59 National Parks is essentially a travel website chronicling the adventures of two professionals with advanced degrees, a man and wife from Kansas City who plan to visit 59 national parks in 59 weeks. The purpose of Don and Shelly Hafner’s travels is to help spark interest and awareness in our nation’s parks, and to spark excitement in children as well, to help them understand that living a fulfilled life is about much more than the electronics and technology that have taken over our world today.
Don and Shelly hope to promote the virtue of our nation’s parks, and to inspire people around the nation to fulfill their dreams. A “spur of the moment” idea, the couple decided to visit all 59 U.S. National Parks to present not a political message, but one of freedom and spirituality. Their journey began on April 1st at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, and will continue through July 4th of 2015 – although they’re not revealing where they will be headed next, so that their followers will experience great anticipation and enjoy an element of surprise when they come back to read the website’s frequently updated blog.
Along the way, the couple will take photographs of nature’s beauty and the wonder of our national parks, selling the photographs on the website already framed and matted. While 59nationalparks.com is a traveling adventure meant to inspire others, it is also a business venture. Don and Shelly have partnered with Flow397, their official gear sponsor. The couple are strong advocates of small business who rely on National Parks as their biggest source of income, and will offer limited advertising space on their website for each park they visit in the course of their journey.
Perhaps most important of all, the Hafner’s want to impress upon children how educational and fun traveling can be, so that they develop an interest in our nation’s landscapes and parks. The couple will maintain a blog developed primarily for young readers titled “The Excellent Adventures of Bubba and Lilly,” the couple’s dogs.
As an experienced Kansas City website designer, we had an extraordinary amount of fun with this travel website design! Don and Shelly will no doubt have the time of their lives over the next year as they live their dream of traveling to all 59 National Parks.
