The nonagenarian nana from Ohio says she caught the travel bug from grandson Brad.
Back in 2015 she confided in her grandson that she had never been camping or visited any of the country’s public parks. It was something the couple set about to change, in spectacular fashion.
Blogging along on the Instagram handle @grandmajoysroadtrip, the duo picked up hundreds of thousands of followers on the way.
“We defied financial and logistical constraints. We even defied a pandemic,” said Brad as they finally arrived in Pago Pago in May, last year.
It was a nine-year journey that started with a road trip, aged 85. In that time she has gone from novice traveller to celebrity nan of Instagram.
“I accidentally made Grandma Joy the superstar I always knew her to be.”
The duo have now embarked on an even loftier mission, as she turns 94.
“Now we are on a new mission to travel to all seven continents!”
It’s another journey full of firsts. Ahead of her first trip to South America, Joy took her first online Spanish class.
“Le ceviche est delicioso” was not something she imagined saying, until a recent trip of Chile and Ecuador.
To date she has tackled Oceania, South America and Africa - taking a trip round Kenya and the Galapagos with courtesy of National Geographic Travel. There are some benefits to becoming a travel influencer in your nineties.
In a recent interview with the Daily Mail Grandma Joy said she discovered her calling late in life, but also her friendship with her grandson.
“I am so grateful to have Brad in my life,” she said.
“We were estranged for 10 years, so I was very happy to mend that relationship between us. We’re closer than ever now.”
The pair’s journey to visit the national parks will be documented in a memoir, which Joy hopes will inspire other families to pursue trips together, and cross generational divides.
