World traveler, Mikah Meyers includes Big Thicket Preserve in quest to visit all U.S. National Parks and break world record

World traveler and national park enthusiast, 30 year old Mikah Meyer, came near the Greater Houston area in one of the most epic road trips of all time—seeing all 415+ U.S. National Park Service sites! His latest stop was at Big Thicket Preserve in Texas on Friday, March 3rd (www.nps.gov/bith/index.htm.)  

1. How did you decide to embark on this endeavor? 

After losing my father to cancer when I was 19, I knew I wanted to do something at age 30 to honor his life cut short and encourage people to live for today because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. As I contemplated what to do, I realized I wanted to see the most beautiful places in America, and figured the national parks must be it! Once I realized the National Park Service wasn’t just the 59 well-known capital “N,” capital “P” National Parks, but encompassed more than 400+ sites (many of which just have different titles for political reasons, but are still natural wonders), I decided to visit every unit the NPS manages.

2. Tell me your age & what you do when you’re not spending time in the parks. 

When I’m not in the parks, I’m sharing about them on social media, blogging about them, or planning for the next one. Despite popular opinion that I’m on a “3-year vacation,” this project is more equivalent to two full-time jobs that don’t pay. I am essentially at work 24/7. The project will either succeed or fail based on how much time I put into it, so I basically spend all my energy focused on bringing it to fulfillment. If I didn’t have to fund this project while undertaking it, I would spend that time playing ping-pong, writing books, or planning future travels.

Outside of this project, I have two degrees in Music Performance and was a singer with a few professional choirs before embarking on this trip. I still perform on the road, singing as a soloist at the Sunday services of churches along my route to fundraise for this project.

3. How do you choose your parks & what are you looking to do when you get there?

Choosing the parks was pretty easy. The National Park Service has an official list of the 417 units under their management, so by deciding to visit all of them, my choice was made for me (it does get a little complicated when they add sites mid-journey though. When I started this project there were 411 units and they’ve added 6 more since I began!).

The National Park Travelers Club is an organization that helps people track their visits to the NPS units, along with the Passport To Your National Parks® which allows visitors to stamp a special Passport®  which tracks their visits and in my case, as I try to set two world records, proves I was at the site.

My #1 goal when visiting a park is to fully experience it. Whether that’s hiking, taking a guided tour, getting out on a boat/kayak, or simply taking in the diverse surroundings, I want to make sure I’m fully participating in what the site has to offer. It wouldn’t be worth driving 125,000 miles if I was just going to stick my foot in and leave.

4. Is there a particular person that inspired you? 

My dad. He passed away at 58 and didn’t get to take part in the retirement plans he’d worked toward. That really shook my world view and has made me try to live every day to the fullest, since I don’t know which will be my last.

My dad also inspired me because he really loved his job as a Lutheran campus pastor. I hope to one day be the first openly gay host of a mainstream travel show and write books about my journeys, so I’m striving to be as passionate and in love with my career as he was.

5. Message to folks who haven’t had time to visit national parks:

 We live in an age when anyone can see any part of the world at any moment from the the palm of their hand. That’s pretty incredible. But no matter how high-res a smartphone screen, nothing can capture the experience of physically being in these majestic places and letting their beauty surround you, literally. If someone hasn’t visited a park, I would challenge them to take the next Saturday they set aside for binge-watching a TV series, and instead plan a road trip with three of their closest friends to a NPS site. After that, they can watch House of Cards all they want (full disclosure: I love House of Cards, so no slight intended).

 Also, you can Find Your Park no matter where you live! A common statement I hear is, “Oh, I don’t live near any parks. They’re all out west…” Every state and territory in the USA has at least one National Park Service site, so you don’t have to live in Colorado to be near one. 

6. Favorite experience of your journey thus far:

Snorkeling the underwater trail in Buck Island Reef National Monument, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

For this Nebraska-native, prairie kid, getting to swim in the ocean surrounded by a school of 500 fish was a completely foreign experience, but an incredible one! Not only did it help me overcome my fear of sharks (being able to see the water underneath you helps the Jaws soundtrack running through one’s head), but it was such a cool moment to know this existed in my own country! 

That’s the beauty of the United States. Within one nation we have deserts, mountains, tundras, rain forests and coral reefs. Americans are fortunate to live in a diverse country, and one with well-developed infastructure to travel with, so we can experience many different ecosystems even if we don’t have the time or money to travel abroad.

 PHOTOS BY CORY JAMES