Barry Stiefel – Forefather of Fast to 50

Barry Stiefel 
Summer 1998
Start – San Jose, CA
Finish – San Jose, CA
Total Time – 8 days and 7 hours

Barry Stiefel is the forefather in the Fastest to Fifty family.  At his job, back in 1998, he had two weeks of vacation. Instead of lamenting about how little that time period was, he thought about how MUCH he could see during that time.  He set a parameter of leaving work on a Friday evening, having a week off, and returning in time to go to work on the following Monday morning.  Barry’s route was round-trip from San Jose, California, and taking there-and-back flights to Alaska and Hawaii from the San Francisco airport.  On his website, Barry Stiefel explained in detail his “all 50 in a week’s vacation” adventure.  Barry’s goal was, in his words,  “to visit every state, not cross, traverse, see the capitol of, get out of the car in, or even spend more than 30 seconds in every state.”  He accomplished his goal and set the bar for all future "fast" travelers. Barry, unfortunately, passed away in 2017, and his website is no longer active. A link to the archived site is provided below. Barry was, and will continue to be, an inspiration for the All Fifty Club and travelers around the world.

All 50 in a Week's Vacation by Barry Stiefel.