Grandma Joy’s Road Trip (Brad’s New Book and Their Top Ten National Parks!)

On this week’s episode of The RV Atlas Podcast, we share the story of Grandma Joy’s Road Trip and it is one of the most inspiring stories we’ve ever featured on the show.
Our guests are Brad Ryan and Grandma Joy, the beloved duo behind Grandma Joy’s Road Trip. Their remarkable journey has inspired millions of people around the world, but at its heart, this story isn’t really about social media fame, national parks, or even road trips.
It’s a story about family.
It’s a story about healing.
And it’s a story about what can happen when two generations choose adventure over regret.
Brad recently released his new book, Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing One National Park at a Time, and our conversation explores both the epic travels and the deeply personal family story that unfolded along the way. This is a beautiful book and we can’t recommend it enough!
To listen to our interview with Brad and Grandma Joy please click on the media player above–or subscribe to the RV Atlas podcast wherever you get your favorite shows!
How One Camping Trip Changed Everything
The adventure began with a simple realization.
Brad learned that his grandmother, Joy Ryan, had never seen a mountain.
Despite living a long and meaningful life, Grandma Joy had spent nearly all of it near her hometown of Duncan Falls, Ohio. She had never traveled extensively and had never experienced many of the iconic landscapes that most Americans dream about visiting.
At the same time, Brad was navigating his own personal struggles. After years of education and veterinary school, he found himself facing a mental health crisis and questioning what truly mattered in life.
The solution that came to him was unexpected.
He called his grandmother and invited her on a camping trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Neither of them realized it at the time, but that decision would change both of their lives forever.
The First Trip: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The first camping trip was hardly glamorous. They arrived in the Smokies in the middle of a rainstorm. The tent went up at two o’clock in the morning. The air mattress malfunctioned.
Grandma Joy repeatedly rolled off the mattress and eventually gave up and slept on the ground.
But despite all of the challenges, something magical happened. The next morning, the rain stopped.The mountains emerged from the fog. And Grandma Joy saw her first mountain.
What was intended as a one-time bucket-list trip suddenly became something much bigger.
From One National Park to Sixty-Three
After graduating from veterinary school, Brad found himself thinking constantly about that first trip.
The joy he experienced in the Smokies lingered.
The connection with Grandma Joy lingered.
And before long, he proposed something far more ambitious.
What if they visited every U.S. national park together?
That second adventure quickly expanded into a month-long journey that included:
Badlands National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Glacier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park
Crater Lake National Park
Redwood National and State Parks
Yosemite National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Utah’s Mighty Five
Mammoth Cave National Park
And many more.
They traveled on a shoestring budget, surviving on ramen noodles, gas station fried chicken, and determination.
They often camped without reservations.
Sometimes they barely knew where they were headed next.
But that spirit of adventure became part of the magic.
More Than a Road Trip
One of the most powerful themes in Brad’s book is that the national parks were never really the entire point.
The parks provided a backdrop. The real journey was happening inside the car.
For years, Brad had carried unresolved pain related to family conflict, estrangement, and difficult experiences from his childhood.
During long drives across the American West, those conversations finally happened.
Sometimes they were joyful. Sometimes they were uncomfortable. Some...