Antarctica marks Shuntelle Paynter’s 7th visited continent
(Shuntelle Paynter, via Instagram @ajourneytotelle)
Bermudian Shuntelle Paynter, 32, is an adventurist in every sense of the word. She began her globetrotting journey a decade ago, and has made it her mission to visit as much of the world as possible. By 2022 she had visited all New 7 Wonders of the World. After realising that dream, she focused on her a next challenge—setting foot on all seven continents. On the 8th of December 2024, Shuntelle reached that goal when she arrived in Antarctica.
“It’s been a journey, ten years of travelling… I was speechless. I couldn’t even cry, I was so happy.” Towering, snow-capped mountains provided a picturesque backdrop for the penguins, sea lions and humpback whales photographed by Shuntelle and shared with her 3,000+ Instagram followers.
Miss Paynter notes a distinction between social media influencers who are ‘look at me’ travellers versus ‘learn from me’ travellers, placing herself in the latter camp. “It’s not always the highlight reel or everything that goes right. Anyone who travels knows that things always go wrong.” She says it’s important to be open and honest with your followers about the good, the bad, and the ugly.
When asked about safety concerns or misconceptions, Shuntelle says that there are a few rules that she follows to ensure her trips minimise external threats: “When I’m travelling, I’m never in an isolated area. I need to be where people are because I’ travelling solo. Never post (your location or content to social media) in real time, and always let your emergency contact know where you are.”
After completing such a monumental goal, Shuntelle says that she’s taking the time to savour the journey to Antarctica—but has her sights set on Eastern Africa. “I do want to go to Rwanda to do gorilla tracking, so that may be on my bucket list for 2025. But right now I’m just sitting in this accomplishment.” You can watch our full interview with Shuntelle Paynter, below.
