She didn鈥檛 get a passport until she was aged 91, but a year after becoming the oldest person to visit all 63 National Parks in the U.S., 鈥淕randma Joy鈥 Ryan is embarking on a new global challenge with her grandson Brad Ryan, 42.
The intergenerational duo, who went viral with their in 2023, are now planning to travel to all seven continents in the world together.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have many years left, [so] you hop to it,鈥 Grandma Joy, now 94, tells CNN Travel via Zoom. 鈥淚f you slow down, you don鈥檛 get anything done.鈥
Grandma-grandson duo
The pair has already ticked off three continents, visiting Banff National Park in Canada last year to 鈥渞epresent North America well beyond just our own country鈥 and travelling to Africa, visiting both Amboseli National Park and Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, in 2023.
Their most recent trip was to South America, where they travelled to Ecuador, spending time in the Galapagos Islands, as well as Chile.
鈥淚t was amazing to see those huge tortoises,鈥 Grandma Joy says of the trip. 鈥淭hey could raise their shells up just like a convertible or something.鈥
While they鈥檙e pretty inseparable nowadays, the grandma-grandson duo were actually estranged for around a decade due to a family rift that occurred after Ryan鈥檚 parents divorced.
After reconnecting in 2010, they began filling each other in on what had transpired in their lives during their years apart.
While recounting his previous adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Ryan learned that his paternal grandmother 鈥渉ad never set eyes on a mountain.鈥
鈥淭hat was one of her lifelong regrets,鈥 he says. 鈥淗er travel had been limited to just a few road trips to Florida with my grandfather when he was alive.
鈥淗er view of the world was always what she saw on the Travel Channel or just on the news.鈥
That conversation stayed with him.
A few years later, Ryan, who had been experiencing some challenges while at veterinary school, decided to take a weekend road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, and asked Grandma Joy if she鈥檇 like to join him.
鈥淚 just needed to get away and I wanted to do something that would fill my cup,鈥 he explains.
Seed of joy
Thankfully his grandmother jumped at the chance of going on an adventure with her grandson and the pair headed off together in September 2015.
鈥淎t 85, she saw her first mountain, climbed her first mountain and went camping for the first time and fell off the air mattress a couple of times and didn鈥檛 complain,鈥 adds Ryan.
While he admits that he assumed that travelling with an elderly person might 鈥渟poil the fun a little bit,鈥 Ryan quickly found that this wasn鈥檛 the case. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
鈥淚t made the experience of being in the great outdoors much richer,鈥 he says, explaining that having to move more slowly meant he was able to take everything in in a more meaningful way.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 rushing through the places that I was visiting. I was really taking the time to appreciate smaller details.
鈥淭he lens through which she is seeing the world is very different to most people my age. She doesn鈥檛 visit a place thinking, 鈥榃ell, I鈥檒l be back again,鈥 so there鈥檚 more presence.鈥
According to Ryan, that first trip 鈥減lanted a seed of joy鈥 inside him that had been missing, and he was thrilled to see how much Grandma Joy had enjoyed the experience.
Keen to keep their adventure going, the pair hatched a plan to travel to the other 62 U.S. National Parks together.
Such a challenge would be a huge feat for most hikers, let alone an elderly woman with limited hiking experience, so they decided to take their time with it.
鈥淚t took us nearly eight years to do it,鈥 says Ryan, explaining that they tend to take two-month long breaks between each trip. 鈥淏ut she made history last year.鈥
Of the many places that they visited together during that time, Grandma Joy was particularly struck by Old Faithful, one of the almost 500 geysers in Yellowstone, as well as Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
鈥淚t was a long haul but I enjoyed it,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd we met so many nice people along the way.
鈥淏eing an old person sitting on the porch, this makes you feel like, 鈥榃ell maybe I did accomplish something.鈥 So I enjoyed every bit of it.鈥
Life-changing experience
The quest was also life changing for Ryan, as he was able to spend days on end hiking, camping and driving with his grandmother, who has been a widow for 30 years. Ryan鈥檚 father, who had been Grandma Joy鈥檚 last surviving son, passed away in 2023.
鈥淪he shattered my preconceived notions about what it means to be an older person,鈥 he says.
鈥淏ecause she wasn鈥檛 just sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window, although we did that too.鈥
Ryan goes on to describe how Grandma Joy went ziplining at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia and whitewater rafting at Wrangell St. Elias National Park in Alaska at the age of 91.
鈥淚 think we all have this sort of innate dread about getting older,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd we think about the limitations instead of the possibilities. She [Grandma Joy] reminds us of the possibilities that still exist.鈥
After reaching their final stop, the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, last year, they were asked what they planned to do next, and eventually decided on attempting to travel to every continent in the world.
鈥淭hat seems like a doable goal,鈥 says Ryan. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing now.鈥
The pair, who say they鈥檙e 鈥渟till recovering鈥 from their South America trip, are currently back in Ohio, but plan to visit Australia later this year.
While Down Under, they hope to 鈥渉op over to Asia鈥 and possibly visit the national parks of India, or travel to Borneo 鈥渢o see the orangutans.鈥
鈥淲e have a soft spot for the furry great apes of the world,鈥 adds Ryan.
Once they鈥檝e ticked Australia and Asia off their list, they hope to travel to Europe, where they have many friends.
鈥淎ntarctica is the one that鈥檚 like the wildcard,鈥 admits Ryan. 鈥淲e would love that, but getting there is challenging.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to end big, and I think Antarctica would be the cherry on top of this adventure.鈥
The pair acknowledge that there are many people that won鈥檛 have the 鈥渆conomic means鈥 to explore the world in this way, pointing out that they started their first challenge with just 鈥渁 little bit of money鈥 and spent a lot of time eating ramen noodles.
However, they鈥檝e since picked up various sponsorships, which has allowed them to continue traveling comfortably.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been very fortunate,鈥 adds Ryan.
After spending so much time on the road together, grandma and grandson have become closer than ever.
Intergenerational connections
鈥淲e鈥檙e in each other鈥檚 pockets all the time,鈥 says Grandma Joy. 鈥漌e鈥檝e had all of these adventures, so there鈥檚 something to talk about, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥
Being able to share so many special moments with Grandma Joy has also meant that Ryan has been able to ask questions that he鈥檚 never had the opportunity to before.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e come to learn is that we can free ourselves from future regret by making a choice to connect with older generations while they鈥檙e still here,鈥 he says.
While they clearly get on famously, the pair鈥檚 significant age gap has inevitably led to the occasional clash, especially when it comes to their different tastes in music.
鈥淚 tried to learn to enjoy his kind of music,鈥 says Grandma Joy, who has three other grandchildren. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 figure out how he calls it music, but whatever.鈥
When asked what she鈥檚 learned about herself through travelling with her grandson, she quips, 鈥淚 guess I鈥檝e got more patience than I thought I had.鈥
In the nearly 10 years since that trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Ryan has noticed a big change in Grandma Joy鈥檚 physical health, explaining that she was quite 鈥渨obbly鈥 in the beginning but has become a lot more capable.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of variability in terms of what people are up against at that age,鈥 notes Ryan. 鈥淏ut for some people, I think it鈥檚 a matter of being active again.鈥
He points out that he and Grandma Joy have 鈥渄one as long as 45 days on the road鈥 together at times.
鈥淭hat certainly takes a toll on anybody, let alone somebody her age. I know if I鈥檓 tired, she must be 10 times as tired.鈥
After climbing mountains, going on safaris and hiking through the wilderness, Grandma Joy has no plans to slow down, although she does enjoy stopping for a break every now and again.
鈥淚鈥檝e got two new knees and I鈥檓 going to have to get them replaced, I think,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got too many miles on them.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have diabetes, and I don鈥檛 have anything wrong with my heart. So really, I鈥檓 in good shape for an old woman.鈥
When she鈥檚 not travelling with her grandson, Grandma Joy sometimes does puzzles with her neighbour and watches local high school football games from her home in Duncan Falls, Ohio.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 miss nothing,鈥 she says.
Willing spirit
The pair have been chronicling their travels on their Instagram account, , and Ryan says that followers often make comments like, 鈥淢y grandmother would never do that.鈥
He stresses that their situation has only been possible because Grandma Joy has 鈥渁 willing spirit鈥 and gets as much of a kick out of their travels as he does.
鈥淓very once in a while someone somebody says, 鈥楧on鈥檛 you think you should wrap this up? You鈥檙e putting her in compromising positions,鈥欌 he adds.
鈥淎nd there鈥檚 no regret that comes from going out and remembering that your life is still happening right now.鈥
Reflecting on their previous estrangement, Ryan hopes that their story will show that 鈥測ou can go pretty far after forgiveness happens.鈥
鈥淎 lot of life happens in a decade,鈥 he adds. 鈥淎nd our message is certainly that we should try to free ourselves from grievance and find grace for people when we can. Life is very short.鈥
As for Grandma Joy, she鈥檚 enjoying making up for lost time, and now has several stamps in her first ever passport.
鈥淚 just take one step at a time, one day at a time, and thank the Lord every morning for giving me one more day,鈥 she says.
鈥淚 try to be an optimist. The glass is half full, not half empty. And the people that you meet along the way lift your spirits.
鈥淵ou see people in worse shape than you, and I just think 鈥業鈥檝e got a lot to be thankful for.鈥
鈥淣ot everybody鈥檚 lucky enough to have a grandson that鈥檚 willing to drag them around.鈥
