Joy Ryan didn’t get her passport until she was 91. In fact, she hardly traveled at all until she was 85. Now her goal is to visit every continent with her 43-year-old grandson, Brad Ryan. The adventurous pair reached Antarctica via cruise ship, and it’s their fourth continent together, marking the halfway point on their mission. Brad explained that “Grandma Joy,” as he calls her, told him when she was in her 80s that she wanted to see more of the great outdoors and that she had never seen a mountain. The trip began as Brad’s plan to show his grandmother at least one mountain. He took her to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2015, when Grandma Joy was just 85. The joy they felt during that first trip inspired them to see more, and that’s when the goal of going to every continent became their plan. From volcanoes in Hawaii to spotting brown bears catching salmon in Alaska, they trekked on and chronicled their journey on Instagram. In 2023, Joy became the oldest person to visit all 63 U.S. national parks. In January, they will be chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland, followed by a trip to see orangutans in Borneo in September. Brad says that traveling with his grandmother has changed his perspective on life and hopes her courageous spirit will inspire others too.
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| Joy and Brad with a giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos |
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| Joy and Brad at Cajon Del Maipo, Santiago, Chile |
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| Joy and Brad at Banff National Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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| Joy and Brad at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Meru, Kenya |
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| Joy and Brad at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii |
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| Joy and Brad in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee |
