Brad Ryan: 63 National Parks, One Grandmother, and the Healing Gay Men Stop Believing In

His father rejected him. His grandmother changed everything. Brad Ryan spent seven and a half years driving across America with his 85-year-old grandmother, visiting all 63 national parks, and quietly healing the wounds his coming out left behind. What started as an adventure became something neither of them expected: a reckoning with family, identity, and the stories gay men tell themselves about who will ever truly accept them. Brad joins Rick to talk about what happens when you stop waiting for the people who hurt you and start showing up for the ones who show up for you.

Key Takeaways:

Why Brad didn't come out until college and what his father's reaction cost himHow a camping trip in the Smoky Mountains became the turning point with his grandmotherWhy gay men build elaborate stories about rejection that don't match realityWhat intergenerational connection offers gay men that their own community often can'tHow curiosity instead of judgment transforms even the most broken family relationshipsWhy healing doesn't always look like confrontation — sometimes it looks like a road trip

About Brad

Brad Ryan is a veterinarian, wildlife conservationist, social media influencer, and writer from southeastern Ohio. He earned his BA from Miami University in Ohio, an MSc in mammalian biology from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and a DVM/MPH combined degree from The Ohio State University, specializing in wildlife medicine and veterinary public health.

For Brad, storytelling is a vehicle for healing—rooted in empathy, inspired by nature, and driven by a desire to help others feel seen and connected. As a keynote speaker, he champions

LGBTQ+ inclusion in the outdoors, eliminating stigma around mental health, and the protection of wildlife

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