The Overview
Join two impassioned adventurers with uniquely opposite perspectives as they explore each of the 391 destinations of the National Park Service. Together Tom & Laura will follow their “Passport to Your National Parks” guidebook collecting cancellations stamps across the USA on one extremely extended road trip.
Our show is not just about the parks, the guidebook or the road trip but about the people we meet along the way and taking advantage of the opportunities they present.
We have found that The National Parks are great places to meet interesting people that have a passion for life. Often, these people want to help to educate and inspire others to have a passion for adventure, the environment, the outdoors, culture, history, cuisine and creating new friendships.
We seek these people out during the course of the day and allow them to guide us on our explorations of the park and surrounding locations.
If somebody suggests we go somewhere, do something or try something new, well we have a rule that says we have to go check it out.
Immersive Exploration of the National Parks
We are turning the focus away from only the top ten National Parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon to 391 interesting destinations, of all sizes, that tend to be also a lot closer to home.
These 391 destinations are the total of the nation’s national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, the White House and more.
The National Park System covers more than 84 million acres in every state except Delaware, and including the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Sounds like an exciting, and warm winter to me.
We are not a documentary of the National Park System. The show is not focused around fancy helicopter views, ranger guided hikes and perfect sunsets in inaccessible corners. The parks themselves are just a background for the series and we explore more of the country then just the parks.
“Passport to Your National Parks” Book
As our guide, we are following our “Passport to Your National Parks” book. It details the facts and exact locations of all the National Parks. In addition it gives us a place to collect cancellation stamps at every park.
Similar to an international passport, each park we visit has an ink pad with a rubber stamp that distinguishes that park’s name, location and the date it was visited. We stamp our passports to record our visit and the stamps become collector’s items. Other collectors often brag to us about how many stamps they have collected.
Collecting cancellation stamps motivates us, and the 1.5 million plus other collectors, to check out destinations of the National Park Service we might not explore otherwise. People tell us that their favorite parks are often the ones they didn’t even know existed, and that they found because they were stopping to get only the stamp.
The guidebook has the parks broken down into nine regions and it contains detailed maps of the regions. This is perfect for keeping a focus of where you have been and where you are going but, we do not let it limit our sense of adventure.
A Real Extended Road Trip
We really are on a road trip. We drive everywhere we go. We are free to take as much time, and make as many stops as we want. Every possession we own is in the back of the GMC Yukon Hybrid and we have gone months without taking a break from the road.
It provides an authentic experience driving to all these destinations while having the stress and fatigue play a role in the show. We travel on the road the same way normal people do in an effort to showcase the realism of traveling
None of the action is planned or scripted. If you see us talking to someone, they have no idea, we have no idea and the camera people have no idea what is going to happen next. This is exciting to watch, but challenging to film. We think it’s worth missing some visual effects to gain the feel of an intense, unscripted viewpoint of interactions among strangers.
When we arrive at a new park the first question is always, “Where do I get my Passport stamped?” Then we ask the Ranger, “What should we do? What should we see? What pictures should we take? Who should we talk to?” The Ranger provides us information and a map and we discuss activities, pick out what we want to do and go do it.
This is How We Do It
The show becomes a give and take of opinions, ideas and suggestions of the people we encounter while traveling. We are always asking for people to suggest things to do and then we follow out those suggestions.
Our GMC Yukon Hybrid is fully stocked with backpacking equipment and mountain bikes but we want to engage in other activities such as canoeing, surfing or climbing, then we have to ask other visitors for help. Most of the time people offer to teach us, and they usually let us borrow their equipment.
I asked a couple to show us how to rock climb. Instead, they insisted that I get in the harness and try it myself. After I came down with a bloody knee they insisted that Mike the camera guy try it as well.
We hear that the only reason we get offers to do crazy things is because we have cameras with us. That may be true at times and if it is, we will tell you things were set up. It is not the reason though.
We get into these neat situations because of our willingness to approach people. Talking to people is what leads us to opportunities. We establish who we are and what we are doing. We then show an interest in what it is that led us to approach those people in the first place. Individuals that do outgoing things love to share their knowledge on the things they do best. They also love to teach others how they can share in the experience as well. We take advantage of this fact.
Within our first five minutes of filming I saw three people riding their horses through Great Falls National Park. We asked them about having horses in the park. Before I knew it they were inviting us to come watch a Polo match that Saturday. The man on the horse was the president of the Polo Association and we ended up watching the match from his own personal box. We found two kids to teach us how to play Polo. We then ended up meeting the heirs to the Oliva Cigar Company, who taught me how to properly smoke a cigar. By the end of the night we had an offer to go crab boating.
We are always offering to take other people’s photos and this usually leads us to an incredible story about other travelers that we wouldn’t have had a chance to share otherwise.
What We Provide the Audience
People watch because they want to know what is going to happen next. Where are we going to start the day? Where are the people we meet going to lead us to next? It may be four episodes away before we even get to take advantage of offers, so the viewer always wants to tune in to continue the story and see what characters pop back up.
We provide an authentic representation of a location and not something that was set up weeks in advance and plays out without an error. It does rain on our show and you will miss some great scenery because the mountain views do get covered in fog.
People will learn something about the history of a location while also seeing that they can have fun while learning. In each location we will provide the viewer with one specific fact or idea that they will be able to use in real life within that week.
The viewers will learn not only about history. More importantly, they will learn about life and the people we encounter everyday that we live on this planet. Road trips are lessons of life in themselves.
The Point
People can no longer afford to travel overseas to London, Rome, Thailand and Peru. They can afford, and are looking for travel ideas within a days drive. People are searching for travel ideas within a day’s drive because that is what they are able afford. We are providing people with access to see what the National Parks closest to them have to offer. We will inspire them to go visit those parks and hopefully many more.
The point is not to encourage people to leave their jobs to go on a road trip across the country to 391 National Parks. Most people are not able to leave their comfort zones enough to experience the things we will achieve. We are inviting people to come along with us and experience these ideas through us.
We can only hope to inspire others, to make the choice of setting out towards wherever it is they dream, they can go.
Credible Authorship
We are not retired writers, chefs, actors or artists on endless budgets traveling the world sampling the cuisine and finding tourist traps. We are young and are specialists at what we are doing. Not because we have written about travel, but because we grew up living it and now we are off doing it for life.
In situations were one of us is already an expert we our partner as we teach the audience. We become the experts and the credible source of information instead of always having to be trailed by someone, as we rely on them for an education.
We teach conservation and appreciation for animals and the environment, but we also show the reality of hunting and fishing with episodes showcasing big game experiences with elk, moose, deer, and bear to fishing segments, from inland lakes, trout streams, to deep sea.
One day we are a cooking show and the next a game show, or shark show, then a sports show, rescue 911 and finally a comedy. We can begin with a focus on fine wines and conclude with climbing tall pines. There is no sustained style and that’s exciting to watch.
We incorporate our own experiences, connections, networks, family and friends into the show whenever possible. When there is an extra host there is someone to share knowledge with, and also that can share knowledge they have. Why would I want to be taught to kite surf from a tour guide when my friend Matt in Maine kite surfs everyday.
Lust for Life Mentalities
We have fire jumped with a friend in Colorado, were taught bull riding by a friend who is PBR Pro in North Carolina, water skied the Great Lakes behind my dad’s boat, witnessed world class Polo from friends we met in a park, sailed to Ohio on my friend Paul’s 26’sailboat and won two shotguns shooting competitions on our first time out.
For some locations we join high school classes on field trips to the Parks. On occasion we join senior citizen tour bus groups as they visit our parks. We have even put our vehicle in the back of a tractor-trailer and rode with the driver as he taught us about the country from his point of view.
At every location we try to clean the parks up by joining with school groups and citizen brigades to naturalize the shorelines, hiking trails and water from the garbage and pollution that others leave behind.
In smaller parks with a lot of history, we like to do little skits or interludes as characters of the time. We like to dress up and we teach a lesson as we try to act like we know what we are talking about.
The National Park Service
The purpose of the National Parks is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
I am willing to bet that the 272,623,980 million people that visited one of the 391 National Parks last year would not be able to name more then 11 other parks in the National Park System. I guarantee that by the end of the first season of “PASSPORT to Your National Treasures” these people will be able to name 22 more destinations.
Thinking Green & The Environment
Traveling as Ecotourists:
Reducing our Carbon Footprint: Both Primary & Secondary
We are striving at all times to protect the environment in which we live and travel. Not only do we pick up trash but we work to reduce our carbon footprint as well. It’s a interesting contradiction because those who love to travel and care most about the environment travel the most, and traveling adds considerably to one’s carbon footprint.
We utilize Hybrid vehicles to reduce emissions
We obey the speed limit. Bike and walk when possible.
If we have to stay at a hotel we are aware to turn off lights, reuse supplies, and turn off the air conditioning.
We research company’s sustainability practices looking for green initiatives before making purchases.
International Appeal
We have found in our travels that the National Parks are filled with more people from overseas then from the states. This international fascination with our country’s National Park system opens this show up immediately to international media markets.
Foreign travelers to America are becoming an huge industry and are key for maintaining the National Parks.
We will seek to get the show on international broadcasting stations and will work hard to develop content to bring those viewers closer to the characters and the locations in the show.
The Music - Jake Shimabukuro
While studying and traveling in Hawaii I gained a love of Hawaiian music and especially that of Jake Shimabukuro’s Ukulele.
Jake has been called the Hendrix of the Ukulele. I love how the sound of his instrument crosses and combines that of a guitar and a piano.
After contacting Jake he him has agreed to let us use his song ‘Heartbeat’ as our opening piece. We plan on using all of Jakes music on the show.
We have invited him to be our guest at the Hawaiian National Parks.
For More Information
Please email with any questions, comments, or for more information on anything including the topics below.
Filming Style & Crew
Marketing & Promotions for the Show
Sponsorship Opportunities
The Crew’s Quotes about Tom
The Crew’s Quotes about Laura
Native Hawaiians & Native Americans
Bio’s of Staff
Quest for Greatness Productions, LLC. Information
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