“Grandma Joy” Ryan didn’t have a passport until she was 91 years old, but she is taking on a new worldwide challenge with her 42-year-old grandson Brad Ryan, just a year after she made history by becoming the oldest person to visit all 63 National Parks in the US. The intergenerational pair, who gained international attention in 2023 for their national parks adventure, have announced plans to journey to every continent in the world together.
Grandma Joy, aged ninety-four, says over Zoom to CNN Travel, “I don’t have many years left, [so] you hop to it.” “You get nothing done if you slow down.”
Grandma Joy On Travelling The World With Her Grandson
To “represent North America well beyond just our own country,” the two had already visited Banff National Park in Canada last year. In 2023, they will go to Africa and visit Amboseli National Park and Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Their most recent journey took them to Chile and Ecuador in South America, where they also visited the Galapagos Islands.
Speaking on the trip, Grandma Joy remarks, “It was amazing to see those huge tortoises.” “It would be like a convertible or something, they could lift their shells.” Though they are now almost inseparable, Ryan’s parents’ divorce caused a family breach that caused the grandmother and grandson to become alienated for over ten years. During his story of having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and hiked the Appalachian Trail, Ryan revealed that his paternal grandmother “had never set eyes on a mountain.” He states, “That was one of her lifelong regrets.” “During my grandfather’s lifetime, she had only taken a few road trips to Florida with him. “She always saw the world through the lens of the Travel Channel or the news.” He carried that talk with him. A few years later, Grandma Joy was requested to accompany Ryan on a weekend road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which spans the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Ryan had been having some difficulties while attending veterinary school.
He says, “I wanted to do something that would fill my cup and I just needed to get away.” Fortunately, his grandma enthusiastically accepted the invitation to embark on an adventure with her grandson, and in September 2015, they left together. Ryan continues, “She went camping for the first time at the age of 85, saw her first mountain, climbed it, and fell off the air mattress a few times without complaining.” A few years later, Grandma Joy was requested to accompany Ryan on a weekend road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which spans the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Ryan had been having some difficulties while attending veterinary school.
He says, “I wanted to do something that would fill my cup and I just needed to get away.” Fortunately, his grandma enthusiastically accepted the invitation to embark on an adventure with her grandson, and in September 2015, they left together. Ryan continues, “She went camping for the first time at the age of 85, saw her first mountain, climbed it, and fell off the air mattress a few times without complaining.” Ryan was overjoyed to see how much Grandma Joy had loved the vacation, saying it “planted a seed of joy” inside him that had been absent.
To continue their journey, the two devised a plan to visit the remaining 62 US National Parks together. They took their time since they knew that taking on such a challenge would be extremely difficult for most hikers, much less an old woman with no prior trekking experience. Ryan explains that it took them almost eight years to complete the task, adding that they usually take two months off in between trips. “Yet last year, she made history.” She remarks, “It was a long haul, but I enjoyed it.” I relished every minute of it because, as an elderly person sitting on the porch, it makes you think, “Well maybe I did accomplish something.” Ryan’s life was also transformed by the journey, as he got to spend endless days traveling, climbing, and camping with his 30-year-old grandma. In 2023, Grandma Joy’s only living son, Ryan’s father, passed away.
He claims, “She disproved my ideas about what it means to be an older person.” “Because, although we did that too, she wasn’t just sitting in the passenger seat staring out the window.” Ryan continues by telling how, at the age of ninety-one, Grandma Joy experienced whitewater rafting at Wrangell St. Elias National Park in Alaska and ziplining at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia.
“I believe that we all possess an inbuilt fear of growing older,” he states. Rather than considering the possibilities, we consider the constraints. Grandma Joy serves as a reminder of the opportunities that are still out there. They were asked what they meant to do next after arriving at their last destination, the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, last year. They ultimately chose to try to visit every continent on Earth. Ryan responds, “That seems like a realistic goal.” That’s what we’re doing at the moment.
The couple is back in Ohio after their journey to South America, and they claim they’re “still recovering.” Later this year, they intend to go to Australia. While in Australia, they intend to “hop over to Asia” and perhaps explore some of India’s national parks or go to Borneo “to see the orangutans.”
Ryan continues, “We have a soft spot for the furry great apes of the world.” After Australia and Asia are crossed off their list, they intend to visit Europe, where they have a large buddy base. Ryan acknowledges that “Antarctica is the one that’s like the wildcard.” Although getting there is difficult, we would enjoy that. “I want this adventure to end on a high note, and Antarctica would be the cherry on top.” The two note that they began their first challenge with just “a little bit of money” and that they spent a lot of time eating ramen noodles, indicating that many people won’t have the “economic means” to travel the world in this manner.
He emphasizes that Grandma Joy has “a willing spirit” and enjoys their travels just as much as he does, which is the only reason their position is conceivable. Occasionally, someone will ask, ‘Don’t you think you should finish this up? You’re placing her in risky situations,” he continues. “And going out and realizing that your life is still happening right now leaves you with no regrets.”
Ryan thinks that by sharing their tale, “you can go pretty far after forgiveness happens,” in light of their past alienation. “In ten years, a lot of life happens,” he continues. “And we should endeavor to absolve ourselves of grievances.”
But since then, they’ve secured several sponsorships that have made it possible for them to travel in comfort. Ryan continues, “We’ve been very fortunate.” Grandma and grandson are closer than ever after spending so much time traveling together. Grandma Joy, on the other hand, is having fun making up for lost time and now has many stamps in her very first passport. Grandma Joy replies, “I just take things one day at a time, one step at a time, and thank the Lord every morning for giving me another day.”
“I make an effort to be upbeat. It is not half empty; the glass is half full. Additionally, you feel better when you meet new individuals along the route. “I simply think, ‘I have a lot to be thankful for,’ when I see people in worse positions than you. “Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a grandson who will pull them along.”
