Thanks so much for visiting my KickStarter page! There's so much to tell you about my story so here goes...

In the past 5 years my brother and I have been fortunate enough to take my parents on trips all over the USA, mainly to US National Parks. Growing up, our family was large, our parents worked overtime and held down two jobs at times. Money was very tight and our vacations were limited to an occasional beach trip. Both of our parents worked hard to provide for four kids and none of us had the opportunity to see the beautiful country we live in, so we decided to change that. It has truly been a blessing to see them experience traveling and enjoying life without the worries of work.

Being that we were new to traveling, we mostly just rented a car and drove around until we found somewhere we wanted to stop - needless to say, our itineraries were a bit shaky. Unfortunately we left destinations missing out on something awesome simply because it was a learning experience on the fly. After 5-6 trips we finally got better at planning and realized it would be a great resource to compile our travel experiences online to help other people gain familiarity with their destinations. You know, hit the highlights of our destinations but yet remain frugal about it.

After five years and a few trips, I've finally been able to purchase some beginner video equipment and editing software to create 4-5 travel episodes for my YouTube Channel (which was Travel Aficionado, but now re-branded to Parks Explorer - I'll post the video links below). I do all of the video shooting, editing, voiceovers (in my best southern twang) and post production work. It's really a full-time job, but I love it.

What is your project goal?

My primary goal is to create an online brand through my website (http://jaymeblackmon.com) and my YouTube Channel (http://youtube.com/jaymeblackmon) for advertising potential. I would also like to continue my travels as a work in progress to create a book or ebook that would sell eventually through my website to help highlight our national and state park systems. My secondary goal is to include guest hikers that haven't been fortunate enough to visit a national park, which would include potential hikers submitting their story via my website for consideration!

As for this project, my eyes are set on Capitol Reef National Park & Canyonlands National Park in Utah. They are two of America's best kept secrets usually being overlooked because of their proximity to Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon. 

How will your donations be used?

I'm a frugal person when it comes to spending my money, and especially someone else's. Expenses to make all this possible are listed below:

• Purchasing donation rewards :)
• Additional photography / videography equipment
• Computer Upgrades (editing gets difficult on a laptop)
• Marketing
• Web hosting expenses
• Publication expenses

I'll even eat peanut butter sandwiches to keep the expense to a minimum! :)

Where are my videos?

Glad you asked! All of my episodes are on my YouTube Channel, but I'll embed the video below to make it easier: