This 5-Month-Old Baby is About To Break a World Record with Visit to 50th State
One Canadian couple is giving their baby girl the experience of a lifetime and ultimate bragging rights. Five-month-old Harper Yeats may soon become the youngest person recorded to visit all 50 states!
Harper’s parents, Tristan and Cindy, are a travel-loving couple living in Canada, but originally from Australia. When they moved to Canada, visiting all 50 states became a goal for them as a couple.
They were able to visit 19 states before their little girl, Harper, came into the world. When Harper was only 8 weeks old, she crossed the U.S./Canada border for the first time into Maine; their hope was to visit the rest of the 31 states with their little one.
After stumbling across the All Fifty States Club, an unofficial log of people who have visited all fifty states, they realized that Harper could potentially become the youngest person to join the club.
That’s when they began their adventurous journey as a family.
Leaving their full-time professional careers behind in Canada, they decided to learn how to be a new family of three while traveling. There have definitely been challenges, but the travel-loving family has learned how to overcome them together.
Cindy and Tristan told Liftable, a brand of The Western Journal, “We have learned how to make ourselves comfortable in new places and make each place feel as much like ‘home’ as possible.”
One of the biggest challenges, according to Tristan and Cindy, has been setting intentional time for rest while on the road.
“When you work Monday to Friday, you typically rest on the weekend – however, when you’re travelling (sic) full-time and you don’t have a routine or schedule to meet, it’s easy to forget that you need to take some time to just sit and relax for a while,” they said. “We learned very early on that if we tried to squeeze in too much and didn’t give ourselves down time, traveling was a lot less fun.”
Just like any newborn, Harper has good and bad days. Tristan and Cindy just try to remind themselves that even if they were home full-time she would still have fussy days.
They have noticed that little Harper already is showing particular interest in trees and National Parks. They hope that this entire experience will help her become a more adaptable person in the future.
Even though they’ve had their challenges on the road, Tristan and Cindy can’t ignore the amazing memories they’ve already made as a family.
Aside from the stunning views in various national parks and humbling experiences at museums, the family is soaking in the precious time they’ve been able to spend together and celebrating Harper’s milestones across the country.
She turned 2 months old in Boston, Massachusetts, 3 months old in New Orleans, Louisiana, and 5 months old in Lincoln, Nebraska. She had her first laugh in Mississippi and ate her first solid food in Anchorage, Alaska.
Harper’s first “dip” in the ocean was in Charleston, South Carolina, while her first swim in a pool was in Melbourne, Florida. She even rolled from her back to her front and onto her back again in North Liberty, Iowa.
Tristan and Cindy told Liftable, “It’s these little moments and memories which make some of the otherwise unheard of places as memorable to us as the ‘tourist’ sites we’ve visited, and will forever have them hold a special place in our hearts.”
The family plans to visit the 50th state, Vermont, on Oct. 18. While Vermont doesn’t hold any special significance for them, they are excited to see the vibrant autumn foliage. Harper will be “just shy” of 6 months when they make the final trip.
They have already submitted an application to Guinness World Records to officially name Harper as the youngest person to have visited all 50 states, but it is not an existing record so they are waiting on a response. Once they hear back, they will submit the evidence that they have been documenting along the way.
“Harper will be completing all 50 before she is 6 months old so we think there’s a good chance the Guinness World Records will recognise (sic) her as the youngest,” they said.
Even though Tristan and Cindy know that Harper will not remember the trip, they hope that when she looks back on the pictures and videos that she will feel loved.
“More than that, we hope that she will see that we took a chance and did something despite how hard everyone told us it would be and that this knowledge will give her confidence that she can do anything she puts her mind to,” they said.
“We also hope that this will just be the start of a life full of travel and adventure for Harper and that this will help to instill in her a sense of curiosity for what is out there in the world and inspire her to learn about everything around her as she grows up.”
They also hope that their story will inspire other families to travel more together, even with kids.
“As for those following our journey, we hope that it will inspire other families to get out there and create memories together through travel, whether that’s to the opposite side of the world or just a road trip a few hours down the road,” they told Liftable.
“It really doesn’t matter what you do or where you go, it’s just about spending time together.”
You can follow their journey on Harper’s Instagram account or on Tristan and Cindy’s Facebook page. We wish them safe travels and many more memories in the future!
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