Toronto resident Jordan Axani planned a month-long, non-refundable, around-the-world trip with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher. But they split up before the start of their vacation, so Axani found a different Elizabeth Gallagher to go on the trip with him (via The Guardian). This Gallagher already has a boyfriend, though, so they're going strictly as friends.
Although the tickets were non-refundable, they didn't require a passport at the time of purchase, so Axani, not wanting the ticket to go to waste, posted on Reddit to find another Canadian with the legal name Elizabeth Gallagher. He found 18 of them.
"It definitely did seem a little bit creepy at the beginning but now that I talked to him it's less creepy and more awesome," the (new) Gallagher told The Guardian. "This is totally sort of like as friends. I have a pretty serious boyfriend... He understands that I've always wanted to travel so while he's not happy I'm taking off for nearly a month at Christmas with a random guy he's smiling through it." So while her boyfriend spends the holidays at home, Gallagher spends a month traveling to places like New York City, Milan, Prague, Paris, and Bangkok. I can't really blame her.
Axani got so many emails from people who wanted to see the world but, unfortunately, weren't named Elizabeth Gallagher.After a particularly moving email from an 8-year-old boy that wanted to travel before he went completely blind, Axani's brother started A Ticket Forward. The non-profit raises money for people who want to experience the world but don't have the money to make it happen.
