Alumnus visits all state parks in a year

Inside a navy blue F-150 stationed in a state park in Texas, the cloth seat of the passenger’s side is stocked up on water and protein bars. Having just pulled into one of the last locations on his list, a sense of urgency starts to set in. John Sorsby, business management alumnus, is “racing darkness.”

Sorsby traveled to all 88 Texas state parks within one year. He documented his travels on social media and grew to 139,000 Instagram followers as of Jan. 12. Sorsby visited seven to eight parks a month to stay on schedule and met his goal of traveling to all Texas state parks from his birthday on Oct. 14, 2023 to Oct. 14, 2024, creating 90-second videos using his iPhone and tripod from beginning to end.

Sorsby has a list of objectives he wants to accomplish in his lifetime, and he credits his ambition largely to his supportive family. He said this state parks feat is not the first project he’s taken on, and his family stayed close throughout his different goals.

“I’ve always had that belief I could create the life I wanted, and I could make the impact in the world that I wanted to from my little piece of it,” Sorsby said. “I’m definitely trying to make the most of the time that I know we have here on earth and live life on my own terms. That’s always been a goal of mine even before doing the state parks, just all the different things I’ve pursued over the years personally and professionally.”

Lanita Legan, now retired, was the Associate Director of the LBJ Student Center when Sorsby worked there. Legan is familiar with his recent work making videos and traveling around Texas.

“One of the things that I learned real early after knowing John a little bit was that he’s very goal oriented,” Legan said. “It would be very clear that whatever he did on campus, whether it was leadership responsibilities or on-campus jobs, all of those things are going to feed into the things that he was passionate about and the things that he had set goals for himself.”

Business management alumnus John Sorsby climbs around on the rocks, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2023, at Lake Mineral Wells State Park. Photo courtesy of John Sorsby.

Sorsby said while the state parks challenge shaped how he travels around the state, he’s nowhere near the end of exploring and telling the stories of the places he visits through video. He has a growing master list of places to visit, with messaging him recommendations on social media. He plans to keep visiting parks, trails, rivers and historic sites, digging up the history of each place.

“That’s been an incredibly gratifying portion of all this,” Sorsby said. “Hopefully inspiring other people to get outside and get active and find the beauty in the good things in your area, because when you start looking for it, you definitely find it.”

Some of Sorsby’s followers are students who came across his videos without knowing he is an alumnus. Maria Castro, anthropology senior, discovered Sorsby’s videos on Instagram reels. Castro said as a homebody, she found the videos make her appreciate nature more, especially since she’s not from Texas.

“[Sorsby’s] videos are really appealing to somebody who is not from here because it actually piques your interest and makes you want to explore the state a little bit more,” Castro said.

Keith Michael, singer/songwriter of Etta Place, introduced his girlfriend to Sorsby’s videos. The couple references Sorsby’s page when deciding where to explore in their free time. Michael discovered Sorsby’s account when he was closer to several
thousand followers.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, this is cool,’” Michael said. “What he’s doing – he should have more followers than this. I’ve watched his account grow over maybe the past year or so, and it’s cool. There’s almost this element of living vicariously through him.”

To follow up with Sorsby’s plans, visit his Instagram or TikTok accounts at @jsorsby.