← LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast
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- [00:00]
Grandma Joy
We only wanted to get older people to know they don't have to sit in a chair, they can get out and do things. That was our goal, not to be on TV or anything like that. We wanted to get the older people up on their feet.
- [00:16]
Brad Ryan
People are hungry for examples of a life well lived at every age because we're all on that conveyor belt of time.
- [00:31]
Justin Yoder
What do you do when you come out as LGBTQ and love the outdoors? What do you do when you see the outdoor space ruled by older white CIS men and desire a diverse community of outdoor lovers?
- [00:42]
Patrick
Accept it, change it, create it.
- [00:46]
Justin Yoder
I am Justin Yoder, and this is LGBT Outdoors.
- [00:53]
Patrick
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast. I have Patrick hosting with me today for a special episode that we are going to get to in a little bit.
- [01:04]
Unnamed Host
Hey, everybody.
- [01:06]
Patrick
But before we do that, we have new merch that's finally up on the store.
- [01:11]
Unnamed Host
We do, and we're excited about that because it. When you rename your organization to be more inclusive, your old logo no longer is suitable. So we're going through and updating our entire merch store, and then that'll be growing, I think, as time goes on. But it's back out and rolling.
- [01:41]
Patrick
We're working on getting some new designs up and adding to it and whatnot. But, yeah, everybody can go over and check out the store. I've got our new classic blue T shirt with our LGBTQ Outdoors logo. So that's fun. And it's always fun to represent the organization when you're outside.
- [01:58]
Unnamed Host
So, yeah, and it's even more fun to find, like, LGBTQ outdoors merch or stickers in the wild. I forget where we were, but we saw a sticker the other day and we were like, ah, yay. That's exciting.
- [02:13]
Patrick
We're growing and expanding, so that's fun. Let's jump in with our guests today.
- [02:19]
Brad Ryan
Yes.
- [02:20]
Patrick
So we have Brad Ryan and Grandma Joy, both from Grandma Joy's road trip, joining us today. Super excited. We've had them on before. Brad's become a family to us, and it was an instructor at LGBTQ Outdoor Fest last year and is going to come back this year with Grandma Joy. We're going to talk about that in a little bit as well. But welcome to the podcast and give us a introduction to who both of you are.
- [02:49]
Brad Ryan
Well, my name is Brad Ryan.
- [02:52]
Grandma Joy
I'm Joey Ryan.
- [02:53]
Brad Ryan
Yeah. And we're just a normal grandma grandson duo from southeast Ohio. We're kind of like, culturally, we're more West Virginia than Ohio. Which some people will make fun of us about. But, you know, we had a really. I mean, I attribute a lot of my love of the great outdoors to my grandmother, because my earliest memories when I was a little boy involve being exposed to wild animals and wild places, because she took me there. And, you know, our life went through a variety of twists and turns along the way. My parents got divorced. We became estranged for almost a decade. I went off and hiked the Appalachian Trail, thinking a lot about how I wanted to, you know, come back to my life post trail and mend fences and hopefully minimize future regret in terms of just keeping that estrangement alive. And we. We went hiking at our local state park, the same park where she took me when I was a little kid. And she told me she'd never seen a mountain. And the seed was planted then that I wanted to go on an adventure with her. But then I got accepted into graduate school and then vet school, and five years later, we finally take a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She climbs a mountain and goes camping, smiling the entire time, really blowing or, you know, kind of shattering my expectations or my. My set of assumptions about what life at 85 looks like. And. And then we just organically came up with this plan to travel to all 63 US national parks. It took us seven and a half years to do that. And In May of 2023, she broke the world record as the oldest person to begin and complete a complete circuit of all 63 us our Instagram followers got bossy and demanded that I continue traveling with her. So she already had a passport because we needed one to go to the national park of American Samoa. And while we were there, we. We traveled across the international date line to Western Samoa. And that was our. Those were our first and second passport stamps. And then, yeah, we just sort of said, well, we've got a passport now, so let's. Let's try to see as much of the world as we can. And so the seven continents became the new goal. Seven seemed less daunting than 63.
- [05:20]
Patrick
I love how he starts off with just a normal grandson and grandmother. Like, yeah, I think. I think that is about anything but normal. Maybe to you, you seem like it, but it's just like you started off normal. There you go. Oh, I would love for you to share a little bit about that first camping trip that you did in the Great Smoky Mountains, and. Because when you went, Grandma Joy, you weren't out at that time, right?
- [05:51]
Brad Ryan
That's right. So the first. The first U.S. national park road trip. I was in my, I was in my fourth year of vet school and I reached out to her during a low point for me mental health wise and for our university. I think, I don't know how much we. Forgive me, Justin. I don't remember if I shared the story last time or not.
- [06:11]
Patrick
You'll have, that's okay. It's, it's worth, it's worth sharing it all again. So it's good.
- [06:17]
Brad Ryan
Yeah. So, you know, type A, classic perfectionistic personality types tend to make their way into professional programs like vet school and that, that can lead to some adverse mental health outcomes for a lot of people either in vet school or later on after they graduate. The same holds true for pharmacists, medical doctors, a variety of these sort of like high achieving academic professional programs. So a second year veterinary student committed suicide at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The morning that I arrived at that, I arrived on campus for my radiology rotation and that was sort of my, you know, I had, I had to confront what had been going on inside my head at that point. It was, it was a wake up call that, that thoughts can turn into action in a very abrupt way if you don't take it upon yourself to change course. So I remembered the joy that I experienced when I was on the Appalachian Trail. The version of myself that believed I could do anything when I was standing on summit of Mount Katahdin at the end of that journey. And also coupled with that lingering anxiety that I felt about if I don't eventually make time and space to get her to some wild place to see a Mountain at 85, you never know. And I might be living with some serious regret for the rest of my life that I didn't pull it together and make that happen. So it just was this, I don't know, I was just, I was, I felt helpless. I felt like I needed to do something to take control of my, my destiny. So I called her and asked her if she wanted to go on a road trip with me so that she could see her first mountain. And in classic Grandma Joy style, she, you know, she was just absolutely game for anything. And she said what time are you picking me up? And well, she came up to the teaching hospital parking lot and we, we left in the evening and drove through the night to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And they want to know more about what that first camping trip was like.
- [08:24]
Grandma Joy
It was wild. 2:00 in the morning, he's trying to put the tent up and I'M chasing him with the umbrella and got the mattress blowed up and then the plug came out and I had to climb underneath the mattress and hold it up with my feet so he could blow it back up. And then I couldn't get out and I got to laughing and I said, well, this is like a Laurel and Harley movie of them. And I kept falling off of the Dagon air mattress. So I said, forget that I'm sleeping on the ground. So that's what I did. And believe it or not, the next morning, the rain stopped.
- [09:08]
Brad Ryan
Yep.
- [09:09]
Patrick
Wow. Definitely sounds like plenty of laughing. Laughing goes on on these trips. And always, even though I know there's plenty of challenging times, there's a lot of joy that goes along into these, the trips as well. But it was on that first trip that you learned that Brad was gay. And from right at the beginning, you accepted him and loved him and had no issue with it and loved him like any family member should.
- [09:40]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, she just sort of randomly blurted it out while we were sitting around the campfire at 11pm at the end of our, our first night after the rain stopped. And I guess I'm not. I guess my secret wasn't very well kept. And I said, I didn't think you knew. It's just like Brad, I'm old, I'm not senile. That was kind of the. Oh, yeah, okay, touche. So, yeah, but it was important because it was like I said, because it was meant to be a one and done camping trip. It was just meant to be. Let's go to the Smokies. Let's, let's see how I thought it was going to be maybe not the most enjoyable experience for her, to be honest, sleeping in a tent and so forth. But because it was so magical and because I learned that I did have this, I did have this acceptance and this unconditional love within my paternal family line that I didn't think existed. I didn't think that we would have a relationship without me remaining selectively closeted from, from her. And she can speak to the rest. But I mean, my take on it is that she sensed that there was, there were multiple things weighing me down at that point in life. And that was one thing that she could control and one variable that she could remove, one stone that she could remove from my, my shoulder to ease the weight and help me, you know, move forward with, with a lot more self confidence and just, just a sense of belonging within the family. So, and that's, that's a big piece of why we Kept going. You know, I. I think that had she. Yeah, I don't. I don't know. It's hard to say how things would have turned out otherwise, but the truth is that I learned something about her that allowed our relationship to become more solid and that. That created a foundation for us to. To further the adventure.
- [11:40]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [11:40]
Brad Ryan
Nice.
- [11:42]
Patrick
I like that so much. Just seeing your guys's relationship, it's just incredible. And for anybody that's listening, just as a reminder, we. We do have our episodes on YouTube now, so that anybody that wants can be watching. And I would highly recommend this would be one that you more watch because you just fall in love with Grandma Joy as. As you see her, and you get to hear her stories. But what was it then from that trip you decided to do another trip? And how did that evolve into Grandma Joy's road trip?
- [12:19]
Brad Ryan
Well, the. The short answer is that I. I graduated from vet school and I spent my first year in New Hampshire and just, you know, it just wasn't. It was a job. You know, you spend your whole life trying to become this thing, this what, this whatever, if the dream is a career, an award, some sort of status, and then you get it, and then you realize that doesn't really fill my cup completely the way I thought it was going to. And so there was just this recognition that I. I was most happy in my life when I was hiking, when I was in the great outdoors, when I was doing this with her. And when I dropped her off at her house at the end of that trip to the Smokies, she was crying on the porch and thanking me for taking her on this trip. And I thought, you know, I. I'm gonna go on with my life. And now she's back to what existed before, which was a daily walk through the Duncan Falls Cemetery. And so I just thought, no, this was mutually. It was mutually beneficial. So I started thinking. I thought I was just going to take her to Yellowstone. It was just going to be a second road trip. And then I Learned about the U.S. national Parks and the process of planning for that one trip. And then I got greedy. Like, no, let's go out for a month. I'll just. I'll quit my job, and then I'll. I'll allow some time in between when my next job starts so that we can. We can go see. I wanted to see all the icon or the most iconic or the most famous national park, so Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, and more. So. But. But it was a goal at the Beginning just, hey, why don't we just chip away at this, see how many we can. Can see. But a lot of them felt impossible to reach. And yeah, seemingly impossible things are possible. You just. I just didn't think that it was going to end up like, be a viral story the way it was because we didn't have any intention of that.
- [14:30]
Unnamed Host
And this is.
- [14:32]
Grandma Joy
We only wanted to get older people to know they don't have to sit in a chair, they can get out and do things. That was our goal, not to be on TV or anything like that. We wanted to get the older people up on their feet.
- [14:48]
Brad Ryan
Sorry about that. Yeah, she's had a lot of. We got a lot of attention for that reason, though, I think because people, people are hungry for examples of a life well lived in.
- [15:01]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [15:02]
Brad Ryan
At every age. Because we're all on that conveyor belt of time. And so we don't want to. Ideally, we don't. Hopefully we can all get to a place where we don't look at aging as a limiting factor.
- [15:19]
Unnamed Host
Yeah. And like, what a gift to be able to do that. This is probably the only time where I strongly encourage greediness.
- [15:28]
Brad Ryan
Yeah.
- [15:30]
Unnamed Host
Because, like, the aspirations that just sort of like sparked up from your first experience led to, like, not only your incredible series of road trips, but also, like, people getting to see and like, proof positive that, like, age is simply a number and intergenerational, like, familial relationships can still be a thing. And so you're busting stereotypes and busting expectations of what the norm is, whatever that is. Anyway, these days I just want to keep listening to y'all talk. Well, it's like, this is incredible.
- [16:24]
Brad Ryan
I think goal setting is one of the ingredients to pushing back against. Let me rephrase this. I mean, people will ask all the time, like, what's your secret? You're 95 and you don't. Mentally, physically, and obviously what we're seeing you do every day on Instagram does not. That does not comport with what I think of as a 95 year old lifestyle or 95 year old. So what is the. What's the magic sauce for that? And so I think that, you know, the idea of saying, well, let's just try, even though we don't have enough money or vacation days or any of these or any contacts within the National Park Service to be able to go see the eight national parks of Alaska or go to American Samoa or Hawaii or the Virgin Islands or any of these hard to reach places, but it's not. Even if it Seems out of reach. It's the mere fact that you set this ambitious goal that you're working towards that keeps you actively engaged with your life, especially at this age. So I'm a big believer in how devastating that can be to a person who feels invisible, who feels that the best days of their life are behind them, that there's nothing to look forward to. That. That if you can. If you can. And then that we didn't. We weren't consciously thinking of that, but it was this idea that, no, we're going to have connection. We're going to go out to the world. We're going to make new friends from all over the world, all over the country. We're going to fill our life with experiences and adventure that. That reminds us that we are still alive. And that when you go home, you. And the door closes behind you and you're back in your house watching tv, that. That you're not falling apart mentally because there's nothing else to look forward to, that there's an adventure coming up in a few months. And so I've got to. I gotta keep my daily walks up so that I'm ready for that trip and so forth. So all those things kind of come together. If you have connection, you have goals that you're working towards, you have physical activity every day and that you have purpose, I think you bring that all together. And then 85, and now she turns 95 in three weeks. Less than three weeks.
- [18:50]
Grandma Joy
Two weeks. 18.
- [18:51]
Unnamed Host
Oh, wow.
- [18:53]
Patrick
Happy early birthday. That's amazing.
- [18:56]
Brad Ryan
Yeah.
- [18:56]
Grandma Joy
And so glad to make it. You know, it makes you feel good, Just be able to get out of bed every morning.
- [19:06]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [19:07]
Grandma Joy
Another day ahead of me. Wonder what's going to happen.
- [19:11]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [19:11]
Grandma Joy
That's the way you kind of have to look at things.
- [19:15]
Patrick
That's a great way to look at it. Gravel. Joy, what did you think when Brad started talking about doing international trips?
- [19:23]
Brad Ryan
So what was your reaction to when we started? When I started saying we're going to go overseas, I thought, well, we can.
- [19:30]
Grandma Joy
Give it a whirl. If it don't work, we can get back home. No big deal.
- [19:34]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [19:36]
Unnamed Host
Nice.
- [19:37]
Patrick
That's a great attitude to have about it. That's a great attitude to have about anything in life, really. Right. It's worth a shot, at least.
- [19:47]
Unnamed Host
Just the. In simple terms, the willingness to say yes, for sure. Like, to something scary, to, like a big adventure, to a small adventure, to something that's foreign and new and probably uncomfortable, and to climbing under an air mattress so that your grandson can blow it up, you know, in a. In the rain, like the first time you go camping. Like, like just the simple willingness to say yes, I think has made all the difference. Like, what a lesson.
- [20:21]
Patrick
Yeah, definitely. What, what. What was your first international trip and some of your other bigger trips that you've done, and I know that you mo. I think it was maybe your second to last trip was Antarctica. And we're going to talk more about that a little bit towards the end, but love to hear some more. More about your international travels, because I. And I comes back to what Grandma Joy was saying, just getting out there and doing it and being active and getting out of the chair. But I feel like there's so many people that get to that age where they just feel like they have a hard time going to a national park here, let alone traveling internationally.
- [21:09]
Brad Ryan
Yeah. I mean, and it's, It's. It's one of those things where, I mean, it. It was uncharted territory for both of us because I've, like, I've traveled internationally, but taking somebody her age who can be prone to, I mean. Yeah. If she gets injured or has a complication from, you know, blood clot from flying for so many hours overseas and that kind of thing, it's a very, like, it's a, It's a different, It's a different level of consequence when you're, like, in Antarctica where there's no civilization and you would have to be medically evacuated by a helicopter. That would take, you know, I mean, it's just all these variables that you would never have to really worry about as much if you were traveling by yourself at a younger age. It's, it's, you know, it's. It's been something that. It, it always sort of ratchet. Ratchets up the, the, the, the. The logistical planning that we have to do and, and. And all the different scenarios I have to think through before we ever. Before we ever take off. But I'm sorry if I forgot your question. I, I rambled too long.
- [22:14]
Patrick
No, you're totally good. I was just curious about, you know, getting started with the international trip. Which, which one was your first one? And I'm sorry. Like. No, that's. You're totally, You're. You're totally fine. And like, what that was like, you know, being able to do that for some, especially somebody that was older, you know, because, like, you were saying, like, once you get older, travel can become harder and there's more challenges that go along with it.
- [22:40]
Brad Ryan
Yeah. So you just have to. You have to Plan accordingly and seek a lot of advice from people who been, you know, down similar roads and of course, speaking to her doctor about what we can do to minimize risks and so forth. So we don't get to sleep a lot on these international flights because we're up every hour doing laps and she's on blood thinners, so we have to be more careful about falling and so forth. But we. She has to be a blood thinners to minimize the chances of clots in her lungs and all these things. So the first. The first trip was when we. I think we. We had some confidence that we could do this. I mean, flying. But we also broke it up. So we flew to Hawaii, spent a little time there before we flew on to the national park of American Samoa. So even though that's a US Territory and it's part of the United States, technically they have their own immigration system. So that's why she ended up with a passport at age 91. And then we were there and everyone said, well, you know, it'll never be cheaper to get to Samoa. And so we. We flew across the international date line on my, like, right before my birthday. And then we flew back after my birthday ended in Samoa, and I got to relive my birthday in American Samoa. So I turned. I turned 43 for 48 hours.
- [23:49]
Unnamed Host
Nice.
- [23:50]
Brad Ryan
Yeah.
- [23:50]
Unnamed Host
Cool.
- [23:51]
Brad Ryan
So we were looking at this passport and I thought, you know, like, I think that's what I learned. Like, I had no plan for how we were going to get to these places. I just. It was just there was a lot of media attention around having finished this big goal of the 63 U.S. national Parks and her breaking this age record for having done so. And so I'm just like, well, you know, we manifested this against all odds. We pulled it off. So let's. I got, you know, we're not like, don't. Don't say Branson, Missouri. You know, no offense, Branson, but what's next? Yeah, we're going to do the seven continents. And now here we are less than two. Two years later, and we've been sponsored by corporations that have gotten us to five out of seven continents. So you just. You just know. And I realize that's a huge privilege, but at the end of the day, though, it's still something that we manifested by putting this inexplicable idea into the universe and then be. And then be in, you know, very intentional about it, being very committed to it. And, yeah, so that's. That's what's happened. So I think you Know, it's funny, because my first international trip was in 2001, May of 2001. And I wanted to go to Africa my whole life. And she was the one who took me to the airport when I was. Let's see. Yeah, I was 19 and I turned 20 over there. And I remember being so sad that, you know, I was driving in these herds of elephants and wildebeests and how much that would have meant to her to see something like that. And in my mind, just knowing her socioeconomic status and all the things, you know, it was. It was. That was something that I was going to have to work for years to pay off. This was a big luxury to be able to travel overseas, coming from the roots that I come from. And so I just. It was this idea in my mind, like, that's just something she's never going to see. So when we were in Yellowstone and we were trapped in a bison herd for four hours, well, leashes had. You know, this is very similar. We have these. The U.S. national Parks do offer these really epic. We forget, you know, because we're from here, so we don't think of it as exotic. But, yeah, to be able to go to the. To the Lamar Valley and. And be immersed in this massive herd of bison is a thrill for people that come all over the world to come from all over the world to see that. And so I was like, no, you know, I've got that. I have. I have. I have that piece. Like, she got to see that. And she'll. She's never seen a cheetah hunting in Africa like I have, but she got to watch coyotes hunt for prairie dogs at Wind Cave national park in South Dakota. So there's, like, you know, there were. There was some peace in that for me. And so then to suddenly find myself in, you know, two months after we finish the US national park goal in Kenya together, and she's taking her to all these parks that I got to see, and she's. She got to watch a cheetah hunting, and she got to watch the migration of zebras across the Maasai River. And, you know, so it did. It came full circle. And then, you know, and then there's always. There's always the possibility for more if you are set on doing that and you keep hope alive. It's hard to imagine where you can go in life, but, yeah, it's wild. I never thought in a million years that I would be in Africa with my grandmother at age 91 and that she would be dancing with the maasai and all these things that happened. So that, that was a huge. That was a really beautiful trip. Do you want to talk about Africa?
- [27:33]
Grandma Joy
Oh, it was great. We just saw animals everywhere and got chased by an elephant. The guy said, go and get in the truck. Here comes the next. Well, that'd be something worse. And then we saw, we had all kind of monkeys and all kinds of. And when we were back to our camp, they would hanging from the trees and just carrying on. And what was those things that was running around on the ground?
- [28:08]
Brad Ryan
Oh, those were mongoose.
- [28:11]
Grandma Joy
Yeah, mongoose. And then he decided to get in the bath water in the bat in the swimming pool. It was really.
- [28:19]
Brad Ryan
Oh, that, that was a warthog. A warthog got in our pool.
- [28:23]
Unnamed Host
Oh, wow.
- [28:24]
Brad Ryan
Like how you feel like taking a swim now?
- [28:26]
Grandma Joy
Very long lay down, like, oh, this is really great. I like it.
- [28:31]
Patrick
Oh, like you have had so many experiences and adventures. Like I know that it's got to be hard to have a favorite one, but if each of you had a, a memory that you would definitely like what to save and want to be able to share with people for each of you, which, which would that be?
- [28:55]
Brad Ryan
And you're talking about the whole.
- [28:58]
Patrick
Yeah, about the whole experience. All the trips.
- [29:01]
Brad Ryan
So U.S. national Parks and international trips combined. What's been like the, the biggest cherry on top. Your favorite memory. She can't even answer what her favorite park is.
- [29:15]
Grandma Joy
I think the biggest thrill we had is when we went to Africa and I didn't know there were so many different kind of animals. And it was just, it was amazing. It really was. I, I can't get over telling people about how great it was and if I never get to do anything else, that was, that was the trip I really enjoyed.
- [29:43]
Brad Ryan
Something that stands out for me about that trip was that when I went to Kenya as a 19 year old, almost 20 year old guy, I had legitimate culture shock. Seeing the poverty, seeing just, just, just everything was so. It was an entirely different world in every way. And you know, the more you travel, the more you understand that the world is a million things and you should always expect something new and different. So your culture, at least for me, I don't experience culture shock anymore. But this was her first time seeing the same situation that I had. And yes, Kenya has changed a lot. Africa has been socioeconomically rising up over the last two decades. So you see more. You have cell phone service in the Maasai Mar. Like you can update your Instagram in the middle of the Maasai Mar, that would have been completely same. I mean, that was unheard of 20 years ago. So it's a different world, but a lot of things have stayed the same. And what struck me was I remember being in that Maasai village when I was 19 and seeing, you know, this Boma where everybody is walking around their village with the goats and the, the cattle all running around and everybody's barefoot and in the mud and the muck and, and you know, seeing that kind of convergence of wildlife, livestock and people is a big part of why I wanted to go to veterinary, veterinary school and study diseases that move between animals and people and all that stuff. But anyway, long story short, we end up in a, in a different Maasai village, but, you know, similar in many ways. And I remember just, I was watching to see what her reaction to all of that would be, and I'm glad I have video of it because she, she just walked amongst the Maasai with such ease and, and I think, and I asked her, you know, how, how does this make you feel? And, and she said this. You know, she grew up in a house that was a converted chicken coop, you know, and, and, and, and, and she had an outhouse and no electricity and they had to boil water on a fire and pour it into the bathtub to wash up. And you know, they had to. She lived through the Great Depression, so it wasn't jarring to her to see.
- [32:05]
Grandma Joy
That kind of lifestyle felt like at home.
- [32:09]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [32:10]
Brad Ryan
You know, that was a beautiful thing to be able to see.
- [32:12]
Grandma Joy
Yeah. And they might be poor, but they don't know it. Everybody's cheerful. They always wore bright colored dresses and everything orange and red. And all the little kids are laughing and jumping and running around. They don't know they're poor.
- [32:28]
Brad Ryan
And she didn't either, you know, so.
- [32:30]
Unnamed Host
Absolutely true. We've had that.
- [32:35]
Brad Ryan
One second. Go ahead, Patrick.
- [32:38]
Unnamed Host
We've had the opportunity to go to Kenya twice.
- [32:41]
Brad Ryan
Okay.
- [32:43]
Unnamed Host
And I had the same experience, like from an America, Americanized perspective. You know, we see like poor poverty, whatever, but these kids are some of the most joyful, loving, alive humans that I've ever met. And, and I was just really taken aback. And they were not only like caring and gentle with us, they were like protective of us, like, you know, watching out for our stuff. Like just, it was a really, really like, humbling experience of being fully honest. I challenged like anything that, any sort of preconceived notions that I had walking in. So I totally, I, I, I get what you're saying.
- [33:38]
Brad Ryan
It's beautiful. It's very humbling to be able to, you think about the thing, even the things that I complain about, you know, my, whatever it is something that's going on at work, you know, whatever it may be. And then you realize that there are, there are people whose day to day reality is that they're going to get up and they're going to leave their village with a large walking stick and they're going to meander through wild Africa with their herd of cattle, always being on alert for an elephant or a buffalo that may be hiding, waiting to ambush them. And that, that's scarier to them than if they come face to face with a lion. Because a lion is something that you can be brave enough to confront and they won't. As long as you don't run, they're not going to attack you. So the lion, we'd rather see a lion today on foot than potentially something that, that really could kill me. And that's why I've got to be able to stand, always stand downwind and use my sense of smell and hearing to make sure that that doesn't happen. I mean, and they, and they, and that's just, and they, and they talk about that so matter of factly, just as if I was saying I, you know, I get up and make a cup of coffee and then I drive to work and sometimes I'm in traffic. I mean, but, but that is their day to day circumstance. And, and so you just. Yeah, I mean it just completely, yeah, it completely opens up your, your life when you can, when you can travel and experience new cultures and also look at what real bravery is, look at what real hardship is. And that you can. And that if they can do that with, with a smile on their face, then you can do better as well.
- [35:23]
Unnamed Host
Absolutely. I think you nailed it. It's such a powerful experience to get to travel, like really anywhere and getting to see that humanity exists outside of your house, outside of your hometown, outside of your state and how vastly different it is. I want to hear more about your international travels, but we're going to take a quick little break here to hear from some of our fantastic sponsors. So we'll be right back.
- [35:56]
Justin Yoder
Locust Yoga creates mats and towels designed to support your yoga practice and build meaningful connections. Their designs foster connection, bringing people together to create spaces and shared growth and understanding. They also focus on intentional community, providing tools to support your journey and mark meaningful moments with purpose. Find them on Instagram at Locustyoga Shop or on the web at locustyoga Shop. And here's a deal just for you. For a limited time, buy any mat and get a free towel with code outdoors Locust Yoga. Because yoga is more than a practice, it's a connection. At LGBT Outdoors, we're thrilled to have Montucky cold snacks backing our mission. Montucky supports our passion for making the outdoors a welcoming space for everyone. And they've been supporting nonprofits across our country since 2012. After an epic day on the trail, nothing beats a cold, snackable Montaukee beach here. So get outside, enjoy the adventure, do some good, and raise a Montucky to inclusivity and the great outdoors.
- [37:07]
Unnamed Host
All right, welcome back to the LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast. We're here getting to talk with Brad Ryan and Grandma Joy from Grandma Joy's road trip. So we were just talking about visiting Kenya, and now we're going to switch to one of their other international adventures, their trip to Antarctica. So little bit different climate.
- [37:36]
Patrick
Slightly.
- [37:37]
Unnamed Host
Slightly, slightly. So, like, how did all that come about?
- [37:45]
Brad Ryan
It was, I think, when we got back from the Galapagos, you know, we. Every trip that we've done, it ends up getting publicity. So it's just, like I said, it's a very privileged kind of life we've been living the last few years. And so a representative from HX Expeditions reached out and said, you know, we have two or three people that we invite to go to Antarctica every year, and we want to help you on your goal because it's the hardest continent to reach, and you can get that checked off your list. And. Yeah, so it was. It was an invitation that we. We were very happy to accept. And it's a long, like, it's a very, very, very long journey to get down there, especially with. With someone who's 94. Yeah, yeah. So you, you know, we flew to Buenos Aires, and from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, we got to do some hiking in Patagonia, which was. I mean, that. That's. That's another. But I have to get back down there at some point. And then it's two days across the Drake Passage from Ushuaia, which is the southernmost city in the entire world. And that's. That was the wild card, because I don't know if you've heard of it, but that. That two days across the ocean on the Drake Passage is what makes or breaks a trip for a lot of people, because it can be wild, I guess, very, very turbulent waves. We had our Dramamine on board, but it turned out 5% of what it could be. And we got that good fortune there and back. Because nice, good, good, good luck charm, I guess. But yeah, you, you, you travel for two days across the ocean and then you wake up and I opened the curtain, I stepped out onto the, the balcony of our cabin and you were just in this. As well, traveled as I am, there's still places that you visit that make you feel like you're not on planet Earth. And this is definitely one of them. When you see penguins swimming around in the water below you and you're looking out at these icebergs and this just seemingly untouched landscape of glaciers and, and, and snow covered mountains and you, and wherever you travel, that's what it is. There's no restaurant, there's no gas station, there's no, there's no civilization. It's just you and your traveling crew through this, just this epic untouched land. You know, it's, it's a huge landscape. We got to see a fraction of it. But it was, I mean every, everything that we saw was, was mind blowingly beautiful icebergs that were bigger than our boat.
- [40:34]
Grandma Joy
So like I've ever been on a big ship like that. And oh my guy seemed like all we did was eat.
- [40:46]
Unnamed Host
All right.
- [40:47]
Grandma Joy
Again, oh my word. But there was a lot of people on there and then we got to see all the little animals.
- [40:56]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, I mean really, the, the most incredible thing about Antarctica is that you're, you're out there with, with just the, the wildlife. So if you're lucky, you see elephant seals, leopard seals, things like that. We saw a lot of humpback whales, some minke whales. I mean it was like it was non stop whales. Like that's just, that's all we saw. And then of course, penguins everywhere. And I forget how many species are down there, but we saw three, three different species while we were making our way around the, the mainland down there. So. Yeah. Do you want, do you want to talk about some of your penguin encounters?
- [41:36]
Grandma Joy
Oh, penguins, they, they like to follow one another and look like little soldiers marching around there, just. And then if they get too hot, they flap their wings. I thought, well, how in the world could you get too hot? But really I didn't think it was any colder. In Ohio we get degrees below zero. And so it didn't feel to me like it was any colder than there. But we had them darn boots on and they must have weighed 10 pounds apiece. It was awful. I'm telling you. I had to get out of them contraptions. I don't know.
- [42:23]
Unnamed Host
Gotta keep your toes warm though.
- [42:24]
Patrick
They gave you like a lot of supplies and equipment for this, right? As far as like coats.
- [42:29]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, everything is. Yeah. Because you can't. They won't let anybody take their own boots or their own hiking pools or anything like that on the mainland because it's a, you know, it's a very well protected ecosystem and they want to make sure that, that no invasive species are being introduced. So we only use their equipment so that it's, you know, everything's thoroughly washed and, and protected. And so because they, they just don't want us to introduce. I mean, it could happen. You know, there are a variety of pathogens that could be brought in from another part of the world and they would be completely naive to it.
- [43:02]
Grandma Joy
And then when you come back, you have to go in, wash your boots off in this sanitary water.
- [43:09]
Brad Ryan
Yeah.
- [43:10]
Grandma Joy
So.
- [43:11]
Unnamed Host
Yeah, See, I wouldn't have even thought about that.
- [43:13]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, it's a lot of step and getting into. Oh, why can't I remember the name of it? Zodiac. A little Zodiac boat. Like a little rubber boat that's motorized. And then you, you know, we.
- [43:25]
Grandma Joy
And the side was that big around and my legs ain't that long. Give me a poo.
- [43:34]
Patrick
That's funny. Grandma Joy, what was your favorite part about Antarctica?
- [43:39]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, the favorite thing that you got to see and do in Antarctica.
- [43:43]
Grandma Joy
Well, there are more penguins because we never seen this around here.
- [43:48]
Unnamed Host
Yeah.
- [43:49]
Brad Ryan
But we got, we got trapped on opposite sides of. So. So a lot of what we did were, you know, there are a lot of islands that are off the coast of mainland Antarctica. But one day we actually stepped foot on the mainland and there were questions surrounding whether or not she's the oldest person that's ever stepped foot on the Antarctic mainland. We'll never know the answer to that question, but whatever. But I mean, it's not a normal thing for a 94 year old to be walking around on the Antarctic mainland. And we had to climb up this little hill where all the penguins were. And of course you have to keep distance between where you're standing and where the penguins are walking back and forth. So when they. Eventually there was an opportunity for me to walk to the other side of the penguin highway, which is just a path in the snow. So I could get some photos of her then like this. Just one after another. These penguins just would not stop. So we got trapped on opposite sides of the penguin highway. And then her legs locked up, her knees locked up from standing, so.
- [44:54]
Patrick
Oh, no.
- [44:55]
Brad Ryan
So tensely for so long. And that led to a whole debacle. Trying to get her back down the, the hill, back into the Zodiac boat. So like I said, like it. But I, I was just so grateful that she was there. And, and I always know, like, when, when we have these little setbacks that as bad as it may look at any given moment, that as soon as we get some food in her belly and get her warmed up and, and everything that she bounces right back, at least her attitude does. So I like who I was. Like, this is not a normal situation for like, you know, to be trapped on another side of a path because the penguins won't stop coming through and they're like, preventing you from getting back to your 94 year old grandmother who's like quickly decompensating on the other side of the penguin highway. But I mean, it was, but you know, what a privilege it was to just, even to step foot on that continent and to. They said that There are only 2 million people in the world who've ever been there, which is like less than, way less than. I think it's like 0.02%. I can't. Of the entire global population, of the 8.1 billion people that are on Earth, only 2 million have, have been to Antarctica. So it was, you know, it's just, I was very, very. And I've been, I've been that way for many years since we started traveling together. Like, I never take for granted when I'm someplace new that I'll, that I'll ever see it again. So I really tried to be, you know, grateful and present throughout that entire experience because it was such a. I mean, even if it, you know, even if hours and hours and hours would go by, I would just sit there and stare at this world that was passing by because I just didn't know if I would ever see it again.
- [46:45]
Unnamed Host
Well, yeah, because it's, I mean, by and large untouched. Even like the national parks, which are great for the natural beauty, there's still a certain level of like, you know, manicuring and curating of paths and roads and, and all that stuff. And that's not to negate that or the importance of national parks. But when you're on Antarctica, like, it's as it has always been, basically with like next to zero trace of humanity.
- [47:22]
Brad Ryan
Right.
- [47:23]
Unnamed Host
Like, how does that make you feel when you're there just sitting and watching, like, realizing that I'm about as far away from other humans as I can possibly get.
- [47:38]
Brad Ryan
Well, I mean, I think, I think that that's, like I said, because it was so, you know, you're conscious of how far and how many legs of travel it has taken to get you to that point. And then your everyday reality is that there's no. Like, we're not seeing very many cruise ships down here. This is a. This is in a world where humans have infiltrated every corner of the Earth. It seems there are a handful of places where the wildlife doesn't react with fear because they haven't been under threat by humanity because there's so few of us that are down there. And the ones that are there are just pointing these funny contraptions all day long. And so, I don't know, for me, it was so remote and it was so different than. I mean, even compared to Alaska. You see glaciers and everything in Alaska, but it is wild in a way that nothing else can compare. And that is what. There's something about being in a space like that that really gets you in touch with your aliveness, for lack a better word, just that, you know, no, life is really miraculous. Like, this is like life on planet Earth is really a special crazy opportunity, this conscious existence that we have. And so I think that's. That's the way I felt down there.
- [49:11]
Grandma Joy
I just felt like it was so peaceful and quiet. You just kill your own heart beating practically. There wasn't any noise whatsoever. Amazing to sit there and think. I can't hear a thing. You know, because when you were in. No matter where you are, there's always somebody banging, cracking or something. Yeah, when we were there, it was just so peaceful and quiet. And you can kind of talk to yourself and get your soul underneath the control, I guess. But it was really, really great. It really was.
- [49:59]
Unnamed Host
What a gift.
- [50:00]
Grandma Joy
I love that it's gonna be there again.
- [50:04]
Patrick
That's something. You know, the noise is something that we probably don't even think about. Like, I know, you know, I've been out into the woods after it snowed, and it's so quiet and peaceful, but, like, that's got to be a whole nother level since there's no highways and buildings and people like, yeah, it's such a different world.
- [50:24]
Brad Ryan
And, and, and, and. And we're. And we only got to see it. Like I said, we're seeing it from the water, but I imagine flying over it or being on a snowmobile or whatever it may be would be even. Even more. Yeah, even more grand. But we. It was fun. One of the. One of the people who we met on that trip, we became very good friends with her. Her name was Suniva Sorby. And she was part of the first all women's group that journeyed to the South Pole, and they did it on with just cross country skiing and pulling their. Pulling their supplies on their sled, and she and three women made it all the way to the South Pole together. And she's the godmother of the particular ship that we were on with HX Expeditions, and we just. We. And. Yeah, anyway. Amazing. Amazing.
- [51:19]
Unnamed Host
How cool.
- [51:20]
Brad Ryan
Yeah. Yeah. And so, like, I just. I just love connecting to people that have that. That hunger for adventure even. It doesn't have to be that extreme. But, you know, that's. That's what's so special about the community that you created, too, is that we have. We have both of these deeply fundamental things in common about us. Like, we have a similar lens on the world and that we, you know, through the adversity that we've shared different variations of the same theme, but through the adversity that we've experienced in this community, that we've all found an opportunity for growth and for healing in these outdoor spaces. That's what. That's what everybody experienced at the Outdoor Fest last year and every year. That was my first one. But, you know, there was a morning that happened when we all had to go home because it was almost utopia. Not. Not only in terms of the scenery that. But also just the. That. That. That. That belonging that was so immediate, that sense of belonging and psychological safety that we had there. So, you know, you find that. You find that connection with anybody who loves the great outdoors, but when you bring it together with our unique lens on life, it makes it even more important, I think.
- [52:39]
Patrick
Definitely. So. And I mean, you mentioned, you know, LGBTQ Outdoor Fest, you were an instructor last year, and we're planning on having you back with Grandma Joy for this year. So do you remember last year, they.
- [52:54]
Brad Ryan
Thought she was gonna jump out of a.
- [52:55]
Unnamed Host
Yes.
- [52:56]
Patrick
They thought she was a surprise guest.
- [52:59]
Brad Ryan
Out of a cake or something.
- [53:01]
Patrick
That did not happen. But we did surprise him with a drag queen last year. Right. But looking ahead with Grandma Joy's road trip, what. What do you see? The future or any plans that you have in the future?
- [53:18]
Brad Ryan
So the. The two plans that we have right now, one of them is that when I was a. So let me try to get to the point. I have trouble with this. So I was a w. I'm a wildlife veterinarian by training. I haven't worked in that world for a while, but I was in Malawi during my fourth year of vet school after we had done our smokies trip, I went back to Africa, and I worked at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, and I worked for the Long Way Wildlife center in Malawi, and I met a really amazing wildlife vet. Her instagram handle is thejungledoctor. And we've maintained a very close friendship over the years. And she reached out to me not long ago, and I've never announced this publicly, so you guys are the first ones to hear this. But we're going on exclusive. We have a really crazy adventure planned for this summer. So we are going to go to South Africa and we're going to load up some rhinos at a game farm, and we're going to move them across country and release them into a national park. Now Grandma Joy's road trip is involved in rhino relocation.
- [54:28]
Patrick
Do you got room for an extra person on that trip?
- [54:31]
Unnamed Host
You need a documentary crew.
- [54:33]
Brad Ryan
Yeah, there will. There will be spaces available for people to join us. So we're. We need about 5,000. We're trying to raise about $5,000 per rhino. And, you know, it's. It's very. Relatively speaking, it's pretty easy to breed rhinos in captivity when they have an outdoor space. And it's. They have a bit of freedom and they're happy and content. They'll breed and they'll. They'll make lots of babies over time. And so we don't have an issue with breeding rhinos. We have an issue with having safe, safe places for them to be able to be reintroduced without being sitting ducks to poachers. And so the infrastructure is there, the security is in place for these rhinos to be reintroduced. So that's what we're going to be doing this summer. And then our first Asia trip is going to be in September. Not. It doesn't conflict without.
- [55:26]
Unnamed Host
I was just like, wait a minute.
- [55:29]
Patrick
We've had a few people ask, like, are they sure? Are you sure they're going to be able to make it to LGBTQ Outdoor Fest? Then if they're out of Asia, we.
- [55:37]
Brad Ryan
Have a busy fall. Yeah. So we're heading to Borneo, the island of Borneo in Malaysia.
- [55:44]
Patrick
Amazing.
- [55:44]
Brad Ryan
To. To see the pygmy elephants and the orangutans and all the spectacular endemic wildlife of that part of the world. So that leaves Australia in New Zealand. So we'll figure that out hopefully next year. There's too much going on. It's coming up at the same time. So, like, this. This year is like, it's amazing that I'm not, like, full head grade. Yeah.
- [56:08]
Patrick
And so. And then. So if Anybody's interested in coming to Outdoor Fest, just go to our website and you can meet Brad and Grandma Joy in person. But then also in October, Brad and another one of our team members, oded, are leading a trip to Great Smoky Mountains national park, and we have information about that as well. So there's opportunities to get connected in person with Brad for sure. But I always love listening to you and connecting with you. We. We love you both very much. And wrapping up, I just kind of love to hear some final thoughts from. From you and Grandma Joy. Just anything that you would like to share that maybe you want people to take away from your experiences. I know, like, you mentioned that you went viral. I don't know if people really realize how much. I think that that's an understatement, because I don't know if there's a news source that you haven't been on around the world, but today's show, Good Morning America, cnn. Just like USA Today. USA Today. T A Hall, you've been on two or three times. So, like, you are living this life that a lot of people get to see. I'm just kind of wondering what message you would love people to take away from from all of this.
- [57:30]
Brad Ryan
Well, I. I think I briefly hit upon this when. I don't remember. I kind of went out of my body that night when you guys asked me to get up and speak at the end of the. Around the campfire that night. But I think a lot about. Especially meeting. Having met everybody at OutdoorFest last year. It was an intergenerational community, which was beautiful to see. And one thing that I just encourage people. I mean, I'm kind of like, I'm in my mid-40s now, so I'm kind of in that, like, in between zone. But one thing that I've noticed through the years, whether it's at a gay bar or any. Any type of LGBT space, is that that you do see people that as they age within this community. My. My perception is that. That. That as we get older in this community, sometimes we become more invisible. And I, you know, it's. It's. It's. It's. We have that on the heterosexual side of things, too. Like, that, like, we have an overall. In the United States, we have this overall cultural norm around out of sight, out of mind. We don't want to look at. At the older generation. Whether that's because it. It makes us feel like it's. It's a visual reminder of where we're heading and that. And that create some. Some sort of discomfort or whatever it may be, But I just. I just encourage people to have. To the best of your abilities, empathy comes easier to some than others. But to have empathy of. Of what that would feel like to. To age and be a part of a society that. That no longer sees you. And, And I. And I. I did not. I did not experience that at outdoor festival, but I just. I think that that's my kind of call to action is just understanding that, like, we're all. If we're lucky enough to live that long, that's. That's where we're all going to end up. And do we want to. Do we want to live long enough to then become invisible to. To others? That's something that we have control over, whether that's inviting people along for the ride, people that use, and we can do that for each other in our own community. I believe that that capacity exists with. With a much greater likelihood, especially within our LGBTQ outdoor community, to make sure that we're. That we're always linking up and locking arms with. With people across the generational divide. That's. That's something that. That we can model for people in their teens and their twenties so that, you know, as we're. As we're moving up, that's. That's. That's seen as. Yeah, that's just what you do. We can. We don't. We don't forget our own, and we. And we bring people along for the ride. So that's. That's important to me, and I'll probably be speaking about that in some way, shape or form this fall. Grandma, what's your. What's your message to. To the world? This is your platform. Give us some grandma joy advice.
- [60:52]
Grandma Joy
Well, try to stay positive, because no matter your circumstances, there's always people worse than you. So enjoy life as you go along. So try to look up, not down, and if somebody asks you to go somewhere, don't say no.
- [61:15]
Unnamed Host
Golden advice.
- [61:17]
Patrick
Great advice. Great advice. Do you have any final thoughts, Patrick, that you want to hit on before we wrap up?
- [61:26]
Unnamed Host
I just want to thank you for your time. Thank you for using your collective experience and platform, for being a voice for good and being a voice for authenticity and being a voice for being willing to accept a challenge, because all those things, I think, are in short supply. And the fact that you get to explore with compassion and curiosity and you share that with the world is really. It's really something else. So, like, just personally, like, thank you.
- [62:12]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [62:14]
Brad Ryan
Well, we appreciate being a part of this family and it's, it's going to be a really great, it's going to be a great fall for us to be able to.
- [62:23]
Patrick
Yeah.
- [62:24]
Brad Ryan
To share the Great Smoky Mountains with, with those who, who want to come and be a part of that. And then for everybody else, you know, I was very, very like, I was, I just. A lot of people don't have a grandmother figure like, like Grandma Joy. I'm very fortunate that I do just because, you know, not very few people get to live to be 95 and, and to have a grandmother who's, who's very, and has always been very independently open minded about diversity and create and having love and compassion for marginalized communities such as ours. So I hope that those people who don't have that in their life that they'll find some comfort, comfort and inspiration. In meeting her this fall. She's tipped a few drag queens in her day.
- [63:22]
Patrick
Love that.
- [63:23]
Unnamed Host
I'm not surprised by that at all.
- [63:27]
Brad Ryan
Ready if, if we should have a, an encore of Shantae, right? Yeah.
- [63:34]
Patrick
Yep. Shantae is planning on being back and we haven't officially said that anywhere yet, so people are getting to find out now. No, she wasn't. We're not going to do it as a surprise this year. It was just a surprise last year, but she's planning on being back. We're definitely doing Pride Night again and it's, it's going to be amazing, amazing time in September. So we're excited that you're going to be there. How can people find out more about you and follow you on your journey?
- [64:01]
Brad Ryan
So the best way is to follow us at Grandma Joys road trip on Instagram and we have a Grandma Joy's road trip account on Facebook, but they're linked, so that's the best way. If anybody wants to get in touch with me about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Expedition that we have planned this fall, you can reach out to me at my personal email, which is bradryndvm.d as in dog, V as in Victor, M as in Massachusetts or I guess Doctor of Veterinary medicine is easier. That's what it is. That's what it stands for. So bradryndvmil.com and yeah, if you have questions about the itinerary or your, your ability to do these hikes and so forth, just reach out to me and we'll, we'll chat about it. But I hope we, I hope we have a full crew.
- [64:55]
Patrick
Yeah, me too.
- [64:57]
Brad Ryan
Well, and you guys might be there too, right?
- [64:59]
Patrick
We're hoping, we're hoping we're hoping so. Yeah. So it's been a pleasure to have you both on the podcast again. As always, I'm so excited you have become like family to LGBTQ Q Outdoors and to us, and so excited for the future and everything that's. That we're going to be doing together. So it's. It's going to be a great year.
- [65:20]
Brad Ryan
It's going to be a great year, too. Yeah. Thank you so much, guys.
- [65:23]
Grandma Joy
It was great to talk to you. Nice young man, I'll tell you that.
- [65:26]
Patrick
Oh, thank you. You too. It was great talking to you as well, and to all of our listeners. Thank you for tuning in again to the LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast. Learn anything about us, go over to the website lgbtqoutdoors.com check it out. You can see all of our events we have coming up. Sign up for our newsletter if you really love what we're doing, join the Trailblazer Society and become a monthly partner with us and help us make the outdoors a more diverse and inclusive space for everyone. And until next time, get out there.
- [65:57]
Justin Yoder
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the LGBT Outdoors Podcast. You can catch up on past episodes on your favorite podcast streaming platforms. Stay connected with us on Instagram gbtoutdoors and join our vibrant community at facebook.com groups lgbtoutdoors. Support our mission to promote LGBTQ inclusion in the outdoors by becoming a member of the trailblazer society@lgbtoutdoors.com trailblazers for more information about LGBT outdoors, LGBT outdoor fest, local chapters, adventure trips, or to sign up for our newsletter, head to lgbtoutdoors.com if you're enjoying the episode. Don't forget to rate, review and follow us. Your support makes a difference.