National Park Mini-Soapbox

The other day, I read a kind of nasty post a guy had written about people who have a goal to visit all of the 59 National Parks in the United States. He claimed that it was a very "elitist" goal, and that everyone wanting to do it was a hypocrite for doing all of this traveling and having a massive carbon footprint. I could link his post so you could read it yourself, but I don't even think he deserves the views. Overall he had a pretty bad attitude, and when I first read it my reaction was pretty much this-

I was kind of mad. Those are some serious balls, dude. You're honestly going to tell me that wanting to experience what our government has decided are the showcases of the natural world in America is "elitist?" Really?

Then I was sad for him. The point of those parks is for the "enjoyment and betterment of the American people." But, you know, I don't want to enjoy or better myself beyond the, oh, 24 national parks I can drive to in a [12 hour] day. (Including 9 I can drive to in 6 hours or less and 6 I can drive to in 4.) I mean, seriously, that's ridiculous. I'm incredibly lucky to live in such a central location for national parks, but it would be silly for me to say that I should only enjoy the west. That's just narrow-minded, and the kind of thinking that gets people nowhere.

I have a lot of feelings about the national parks. I want to win the lottery and give the park service like half a billion dollars. I want to bring back the CCC and put people to work improving our parks and monuments. I want to see AMERICA, unspoiled. All of it, from Denali to Death Valley to Hawaii Volcanoes and everything in between. And when I read on the internet about people like that dude, or the idiotic humans who want to sell off places like Yellowstone to the "highest bidder," I just want to Hulk-smash people. But I realize that won't accomplish anything, so in the meantime I'll just content myself with watching (and sharing) the incredible videos they put out at More Than Just Parks, and introducing people to the wonders that are our greatest national treasures.

Regardless of when or how you plan to visit our national parks, or even if you don't plan to visit all of them, I think visiting them is one of the most essential parts of being an American. Visiting all 59 is absolutely an admirable goal, whether you do it all in one go (like my rad new friends at Our Vie Adventures) or over time like Brady and I are.

Basically, the moral of this "brain vomit" today is that you should never let random d-bags on the internet tell you how to live your life. The end.