Adventurer Mikah Meyer has completed the trip of a lifetime, breaking the record as the first person to visit all the United States National Park Service Units in a single trip. The trip, which took over 3 years, has taken him to 419 destinations and today he ended it where he started, in Washington D.C.
At the age of 30, Meyer was inspired to pack up his belongings and head toward the unknown, paying tribute to his father who had died 11 years prior. During his journey, Meyer did not expect to encounter so much about his own identity as a gay man and how his experience would influence the lives of many queer people who find his adventure inspiring.
Last year we interviewed Meyer and he shared how the journey started:
I lost my dad to cancer when I was 19. He was just 58 and was a big road trip fan. Since he was in hospice and died during my freshman year of college, I never got those long father-child road trips to college my 3 older sisters said were so formative.
So a few days after his funeral I took a road trip to heal. Have done one every year since his passing, and wanted to do something “epic” at age 30 to share this lesson that tomorrow’s not guaranteed; that everyone should pursue their dreams ASAP because we might pass away sooner than we hope.
Meyer’s celebratory culmination in Washington D.C. took place at the Washington Monument, surrounded by hundreds of people who have been cheering him on since the very beginning. Media and camera crews gathered around as fans lined up to take photos with Meyer. The adventurer hopes that this will beginning of many new adventures. He hopes to write a book about his epic trip and hopefully become the subject of a travel show. The sky’s the limit for Meyer!
Check out the video of the final stop on his 3-year journey:
Congratulations to Mikah!
