Jan 29, 2019
"We're the Parkbound Maitlands. This is our 402nd Park. We're
going to all of them. It's taken about 8 years to get to this
many... Our job is not to be like 'oh look at us, we've been to all
these Parks', we want kids, we want more people to come visit these
Parks to learn about the history of these Parks. We need to help
the world because the glaciers are slowly going away. We need more
people to help... to understand that these glaciers aren't going to
be here that long if we don't do something about it." -Gerald
Maitland
The Parkbound Maitlands are a traveling family of four that
have been to HUNDREDS of National Park Units, and have collected
incredible stories and fascinating knowledge, over the last 8
years.
I met the Junior Park Rangers Gerald and Jameson Maitland, and
their parents Cheri and Jim at Exit Glacier in Alaska, because of
their vests and jackets that were LITERALLY covered in Jr Park
Ranger badges and patches.
I asked if I could hear their story for the podcast and they
excitedly agreed.
Meeting the Parkbound Maitlands were one of the
highlights of my entire trip.
You can tell how much I enjoyed the conversation during this
interview, and after I turned the mic off, we continued to chat for
hours, and still keep in touch.
We had so much in common, even beyond our shared love of Parks
we had so many stories to exchange.
Plus, they’re just really nice people!
After I chatted with the kids about National Parks, I talked
to their parents about stories of traveling and meeting people on
the road, then we headed to their RV (with an attached trailer) to
get out of the rain and talk even more.
In this interview we talk about their many years of National
Park travel, the things they’ve learned while visiting the units,
some of their many stories, tips for travel, and so, so much
more.
And I end this episode in a unique way, so you won’t want to
miss that.
After listening to this interview, you will want to see the
incredible amount of patches and badges they have. You can find a
picture of the family (holding my pup) with all of the badges on
the Nat Park Stories
Instagram and
Facebook.
You can also see a bunch of pictures of them and hear a ton of
their fascinating stories online, just
google Parkbound Maitlands.