These 85-year-old finest buddies have visited 50+ nations

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Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip, each of their 80s, are proof that journey has no age restrict.

• Two finest buddies of their 80s, Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip, have gained viral fame on TikTook for touring the world.
• The duo, often called the “traveling nanas,” have visited all seven continents and over 50 nations collectively.

Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip have seen the Northern Lights in Finland, sailed down the Amazon River at night time, and ridden the Trans-Siberian Railway – and so they did all of it of their 80s.

Hamby and Hazelip are the 85-year-old best-friend duo behind the favored TikTook account @aroundtheworldat80, which has over 110,000 followers. Calling themselves the “traveling nanas,” the Texas-based ladies chronicle their travels around the globe as octogenarians, displaying how their age does not cease them from exploring the furthest corners of the globe. In reality, their a few years of lived experiences and knowledge work of their favor.

“When you’re younger, [you] think when you’re sixty, I’m just going to stop and not do anything,” mentioned Hamby, who can also be a photographer. “Life is just beginning at 60, 70, 80.”

I’m 96 and the image of longevity. These are my ideas for dwelling longer and higher.

Their travels around the globe are documented in a joint memoir, “Here We Go: Lessons for Living Fearlessly from Two Traveling Nanas,” which was printed in September 2025.

Together, the grandmothers have visited over 50 nations on all seven continents and haven’t any plans to decelerate. They’re dwelling proof that journey can come at any age.

A friendship cast

In a means, Hamby and Hazelip had been fated to turn into journey buddies. They met on a world journey. It was over 20 years in the past, throughout a medical mission to Zambia that Hamby organized and the place Hazelip was one of many docs.

“If you can go to Zambia and sleep out in a bush in a tent with no running water, no electricity, then you can travel anywhere,” Hamby mentioned.

About 5 years later, the ladies grew nearer. At the time, Hazelip spent two nights every week at Hamby’s home as a result of she took a medical director’s job at a close-by geriatric clinic. Then, Hamby misplaced her husband in an accident, and he or she turned to Hazelip, whose personal husband had died years in the past from sickness. They bonded over grief throughout late nights consuming espresso and speaking. Or, as Hamby put it: “One chapter closed, and another one opened.”

It was throughout considered one of these chats that Hazelip talked about she at all times needed to trip the Trans-Siberian Railway – the longest on the earth that crosses the expanse of Russia. Hamby did not hesitate to say sure.

Living life: Making essentially the most of your later years

The two launched into their journey in 2008, even having what they imagine was an encounter with the KGB when their empty prepare automotive was stopped, and a mysterious man interrogated them. They took it in stride, stayed calm and found they had been suitable as journey companions.

“We weren’t sitting there wringing our hands and crying … actually, it was sort of an adventure,” Hazelip mentioned. She added that her profession in emergency rooms has helped her keep calm in nerve-racking conditions, and the 2 additionally profit from Hamby’s expertise directing medical missions.

The buddies level out how they’re completely different from one another – with Hamby saying she’s manufactured from “spice” however balanced by her buddy who’s extra “sugar.” They even put aside solo time on their journeys, like if Hamby desires to zip line in New Zealand, Hazelip will chill out with a cup of espresso. At the top of the day, seeing the world with their finest buddy has been priceless.

“It really has been fun to share it together, being the same age and never having a clue that any of this would ever happen,” Hamby mentioned.

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Adventure at any age

Just earlier than 2020, the duo determined to plan their largest journey but to have a good time turning 80: journey around the globe in 80 days, impressed by the Jules Verne novel, “Around the World in Eighty Days.” They had every little thing booked and able to go, however the COVID-19 pandemic postponed their travels. In January 2023, the ladies lastly launched into their worldwide exploration, hitting all seven continents, together with the seven wonders of the world. They visited Portugal, Japan, Easter Island, Antarctica and extra – and so they did all of it on their very own.

“We did everything ourselves,” Hamby mentioned. “No travel agents, no one going with us. We carried our own luggage, and we met friends.”

For seniors, journey is extra than simply enjoyable; it may possibly help lively getting old and enhance their well-being. Research helps that navigating new locations and assembly new individuals can contribute to constructive feelings and better vanity.

Their independence and the best way they embrace the unknown struck a chord on-line. Even although the ladies weren’t attempting to turn into viral or well-known, individuals grew to become fascinated by their story as soon as they began sharing their travels on TikTook. To the ladies, their age was by no means a limiting issue.

“We always say we’d rather fall off the mountaintop than fall out of a bed at a nursing home, provided we have a choice,” Hamby mentioned. “Keep moving. Once you stop moving, your body shuts down.”

And they’re nonetheless on the transfer – even with 4 synthetic knees and one hip substitute between them, as Hazelip jokes. They’re at the moment returning to every continent for a whole month, taking the time to dive into locations they did not spend sufficient time in. In Asia, they’re going to hone in on Southeast Asia, reminiscent of Bhutan and Laos.

“It really is about saying yes,” Hamby mentioned. “Adventure has no age limit.”

Kathleen Wong is a client journey reporter for USA TODAY. She’s the creator of “The Conscious Traveller Hawai’i” and relies in Hawaii.