Seven and a half years ago, Brad Ryan was struggling to finish his veterinary program at Ohio State University. For the first time in his life, he began feeling suicidal, and not long after, one of his classmates took their own life. This sent him into a tailspin; he knew he needed a break. He recalled a moment a few years earlier when he was chatting with his grandmother, Joy, and she admitted to never seeing a mountain in her life. With that moment in mind, Brad called his grandmother and started planning their first trip to the Great Smokey Mountains.
Thus began a 50,000 mile journey for Brad and Joy. Brad is now a veterinarian and mental health advocate, famous on social media for his travels with his grandmother. They’ve flown to Alaska, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands to reach their goal of visiting all 63 U.S. national parks, and will visit their final park in American Samoa this year when Joy turns 93. Brad shares the critical perspective intergenerational relationships give us in our dark nights of the soul, and that we really need to find someone who’s been in our corner. As Brad astutely notes, “A dark day, a dark week, a dark month, a dark quarter is not a dark life. It’s not the totality of what’s possible for our future.”
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Follow Brad and Joy Ryan’s travels on Instagram and Facebook.
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**This podcast and its contents are a resource for educational and informational purposes only and should not take the place of a skilled therapist or emergency services. If you are in crisis, call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a free, 24-hour hotline, at 1.800.273.8255. If your issue is an emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. Outside of the U.S., please call your nearest hospital for local resources.
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