Speaking of National Parks...
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Anonymous
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Any of you have a goal of visiting all 63? At one point, I did, but the reality of it is that it's not going to happen due to the high costs associated with visiting some of the remote parks, when that money could go to a destination I'm much more interested in.
Plus the more I thought about it, the more I realize that the ones I haven't visited yet (outside of the Hawaii parks), I'm just not interested in. I just don't want to visit somewhere just to check it off a list, unless I'm already in the area -- and I don't think I'll be swinging by somewhere like American Samoa by happenstance anytime soon! 
Anyone here visit all 63? Anyone close to it? |
Anonymous
| OP - forgot to add. Ive been to 50 out of the 63 |
Anonymous
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My parents did almost all of them — there were fewer when they started — like they didn’t have American Samoa on their list and I think some additional Alaskan ones have been added.
I’ve been to most of them but some that we visited in the 70s or early 80s I only vaguely remember. I think it’s a fun idea like visiting all the mlb parks but for most people not the best way to maximize your travel time and dollars. If you do visit national parks, it’s fun to get the passport book and get all the stamps. I wish they had that in the 70s—I would have such a cool book by now! |
Anonymous
OP here - I love the passport book. I admit, I thought it was for kids so I poo-poo'd it...and didn't get on board with it until 2021. But at that point, I had already visited some of the tougher ones (namely, all of the Alaska ones - yes I have been to all of them) and I doubt I'll be going back to some of those parks to re-do the stamp 
But I have it now and I love it. I actually keep it in my purse in case I happen upon an NPS site (you'd be surprised how often it actually happens! I got the special 2024 Cherry Blossom stamp this year at the tidal basin). |
Anonymous
| You have the memories. You don’t need a stamp! |
Anonymous
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It’s odd to have these goals.
Maybe fun to track but going to a place you don’t really care about to say you did all of them seems OCD. |
Anonymous
Maybe. But most of the National Parks, Monuments, Historic Sites, Lakeshores, etc are marked that for a reason. I have been to about 50 and wouldn't mind getting the rest if the stars aligned. I even appreciate the smaller ones as you always learn something interesting. For example, John Brown's farm is well worth the stop but Harriet Tubman's retirement house is not. |
Anonymous
But you will still go to the on that "is not" to get to all of them. |
Anonymous
| Given how often I can travel (one big trip a year) and my typical budget (comfortable but absolutely not DCUM money), I feel like it would take up the rest of my life to do them all. There are other places I want to visit. The NPs take up maybe 10 spots on my bucket list. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| Yes, we have this goal. I actually gave my DH a pack of vintage postcards that includes one for each national park for Christmas so we can put them up as we visit. |
Anonymous
| No. I’d rather visit every Caribbean island. |
Anonymous
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I'd rather spend more time in places like Yosemite than visit the ones in Ohio and SC.
If I had to choose. |
Anonymous
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Emily Pennington did it and wrote a book about it. I used to follow her dispatches on Outside Online.
https://www.amazon.com/Feral-Losing-Finding-Americas-National/dp/1542039703 |
Anonymous
| I only want to visit the good ones. |