Emily Ryan applied for his scholarship jointly with Sam Talcott back in 2014. They were avid hikers and were seeking assistance to backpack the Appalachian Trail. In their application essay they stated, “We are reaching out to the Flyin’ Ryan scholarship program because we plan to live every day, all day ­ in the way we see that Ryan did.” 

Now here is a life update from Emily. And read Sam’s update here!

“I’ve graduated from medical school and now am a resident physician at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California. My partner Andrew and I have a dog (Frankie) and try to spend some of our free time outside, though unfortunately most of my outdoor time is commuting back and forth to work by bike. Fortunately, the weather in the Bay Area allows me to do that year-round. Though we haven’t been on any bike trips, we routinely host folks through Warm Showers – we recently had a French family (mom and dad and three boys under 10, making a trek from Vancouver to San Jose) come stay with us for a couple of nights. It is wonderful to live vicariously through our guests, even if we can’t be on the road ourselves. On the weekends I do get away from the hospital, we usually camp above-ground in the sleeper trailer that I built and have been across the country now three times (see attached photo). We have a trip to Joshua Tree planned for March, and hopefully some international travel in the next year to Paris.

Thanks for all you do – Flyin Ryan helped Sam and I travel during a transitional period in our lives, and we’ll always have great memories of that trip.”