What My 96-Year-Old Grandmother Taught Me About Travel
Unpacked by Afar | Travel Smarter, More ResponsiblyShow Notes
What would happen if you called your grandmother out of the blue and asked her to go camping that night? For Brad Ryan, that impulsive phone call sparked a seven-year journey across all 63 U.S. national parks.
Along the way, he and Grandma Joy, now 96, healed old wounds, faced down lifelong fears, and became unlikely internet stars. Brad's new book, Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing One National Park at a Time, out June 16th, tells the whole story.
In this episode, Brad talks with host Aislyn Greene about what he witnessed in his grandmother over those years—the phenomenon he describes as reverse aging, the way movement and purpose and intergenerational connection seemed to make her healthier and more coordinated over time, not less.
He also reflects on the healing that happened in the car: the long stretches of road through South Dakota, the yellow line hypnosis, the conversations that finally surfaced after years of silence. And he shares what he learned writing the book: about his father, about his family's Irish roots, and about what it means to find pride in an imperfect lineage.
In this episode
Why Brad made the call—and what was happening in his life that led him there
What Joy said when he pitched 63 parks
How road trips create the conditions for conversations that can't happen anywhere else
What the national parks offer as a place for connection across every kind of divide
Grandma Joy's relationship with fear—near-drowning as a child, white-water rafting in Alaska at 90
Why Brad thinks the loneliness crisis among older Americans is something the parks could actually help address
Resources
Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing One National Park at a Time by Brad Ryan, out June 16th
Read the Afar story about Brad and Joy
Follow Brad and Grandma Joy on Instagram
Check out Brad and Grandma Joy's summer 2026 book tour (stops in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, and California)
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