So I'm sitting here with my buddy
and former White House photographer Pete Souza.
And Pete and I, we went all around the world.
He was following me literally all day long,
on every trip, every meeting.
And obviously, he's taken some iconic shots of
probably our best memories together.
We're actually at national parks around the world.
I figured we'd take a look at some photos here and try to remember
what exactly was going on.
I always like this picture because I think that the park rangers
and probably the Secret Service behind me, were quite nervous.
They did not feel right that I was getting a little too close.
Sort of like my mom was the first time
I went to the Grand Canyon when I was 11.
One thing I still need to do,
I’ve never had a chance to do, was actually…
hike all the way down.
So I did the helicopter tour, like right through the Canyon.
It's not for the faint of heart, though.
Those caves were remarkable.
When we walked in there, it was one of those "wow" moments.
I didn't expect them to be as massive as they were.
You know, one thing you always get an impression of is
what it must have been like if you were one of the first people
to really see these places and survey them.
You know, the amount of courage that would be involved,
I don't know if you remember,
there came a point where they turned off all the lights.
Oh yeah!
You could not not see your hand in front of your face.
It's the most nervous Secret Service has ever been,
because they could not see you for a good15 seconds.
You disappeared.
Completely.
I vanished.
That was pretty spooky.
As breathtaking a landscape as I've ever seen.
We were lucky because, you know,
you'd walk past these waterfalls
and a rainbow would be forming, and we'd all be getting wet.
You know, my best memory of Yosemite was the arrival.
And it was just as the sun was going down.
And I go "I gotta get Marine One coming
right in front of Half Dome" and I ran 100 yards.
Which is not easy for you to do.
No, and I had a lot of gear,
but that was spectacular to see that helicopter come in.
It was a great picture.
Sasha always brings up this particular place
and this particular trip as a place she always wants to go back to.
So I'm sure at some point she'll do that probably with her own kids.
Interestingly, this is actually a similar landscape,
but this is in Argentina,
on the edge of Patagonia.
That was a beautiful spot.
Yeah, well, you have these glacial lakes
just crystalline
surrounding these mountains.
I think this is when I was trying to get you to turn the phone
horizontal, you know, to get, you know, a wider landscape.
You often gave me instructions on my photography.
So this picture
is, from what I think you and I agree, was one of the best trips
we ever took during my presidency, and that was to Alaska.
For sure.
Which is big, wild
there's a sense of scale and majesty
to just about every part of that state.
I know one of our most lasting memories was
when I lifted a salmon
that had been handed to me by a couple of...
Fisher women.
And one of them apparently
decided to spawn on my shoe.
And I still remember she said "he really likes you".
The interesting thing that I always think,
and I don't know if you felt the same way,
we were so confined in the White House.
Every time we had one of these trips and you suddenly could see
reminders of what this planet has to offer
and emotions that were stirred
during these trips. I would always come back
feeling different in a way that no other experiences gave me.
And it reminds you that what you do is just a blink of time,
when it comes to the planet and in that humility,
that sense that you're just a small part
of a huge chain of life,
hopefully that makes you a better steward of the planet and makes
you feel a little more responsibility to preserve for future generations.
Plus, it makes some very good pictures.
Made for some good pictures.
Yeah.
Around the world, the more isolated the national park,
the more unusual its creatures
and the more extraordinary their behaviors.
Join me in this celebration of our planet's greatest
national parks and wilderness.