“It’s never too late to have a best friend” — or to hit the road, rail or sky with her.

Two friends. Eighty-five years old. With a spirit for adventure. 

Meet Sandy Hazelip and Ellie Hamby. At 85, they have outlived friends, partners and relatives. They know life is not fair or easy from their long careers in medicine. And yet, they are having the time of their lives.

Hazelip worked as a geriatrician, serving as past president of the Texas Geriatric Society and recently retiring because, she says, she was older than almost all her patients. Hamby is director of a medical mission in Zambia for two weeks a year, serving rural villages where healthcare access is limited or nonexistent.

“It is never too late to have a best friend,” says Hamby of her globe-circulating companion. “They’re out there. Just make the effort. We didn’t know each other until we were 60!”

On their website, aroundtheworldat80.com, it’s hard not to succumb to what they call “step-out-of-your-comfort-zone” fun. The Texan women blog and vlog their 30-day annual excursions, which have included Machu Pichu (elevation 8,000 feet), the Galápagos Islands (seals and sea sickness), La Paz, Bolivia (5,000 feet higher than Machu Pichu), the Amazon (days of alligators) and the starting point of their team travels: the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

“I think if you want to travel, you have to believe in the goodness of humanity,” offers Hamby. “Goodness far outweighs the badness in the world. You just need to believe in people and open your hearts to the world.”

—Tamara Straus. Video by Laura Tejero.

GrandPeople chronicles the stories of older adults living purposeful, fun and meaningful lives.