Good travel buddies are hard to come by, but Brad Ryan definitely lucked out.
The Ohio native had been in college, studying veterinary science in 2015, and desperately needed a break. So, he took a trip home to visit his grandmother who was 85-years-old at the time.
During his time with Grandma Joy, Brad learned that while his Grandma had experienced many travel adventures, she had never even seen the sea or the mountains during her almost nine decades.
Four years and dozens of trips later, Brad and his grandmother have visited 29 different national parks across America and collectively driven 25,000 miles through 38 states.
“Seeing it through my grandmother’s eyes, who every morning wakes up and is thankful to be alive, has taught me how to live,” Ryan told WJLA. “With her, I’ve had to slow down and see it in a different way, which has made it a lot more rich.”
The pair’s experiences have included hiking the Smokey Mountains, venturing the slopes of the Great Sandy Dunes in Colorado, and strolling the shores of Acadia National Park in Maine.
