WE DID IT! We made it to all 63 U.S. National Parks! Official date - 9.22.24. We started this journey technically in 2019, but we didn’t make it a real mission until 2020.
Currently writing this in our last National Park, Grand Tetons National Park and I just can’t believe we’re here. This was a personal accomplishment I never expected to do in my lifetime. It’s been an incredible journey that I will never forget. The experiences we had, the challenges we endured, the planning, the new people we met, the friends we got closer with, the food we ate, the views we saw — will always have an imprint in my mind.
Most people think we’re crazy for doing this while running our own businesses, but for this entire journey, I never set an email responder. I never not responded to my team or my clients or let it affect our timelines — for every phone call on a mountain, zoom call in an Airbnb, payroll I ran at a campsite, emails and working on designs in the car, it was all worth it. The epitome of burning the candle at both ends, but allowing yourself enough self care and time in nature to not burn out. Many would say that would take away from the experience and I should get off my phone, it’s just my reality and doing that allowed me to achieve this goal while still running and growing my business. I don’t regret a thing.
For those that know me, know that I am a workhorse. If it wasn’t for my husband setting this goal for us, I would never take the time away from the office to do this. Let alone, know how to or create the time to plan for something like this. I’m so grateful because it also allowed us to have so much quality time together while I feel in our daily life, we don’t get much. We even got engaged and then married during this journey.
What surprised me the most in this journey was how diverse our country is. Visiting the National Parks not only allowed us to see the natural beauty of our landscape, but also the surrounding cities and small towns that were a must visit. I feel that I’ve gained so much life experience during this journey, bringing so much inspiration to my career. My design philosophy revolves around bringing the natural beauty into the interior spaces we design and I can’t think of a better way to get inspiration.
As I reflect back on this, many people say it can be difficult to turn your passion into your career. They say that you can start to lose the passion. I turned my passion of interior design into my career. But at the same time, without knowing it, I discovered another passion (hiking and travel), that wasn’t my career, but in the end, fuels it. Therefore, keeping my passion for interior design alive and feeling inspired in my career.
I’m excited to share so much of our experiences at specific National Parks, which ones have been our favorites, what we would recommend based on the adventure you’re seeking and which ones we want to go back to for more.
- Kaitlyn Wolfe