Toronto-based Jordan Axani purchased an eight-countries-in-three-weeks trip for himself and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the couple split before the trip could take place. Axani didn’t want his ex-girlfriend’s ticket to go to waste, but the airline had a strict no-transfer policy.
Thankfully, at the time of purchase no passport information was required, so all Axani had to do was find a Canadian woman by the name of Elizabeth Gallagher to share the trip with him. He promptly posted the offer on the popular social media website Reddit. Unsurprisingly, he received thousands of responses, only 18 of which were from actual Canadian Elizabeth Gallaghers.
He picked Elizabeth Quinn Gallagher, a 23-year-old student from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and the two departed New York on December 1, continuing on to Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and New Delhi before ending in Toronto on January 12. Their story went viral and Marriott International offered them complimentary accommodation at each destination.
“It sort of brought out this brother-sister dynamic between us,” Axani told CTV News. Ms Gallagher, a part-time office administrator and student who already had a long-term boyfriend, told local media: “We probably got along better because we were strangers. We didn't have a relationship to break.”
Aside from gaining a life-long friend from the experience, Axani told The Guardian that he was so moved by some of the emails, including one from an eight-year-old boy who said he was going blind and wanted to see the world before that happens, that he and his brother created an organisation called A Ticket Forward to help people who want to see the world but lack the finances to do so.
“A Ticket Forward is a new, travel-oriented charity that launched on December 17, 2014. We believe that travel is transformative; it means the world. Our mission is to help survivors of abuse, cancer, and warfare transform their lives through the impact of meaningful travel. We do this by building a nation of supporters to help us fund and facilitate travel for these worthy people. Together we create life-changing travel opportunities for those who need it the most.”
Who knew that a break-up could lead to a transformative travel movement? As they say, ‘every cloud’…
