In April 2016, Mikah Meyer set out on a journey to visit every single national park, monument, seashore and more — 419 sites in all — in one continuous trip.

That world-record journey is coming to a successful close on Monday, after taking Meyer to every single U.S. state and territory, from the Arctic Circle of Alaska to American Samoa.

Meyer began the trip, funded largely through donations and sponsorships, on the 11th anniversary of his father's death from cancer. One of his primary goals was to be a role model for LGBT people.

Meyer previously spoke with Here & Now about how his trip was going back in June 2017. Now, he tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson that finishing is, in a word, "surreal."

"I, for the past three years, have just been, 'Go, go, go,' every minute, because there's always been a blog I should be writing, a photo I should be editing or a park I need to be planning for. I'm probably going to have to go to therapy just to learn how to turn my brain off after three years of nonstop logistics," Meyer (@MikahMey) says. "It's amazing to know that I've made it this far, and such an incredible feeling for a kid who grew up in the prairie to know that I've seen every corner of America, our most wonderful places, and am about to complete a life goal."

As for his favorite stop, Meyer says it's hard to pick just one.

Mikah Meyer on top of Emory Peak in Big Bend National Park in Texas. (Courtesy of Mikah Meyer)

"There were so many insane moments of just pure natural beauty, where you're looking around saying, 'Is this real? Like, is this view real, is this moment real, is this place real?' " he says. "I remember driving through Big Bend National Park in Texas and just constantly repeating that as I drove up to the Chisos Mountains, because it was such a magical moment, or standing looking over Half Dome at sunset.

"The sun actually leaves and like 95% of the people there all take off, but then they miss twilight. And you're looking around thinking, 'I can't believe everyone left, and that I'm still here and getting to experience this and didn't follow the crowds,' " he says.

Editor's Note: The headline for our 2017 interview with Meyer stated his trip would take him to 417 national park sites. The National Park Service has made some additions since then, so that number now stands at 419.

Interview Highlights

On the perception of his journey as freeing and relaxing

"Everybody who says, 'I want to do what you do,' I'm like, 'Don't do it the way I did it,' because it was just too much stress — going from park to park to park, and fundraising the entire way and always trying to just make sure that I accomplished this insane task, took away a lot of the enjoyment. I'd be doing a hike, and I'd be on my phone planning for the next park, setting up a meeting with a ranger a week or a month away. So definitely, if anybody wants to do what I did, I recommend not sharing it on social media at all and having the money ahead of time, because that'll make it way more freeing."

Meyer in North Cascades National Park in Washington state. (Courtesy of Mikah Meyer)

On the unique toll visiting Alaska's national parks and monuments took on him

"Every day, things would change. There was one park — actually the least-visited park in the entire National Park Service, Aniakchak National Monument, more people climb Mount Everest every year than go to this park. And that's because to get there, you have to take a multi-thousand-dollar bush plane, and the weather has to be perfect in three locations: in the park, in the takeoff location and everywhere in between. It's on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, so the weather is just so volatile that you could take off and not make it, and the pilot says, 'Look, you're paying either way.' So Alaska and its weather and its costs just made it stressful in a lot of ways."

Meyer after landing in Kobuk Valley National Park in Alaska, the 60th of his trip. (Courtesy of Mikah Meyer)

On whether he had any close calls with wildlife along the way

"Fortunately, I did not get attacked and eaten by a bear. That was one of my No. 1 concerns of this whole journey. Actually in Katmai National Park — that's where all the bears are, the famous photos you've seen of Brooks Falls with just tons and tons of bears eating fish. So there were certainly those moments. But the Park Service does a great job of keeping guests safe, keeping the animals safe. I did not, sort of, have the mountain lion that I had to strangle with my hands like we saw in Colorado, fortunately. So thank you to the Park Service for keeping me safe."