Mikah Meyer

On April 29, 2016 I launched a 3-year journey to visit all 411 National Park Service sites. That number has since grown to 418,* and I'm planning to finish on April 29, 2019 three years to the minute this road trip began at the Washington Monument. By sharing park tips via my Facebook page, providing a place to stay or warm meal during trying times on the road, donating to the project's expenses, or Liking and Sharing posts on social media that allowed the parks and the messages of this road trip to reach further. To view the Ranking All 400+ National Parks blogs as soon as they go live, enter your email here Monday April 29 10:00am - Meeting Time at the Washington Monument Lodge (the gift shop/bathrooms on the East Side of the Monument) 10:30am

After 2.5 years on this journey to all 417 National Park Service sites, I am thrilled to announce that I've partnered with REI to share reasons why their #OptOutside campaign is so fitting for my project. Beyond just getting outdoors on Black Friday, #OptOUTside ;) has many relevant ties to what my national parks journey has become, and I'm excited to share those with you over the coming weeks. So stay tuned to this blog for updates on how to best #OptOutside this holiday season and beyond, and join me on my  where I will be giving away four $50 REI gift cards to help you be better equipped to #OptOutside! Whether you're looking for inspiration to conquer metaphorical mountains that have kept you from enjoying the outdoors, or some new shoes to climb those actual mountains, I invite you to join me as we add to my journey, an opportunity to #OptOutside.

For all my favorite American Samoa photos, visit Because the logistics of accessing this park are one of the biggest struggles for most travelers, I’m going to describe the intricacies of visiting American Samoa while I take you through my 9 days on the islands. After being taught one of their dances, I shared a similar one from my college days in Memphis (My "most popular video ever" at the top of this blog via YouTube embed, or Since the main activity in the park on Tutuila (the big/main island with Pago Pago) is hiking, and official trails were closed, that would leave most visitors with either the option of exploring the other islands or the small beaches around town. (another $150—cash, you basically have to pay with cash everywhere, but it’s USD which is helpful to American travelers) to arrive in time for a 9:45am flight to Pago Pago…which was delayed 2 hours… There’s only 1 flight per week, on Samoa Airways from PPG (Pago Pago), meaning you either spend 15 minutes on land between the round-trip flight (15 minutes is not worth your time, and the stamp on Ofu Island is also not worth the money.

"The weather is good enough today, but we don't have any planes..." Nearly a year ago, I began making plans for how to tackle Alaska's 23 sites. I'd jump out of bed, gather my "Go Bag" (akin to if you're 9 months pregnant, except with perhaps less GoPros) and wait for "The Moment" when myself and 3 compatriots would gather our belongings and run to meet a bush plane to fly an hour to the least visited park in the National Park System (with fewer visitors each year than scale MOUNT EVEREST): To get there, one must get to Anchorage, then fly to King Salmon, then general wisdom says to build in 4-7 days to wait for weather to be good enough in 3 places (your departure point, an hour's worth of Aluetian Range land, and the park itself) to fly to the ancient exploded crater of Aniakchak. Not good enough weather..." For 2 days we waited on this news until Day 3: "The weather is good enough, but we don't have any planes..."