These National Parks are Terrible!
Or are they?
Hello friends!
Summer is almost over…and it got me thinking about vacations.
And more specifically, the way people talk about their vacations, and what they take away.
Is the first thing they tell you a compliment about the place they visited, or a complaint about some aspect of the trip?
I can remember one conversation I had about 20 years ago, when I was waiting for a flight in Los Angeles.
At the departure gate, I met a couple who were in their late 40s/early 50s, on their way home after three weeks touring New Zealand and Australia.
I was impressed — as back then it wasn’t often you met an American couple who took THREE WEEKS of vacation — unless they were retired.
“How exciting!” I said. “What did you think?”
I wondered which country they preferred, and if they had seen kangaroos or gone to the Outback.
“Well,” the wife began, “we had a really lousy meal on our way to Phillip Island in Australia.”
“Phillip Island, with all the little penguins?” I asked.
“Yes, the dinner on our way there was terrible.”
No one got sick from the meal. It wasn’t expensive. They just didn’t like it.
Right.
Three weeks.
Two countries.
Different animals and scenery and culture.
And the first thing this woman commented on was one lousy meal.
But it’s not just Australia and New Zealand that can get this reaction.
Some visitors to the US national parks — which offer an incredible assortment of natural wonders — are hard to impress, too.
While many dream of visiting Yosemite, The Rocky Mountains, or The Grand Canyon, others fail to appreciate their beauty.
And when I saw this poster of Yosemite National Park…
I was curious…
Seeing bad reviews of US National Parks gave a graphic designer named Amber Share an idea.
She wanted to hone her craft as an illustrator and designer, and attract freelance work for her business.
As a lover of the outdoors, she thought about creating illustrations of US national parks.
But there are many artists who have illustrated the parks.
Amber wanted to do something different.
She wanted to create national park illustrations – with a twist.
She then stumbled on some negative reviews of national parks – and that gave her an idea.
She decided to combine retro-style illustrations and legitimate bad reviews for each of the 63 US national parks.
She called the project ‘Subpar Parks.’
Subpar Parks features illustrations and one-star reviews for each US national park.
Like Grand Teton National Park…
And Hawaii Volcanoes National Park…
Amber started sharing her illustrations of the parks online, and quickly gathered a following.
She then branched into creating illustrations of international parks, including:
Canada’s Banff National Park:
The UK’s famed Lake District:
And Australia’s Port Campbell (Twelve Apostles):
Her series of creative and fun illustrations showcase the stunning natural beauty of parks, her artistic talents – and remind us that you can’t please everyone.
“The project is satirical,” she said.
“The reviews are real.
“Maybe some were written in jest, but I really made an effort to filter those out.
“I did not write any of these reviews and I don’t agree with them.
“That's the point. I love the parks.”
In addition to highlighting the beauty of the outdoors, Amber hopes her work encourages people “to laugh at negativity and not take it too seriously.”
“I always like to talk about how this project started as kind of a joke, to laugh at people being negative jerks online, but I think there’s really a great lesson in there.
“I mean, if a national park can get a one-star review – a wonder of the world – it’s a reminder that you’re not going to please everyone.
“So, I hope it can sort of empower people to just live their life on their terms.”
And Amber’s favorite park?
Arizona’s Grand Canyon.
The place one reviewer described as:
One more thing…
In 2021, Amber released a collection of her artwork in the book, Subpar Parks.
What’s your favorite park?
Here’s one of mine…
Did you miss out on Stockholm Syndrome?
Last week, I dug into the back story of Stockholm Syndrome. I spent so much time engrossed in my research for this one, that I haven’t written anything else in weeks!
So in case you missed it, there’s still time to learn why I came to the conclusion that Stockholm Syndrome is nonsense — and you can find out who this mysterious man is, too.
Trying something new
So in place of the other writing I would normally share here, I thought I’d try something new today and share a video!
As you may have noticed, I like to mine pop culture (news, sports, entertainment) for communication lessons.
And this week, I’m sharing an easy thing you can do to strengthen your communication (inspired by this woman’s resignation letter).
Want to improve your communication, creativity, or leadership skills?
Connect or follow me on LinkedIn to find more tips!
How Can I Help?
I’ll keep saying it: Communication matters.
And if you want to improve your communication (and get all the good things that come with that), I’m your gal.
So many companies could reap significant benefits – from performance and culture to retention and engagement – by improving their communication.
So, if you know someone who could benefit from some help (as even the most seasoned leaders do), please get in touch and check out my website for more information.
You can also see my Top 10 list of what I can (and can’t) do for you here.
And if you see any communication examples (the good, the bad, and the ugly) that you think are worth analyzing or sharing, please send them my way!
Until next time, Stay Curious!
-Beth
I love those posters, thanks for sharing! Being Irish, the only thing that matters about anyone’s holiday is ‘what was the weather like?’ 😅
Oh. My. Gawd. This is priceless. Reminds me of the “Life is Crap” T-shirts that came out as a satirical response to the “Life is Good” merch. A stick figure parachuting into a cactus. Etc. 🤣