On June 15th, Darius and Trevor are quitting their jobs and embarking on a 59-week, 59 National Park trip to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. They are a little more than 3 weeks away from hopping in a Dodge 2500 truck and driving to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. It would probably be a good idea if you had a little background about why it is that they are doing this trip:
As a kid, Darius’ dad took him to National Parks and shared with him the grandeur that our National Parks have to offer. He has always wanted to visit all of the parks. As he is about to turn 30 he realized that he was no closer to accomplishing that goal than he was when he was graduating from college in 2007. He could continue pretending to live out his childhood dreams by visiting 1 park per year and visiting all of them by the time he was 72. Instead, he has decided that it was more important to embark on a journey to visit all 59 parks as part of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
He recruited his friend Trevor to join, in hopes of taking advantage of his engineering skills along the way. For example, when the ignition on Trevor’s car broke, he simply hot-wired his own car with a ‘push to start’ button to fix it. It should also probably be mentioned that they both share a love of drinking beer, good coffee, campfires and jumping in photographs. Trevor recently spent some time watching YouTube videos on ‘How to do a backflip’, so you will probably want to keep an eye out for their photos and videos.
Just like Darius’ dad introduced the parks to him. He and Trevor want to introduce the parks to you. To do this trip they are quitting their jobs and taking to the road. As much as they wish they could support this out of their own pockets, they are coming to Rocket Hub because they need your support.
Your gift is going to support their most basic needs of food, shelter, and transportation. With those needs secured, they will be able to create blog entries, photos, and videos that will both introduce the Parks to you and inspire you to follow your own childhood dreams.
Here are some of the predicted costs for the trip:
Gas: $4,500 – They will be driving about 30,000 miles. At 20 miles per gallon and $3.00 per gallon, our gas costs alone will be $4,500.
Camping: $8,260 – Campsites will generally cost $20-25 a night. Over 413 nights that adds up to $8,260-$10,325.
Food: $8,260 – $10/day per person or $8,260 for the entire trip.
Ferry Ride: $2,000 – A ferry from Haines, AK to Bellingham, WA is just over $2,000.
Flights: $9,400
(1): Alaska – $5,000 (There are 5 Alaskan parks that require chartered planes)
(2): Hawai’i – $1,200
(3): American Samoa – $2,000
(4): American Virgin Islands – $1,200
Total cost: $32,420
They aren’t coming to you for the entire $32,420 because they are trying to do most of this on their own. That being said, if they surpass their $10,000 goal they would be able to eat more than just PB&J and rice and beans for the year. It should be noted that they have even considered giving up coffee and beer to not only save money, but also to save the trip itself.
Make your gift to #59in59, share with your friends, and help these two guys live out a childhood dream.
Please note: They aren’t going to limit access to their 59in59.com website based on whether or not you donate. The National Parks were founded on the idea that everyone should have access. They want that to be true about their blog, photos, and videos.