81-year-old grandmas go viral for travelling the world in 80 days (VIDEO)

For the TikTok travelling grandmas, it started with a late-night conversation around the kitchen table.

Friends Sandy Hazelip and Ellie Hamby were both working late when, in the middle of a coffee break, Hazelip said, “Ellie, we both love to travel, our health is good, we travel well together, so wouldn’t it be fun to go around the world in 80 days when we are 80 years old?”

And Hamby responded, “Of course, we should do it, and let’s start planning it now.”

That was several years ago (they’ve had to delay their trip a few times due to COVID-19) and now the 81-year-old best friends are finally back in Texas after an 80-day adventure around the world. It turned out to be the trip of a lifetime that took them to the Taj Mahal, ballooning over the pyramids, and trekking in Antarctica.

The two of them have become internet celebrities as they shared details of their whirlwind trip in videos posted on TikTok and their blog, Around the World at 80.

Check out their video below:

@aroundtheworldat80 BFFs Sandy & Ellie at 81 travel the world together on an epic adventure! #bffgoals #bfftravel #traveltiktok #bucketlistplaces #bestfriendgoals #sandyandellie ♬ I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack

The duo seems to be the perfect travel buddies. Hazelip is a physician (called Dr. Sandy by her patients) and a published author who cares for residents in long-term care facilities and hospice care, and Hamby is an international documentary photographer whose work has appeared in magazines and exhibitions.

And Hazelip stated that she doesn’t mind waking up at sunrise or staying out until sunset to wait for Hamby to get that perfect shot.

In a blog post, they stated that they’ve travelled together before and they’re the ideal companions on trips because they’re “so similar”: they’re both Elvis Presley fans and are happy to forego luxuries.

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“We like to travel second class because we can experience more of the local culture and people,” they stated on their site.

And the most important thing? “We travel light.”

The duo said that they dedicated their trip to the memory of their late husbands, Don and Kelly, “the love of our lives.”

“At 81, we understand what’s truly important and the real value of  ‘experience’ over ‘comfort,'” they stated.

And they had their children’s full support despite some minor immigration concerns.

“Ellie’s kids just said they hoped the government officials would think their mom was too ‘old’ to be a spy when she had encounters with police or other officials,” the duo stated.

Follow their adventure on their blog or on TikTok.