The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, seen from across the Tidal Basin surrounded by the area’s iconic cherry blossom trees, was one of Meyer’s first stops on his journey.
Now, 11 years later, that pledge has led to Meyer’s
idea for a journey that no one has ever taken. Meyer hopes to be the first person to visit all 400-
plus units of the U.S. National Parks system in one continuous trip and to be the youngest person to visit every site, which are found throughout all 50 states. He planned the start of his three-year expedition
to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. “I still remember making this goal in June 2014,”
said Meyer, who began his trip April 29 with the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial— two spots that are close to where he was singing in the choir of the Washington National Cathedral. “Ever since then I have been planning. I estimated that the trip would cost $300,000, but when I spoke to national parks experts they told me to double that cost.”
Life on the road
Meyer said his life has changed dramatically since that trip after his father’s funeral. The son of a pastor in what he called a “conservative state,” Meyer now considers himself a “citizen of the world,” who lived in Europe with a family he’d never met, studied in Canada, and has been working toward his goal of singing with the world-renowned choir Chanticleer. Still, Meyer couldn’t shake the idea that although
his dad loved being a pastor, he never got the chance to do all of the traveling and other things he wanted to do. Meyer realized if he planned a series of big trips every five years, he could enjoy a retirement of sorts while still working. That was the original idea—before he opted to
make a trip this extensive. To afford three years on the road, Meyer is finding
Meyer (left) pauses from a hike on the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls National Park with Marc Korman, the Maryland State delegate whose district encompasses the park.
VOICES OF FAITH •
LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 23
Photo: Andy Waldron
Photo:
TBCMikah.com
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