

Exactly a year earlier I operated from this island in the Netherlands Antilles, but on 10/10/10 the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist and several new DXCC entities were born. So there I was, in the same shack at the same desk on the same island a year later handing out a brand new DXCC entity to thousands (nearly 12,000 QSOs, to be more precise). I had always wanted to operate from a BRAND NEW ONE and have to say this was one of the most interesting ham radio experiences of my life.

---------------------------------------

South Sudan 2011

Two years and two brand new DXCC entity activations in a row! I was definitely on a roll. In July 2011 after South Sudan seceded from Sudan to become the world's newest country, the DX Friends/Tifariti Gang and the Intrepid DX Group combined efforts to put South Sudan on the air for the first time. 121,286 QSOs later, the QSL below was sent out to those who made contact with us. I was doubly honored not only to be part of this historic event, but also to have one of my photographs chosen to be on the front of the QSL.

---------------------------------------

Conway Reef 2012

Continuing to push myself towards new experiences, 2012 was the first time I joined up with a tent & generator DXpedition. A multinational group of us set sail for remote Conway Reef in the South Pacific. Operating radio combined with birdwatching and snorkeling in one of the most pristine locations on earth. Fantastic experience!

---------------------------------------

Sint Maarten 2013

Back to the Caribbean after a three-year absence, this time to the island of Sint Maarten. I operated from the Dutch half of the island from a QTH right next to Princess Juliana International Airport, world famous for its low-flying aircraft arrivals over Maho Beach. I spent the days at the airport photographing incoming aircraft and nights on the air.

---------------------------------------

Eastern Kiribati 2013

Second DX trip of 2013 saw me as one of five operators traveling down to Christmas Island in December to help operate T32RC in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Robinson Club. Fantastic beachcombing and photography of countless nesting sooty terns kept me occupied when not on the air.