85-Year-Old Friends Visit 7 Continents and 50 Countries, Building 110,000 TikTok Followers
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · Aug 23
85-Year-Old Friends Visit 7 Continents and 50 Countries, Building 110,000 TikTok Followers
2 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Aug 23
Summary
Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip, both 85, have traveled all seven continents and more than 50 countries together and are now revisiting each continent for month-long stays.
Their biggest push began in January 2023, when the Texas friends finally completed a long-delayed around-the-world trip planned to mark turning 80 after COVID-19 upended the original itinerary.
The pair, known online as the 'traveling nanas,' document the trips on TikTok account @aroundtheworldat80, which has drawn more than 110,000 followers, and in a 2025 memoir.
Their partnership grew from a friendship formed on a Zambia medical mission more than 20 years ago, then deepened through shared widowhood before a 2008 Trans-Siberian Railway trip cemented them as travel companions.
Even with four artificial knees and one hip replacement between them, the women say their travels are meant to show that adventure and active aging do not end at 80.