{"id":50897,"date":"2019-04-29T12:39:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T19:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=50897"},"modified":"2024-04-11T12:34:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T19:34:29","slug":"mikah-meyer-why-i-visited-all-419-national-park-sites-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/mikah-meyer-why-i-visited-all-419-national-park-sites-in-the-united-states","title":{"rendered":"Why I Visited All 419 National Park Sites in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWho\u2019s gonna stay with George?\u201d My fellow rafters and I asked each other, knowing full well one member of our group couldn\u2019t complete the strenuous side canyon hike\u2014and we didn\u2019t want him pooping in the boat in our absence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a question most expeditions grapple with, yet it was our reality after a Canada goose refused to separate himself from our group. For four days and three nights on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument, we\u2019d been followed by a bird we\u2019d come to call \u201cGeorge the Goose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s hurt?\u201d We wondered. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen him fly at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he thinks we\u2019ll give him food?\u201d (We didn\u2019t.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s lonely and just wants a flock?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever it was, George kept swimming next to our raft (even after getting sucked under rapids), sleeping next to our tents and providing comedic relief as he flapped his way through our side canyon hikes.<\/p>\n

It was the kind of adventure I\u2019d dreamed about a few years earlier, on the day I turned 28, aware that in one year\u2019s time, my life would be half-over if I passed away at the same age as my dad: 58.<\/p>\n

But what if I didn\u2019t make it that far? What if, like the esophageal cancer that surprised my father, my life was cut short before retirement, before 50, before I\u2019d gotten to accomplish my life\u2019s goals?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question that weighed heavily on me after my dad\u2019s death, when I was 19. Already, I found myself wondering: \u201cWhat if tomorrow is too late?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that question that motivated me to climb into the driver\u2019s seat of my dad\u2019s car a few days after his funeral, and honor his love of driving with my first independent road trip.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what pushed me to do it again at age 20, and then take a road trip every year around April 29, to remember the day he passed and the lessons it taught me.<\/p>\n

And at 28, it\u2019s what made me decide to throw my life\u2019s savings at visiting every National Park Service site when I reached 30.<\/p>\n

It was the kind of adventure I\u2019d dreamed about a few years earlier, on the day I turned 28, aware that in one year\u2019s time, my life would be half-over if I passed away at the same age as my dad: 58.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, on April 29, 2016, after 11 years of annually mourning that day, I hit the road in \u201cVanny McVanface,\u201d the cargo van I\u2019d spent two months making home, with more than 400 National Park Service sites ahead of me. Launching this journey at the Washington Monument, I watched it fade from my rearview mirror as I traded my D.C. home for the open road.<\/p>\n

For the next three years, I followed a nonstop schedule, visiting parks and chasing temperate weather, primarily since I was living in a van home with no climate control, and also because I needed to reach sites only open during certain seasons.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>\n
\n
View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Mikah Meyer (@mikahmey)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n