It wasn’t until the release of the book Happiness of Pursuit that I really started to think about the role that quests and goal-seeking had played in my life. Looking back, it’s always been a part of what I’ve done. It probably started with trips to the metro Detroit regional parks with my mom when I was a kid, as we sought refuge and tried to make the most of our annual park pass.
Of course, the most well-known and important of my quests was to visit all (at the time) 419 units of the National Parks System. But that’s not the only one I’m currently pursuing.
Below is a listing of quests currently in progress, as well as ones I’ve already completed. Some of them are “complete” only for awhile, while others are more static. It’s unlikely that we’ll end up with a new county high point, for example, while new breweries in Arizona are opening every month or two.
I’ve adopted 64 total quests, and have completed 28 of them thus far.
As my list has grown quite long, I’ve divided the quests up into sections, primarily based on the scale of the objectives involved:
I’ve also listed previous quests that have since been incorporated into larger ones, as well as quests that I’m considering adopting but haven’t committed to yet.
Please note that I’ve neglected this page for far too long, so I still need to create a “detail page” for many of these quests. There are also a few that I’m still calculating my current status on.
If you like travel quests, check out Go Questing, the online home for all things Questing.
Global quests
These quests have objectives that span across the globe.
Smallest Country on Each Continent
Visiting the smallest country (by land mass) on each continent.
Countries & Territories of the Caribbean
Visiting each of the island countries and territories in the Caribbean Sea.
100 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Visiting 100 total UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world.
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 50 Countries
Visiting at least one UNESCO World Heritage Site in 50 Countries.
National Parks in 50 Countries
Visiting designated National Parks in each of 50 countries around the world.
National quests
These quests have objectives that span across an entire country.
All 50 States and Major US Territories
Visiting all 50 states, plus Washington DC and the 5 major US territories.
National Park units
Visiting all 400+ official units of the National Park System—the quest I’m probably best known for. (I’m current at 433/433)
Treasured Places
Visiting every National Park Unit, National Monument, and National Conservation Area in the US—nearly 500 in total.
High Points of Otherwise Flat States
Visiting each of the US’s nearly-drivable state summits (aka, the Lazy Highpointers quest).
Major sites of the Manhattan Project
Visiting the major sites associated with the development of our early nuclear weapons.
World’s Largest Balls of Twine
Visiting all three four of the self-described World’s Largest Balls of Twine.
National Scenic and Historic Trails
Visiting each of the National Scenic Trails and National Historic Trails managed by the National Park Service.
Pac-12 Football Stadiums
Visiting each of the college football stadiums of the PAC-12 Conference (RIP)
Craft Breweries in the US Territories
Visit all of the local craft breweries operating in each of the 5 major US Territories.
State Border Crossings
Crossing each of the 107 boundaries between two states.
“Stein” Brewery Quest
Visiting every craft brewery in countries that end in “-stein” 😁
Former National Park Units
Visiting each of the areas that were formerly part of the National Parks System.
National Heritage Areas
Visiting each of the National Heritage Areas of the National Parks System.
A Site for Each President
Visiting one major site (birthplace, personal home, gravesite, or library) for each US President.
Capitals of the United States and Colonies
Visiting each of the places that served as the Capitol Building since the Revolutionary War.
Circumnavigate the continent of Australia via vehicle, in sections.
State-Province Borders
Crossing each combination of border between US states and Canadian provinces.
National War Museums
Visiting each of the official War Museums in the United States.
45th Parallels
Crossing the 45th Parallel in every state in which its located
Statewide quests
These are quests whose objectives are spread across an entire state.
Arizona Craft Breweries (#AZBeerQuest)
Visiting each of the local craft breweries in Arizona.
Arizona’s National Natural Landmarks
Visiting each of Arizona’s designated National Natural Landmarks.
Utah’s National Natural Landmarks
Visiting each of Utah’s designated National Natural Landmarks.
Sierra Mountain Passes
Scenic driving the 22 major paved mountain passes in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in California
Scenic Roads of Arizona
Driving the 26 roads designated as Scenic or Historic Roadways in Arizona.
Alaskan Highways
Driving on each of Alaska’s 14 numbered highways
Local quests
Each of these quests have objectives that are primarily local or regional in nature.
Maricopa County Regional Parks
Visiting each of Maricopa County’s Regional Parks.
Kayaking the Lakes of Metro Phoenix
Kayaking each of the lakes surrounding the greater Metro Phoenix area.
Phoenix Trail Quest
Hiking every mile of every official trail in the City of Phoenix’s desert mountain preserves.
Craft Breweries of Washington DC
Visiting each of the local craft breweries in Washington DC.
Public roads within a mile of my house
Walking every block of the public roads within a mile radius of my house.
Metro Phoenix Museums
Visiting each of the local history museums in the metro Phoenix area.
Flagstaff Brewery Trail
Completing the Flagstaff Brewery Trail passport in a single weekend.
Other quests
500/5000 🍺 mark
Reaching the 500 brewery and 5000 unique beer marks on Untappd (completed in 2023)
Africa’s “Big 5”
Seeing each of the “Big 5” animals on an African wildlife safari.
Craft Breweries: keeping track of how many breweries I can visit since 2014.
Geographic Extremes I’ve visited: Geographic extremes of the US I’ve visited (no official goal here, just tracking for the moment).
Airports I’ve flown through: a map of the airports I’ve been to (no official goal here, just tracking for the moment).
Completed quests that were later incorporated into larger quests
I count these as completed quests in my total. As I completed each of them, I adopted a new quest with a larger list of objectives that included all of the objectives of the finished quest.
National Conservation Lands: major areas protected under the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System (Completed 2019)
[eventually incorporated into the Treasured Places quest]
National Monuments of the US: visiting each of our land-based national monuments (Completed 2019)
[later incorporated into the Treasured Places quest]
PhxBrewQuest: visiting all of metro Phoenix’s breweries (completed 2015)
[later incorporated into AZBeerQuest]
300/3000: reaching the 300 brewery and 3000 unique beer marks on Untappd by the end of 2019 (completed in 2019)
Quests I’m considering adopting
Here are several quests that I’m considering adopting, but haven’t committed to just yet (bold means I’m likely to adopt).
- US Interstate Highways
- Public lands “firsts” (first areas with various protected statuses)
- Furthest-most points of the US
- National Historic Landmarks of Arizona
- 100 National Forests in the US
- Scenic driving All-American Roads, National Byways, and Backcountry Byways of Arizona
- Section driving the Trans-Canada Highway
- Former Colonies of the British Empire
- Seven Natural Wonders of Africa
- Lighthouse in Each State (that has one)
- Wilderness Area in Each State (that has one)
- Reaching the 1,000 brewery and 10,000 unique beer marks on Untappd