3-year-old girl visits all 63 US national parks
What began as a pandemic getaway turned into a headline-making quest for 3-year-old Journey Castillo, who has visited all 63 national parks in the United States.
Eric and Valerie Castillo, of San Antonio, Texas, took their daughter Journey on her first adventure shortly after she was born in 2020, when the family visited Pikes Peak, in Colorado.
Inspired by their first experience with Mother Nature, the family later embarked on expeditions to different national parks around the country. Their initial goal was to visit 21 national parks by the time Journey turned 1.
"And then we said, 'Let's get to 42 by the time she's 2,' and then we stuck our foot in our mouth and said, 'Let's get to 63 by three,' and we had to finish our goal, which we did," Valerie Castillo said.
The Castillos said they visited their 63rd national park which was Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in October shortly after Journey’s third birthday in September.
To prepare the whole family for their park visits, the Castillos involved Journey in their preparation routines at home, including getting her acclimated to different weather by going outside in the cold with the right gear and taking advantage of the hills in their neighborhood to practice their hikes.
The preparation was worth it, according to Eric Castillo, who described his daughter's reactions during their trips to the parks.
"She was soaking it up, her eyes were just so opened up, she would be smiling," he explained. "Her head would just kind of be on the swivel ... [and] she would always just kind of soak it up at the beginning. And as she's gotten older now where she's hiking on her own, and on her own two feet, she absolutely loves it."
"For her to grow up in the parks system and around these 63 national parks has really built her character and inner strength as well," he added.
The family’s visit to all 63 parks required them to travel across the country, visiting 33 states and two U.S. territories in total.
Noticing the changes in Journey after returning from their travels, Valerie Castillo said her daughter's energy levels these days "are off the chart."
"And she's fearless," she said. "You know, this is a child that if you approach her, she's gonna have a conversation with you, she will ask questions. She wants to know everything. And she has, you know, just this curiosity to her."
Out of all the national parks the family visited, Eric Castillo said Virgin Islands National Park was his daughter's favorite.
"The white [sand] and the turquoise blue waters, the culture -- very, very strong culture," he said. "[The national parks are] all beautiful and unique in their own way, not to discredit any of them, but for Journey, as a child, she loves anything with the sand and the beach."
Traveling with a small child wasn't easy, the couple said, but with patience and the right logistics, the family's plans were made possible.
"It was a learning process," Valerie Castillo said. "We have to consider that we have to take breaks ... we find a park, a playground to let her go play and just be a kid. And, you know, we pack the healthy snacks, we find places where we can expose her to culture as well."
Valerie Castillo told "GMA" she and her husband believe these adventures with Journey are their best investment in her future.
"We want her to be a role model for little girls to aspire to be park rangers, to be outdoors," she said. "If we had kids that wanted to be biologists, environmentalists, advocates, you know, that's going to change the norm. Let her be that inspiration, let her be that voice."
