One of the most intriguing travel stories of last year was about the Canadian guy who broke up with his girlfriend after having booked a round the world trip, so he set out to find another girl with the same name to take on the trip with him.
Amazingly enough he found someone with the same name to take on the trip, and she was reasonably attractive and young. Apparently I’m just doing life wrong, or need to date people with more generic names (or for that matter date at all, but that’s a different story altogether).
Of course when a guy just broke up with his girlfriend and is looking for another girl to take on a round the world trip with him, most would assume it’s intended to be at least somewhat romantic. So what made the story even more interesting is that the girl he decided to take on the trip had a “serious boyfriend.”
Well, Jordan Axani and Elizabeth Gallagher have just finished their round the world trip, and BBC has a follow-up story on the trip.
The two insist nothing romantic happened, and that they returned as “brother and sister:”
This week, he and student Elizabeth “Quinn” Gallagher of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, returned home from the three-week tour as “brother and sister,” rather than the strangers they had been.
But they’ve rejected any notion that romance was involved. Ms Gallagher has a serious boyfriend and the large hotel chain that housed the pair during their trip gave them two suites at each stop.
And it seems like they actually had fun together on the trip, maybe largely because they didn’t know one another:
“We probably got along better because we were strangers,” Ms Gallagher told Canadian media. “We didn’t have a relationship to break.”
And in many ways they were opposites and sort of pushed each other beyond their comfort limits:
Their unlikely pairing challenged both as they toured together.
“Quinn liked to see the [landmarks] of different areas, and I liked to mingle where the locals hang out,” Mr Axani told the BBC.
“I hate heights and everywhere we went, she took me to the highest thing possible – whether it was the highest level of the Eiffel Tower, or the highest bar in Bangkok – and she’d poke fun of me for my fear of heights.”
Ms Gallagher on the other hand, had a knack for getting lost.
“I would get these tweets and emails from the strangest places on a quasi-frequent level,” said Mr Axani, “of her being trapped in a stairway at the hotel or being lost in an airport or missing a train.”
Here’s a video of the two being interviewed after the trip:
Interesting story!
(Tip of the hat to Mike)
Didn't watch the video but something grates me about that guy - do many people these days really style their hair like him? And if by "reasonably young" Ben means 40 then yeah I would agree she looks reasonably young.
"Does it really matter who flies?" Knowing who is flying is a key part of security actually. Manifests are reported to security agencies and scrubbed well before flight day. If Mrs. No Fly List can use reservation of Mrs. (other) No Fly List with different DOB, we have a security issue.
Amazing she survived three weeks of travelling with him - incredibly annoying man-child, me thinks.
I skipped through the video and I don't think I found one spot where she talks for more than 5 seconds. Dude is annoying.
unlike other commenters i don't think this dude takes in the can, but he is annoying for sure. would not travel with him.
@dmodemd: oh come on! What kind of security gap? How likely are you to be able to exploit this for some nefarious purpose? But yes, they'll probably keep adding more and more layers. It used to be that you just showed up with a paper ticket, much better times!
Cute story, but it publicizes a huge security gap that I hope gets plugged. Should soon force at least DOB entry at time of booking.
@ dmodemd -- How is this a "security gap?" Does it really matter who flies? Perhaps it hurts airlines' revenue, but that's the only issue I see here...
It's distracting that they're wearing the same thing in every pic, but I'm guessing all those pics were taken on the same day as they all seem to be in Hong Kong. I guess the camera crew wasn't going to follow them to every destination!
"Reasonably attractive and young"? Come on, lucky :)
Cute couple. Does she have a tick and did he get to shag her, I hope?
the video reminds me to this student http://www.theindychannel.com/lifestyle/college-student-fakes-42-day-trip-to-asia-on-facebook.
Must be some kind of marketing gag as they always wear the same.
@steven k
...been cheated on before and not over it much? With that attitude, not surprised if your partner has to cheat on you. Good luck having a successful relationship...if you can even find a woman that wants to be subjected to your poor values.
Great to hear the trip went well for both of them! What an experience! I recall reading another article a month ago stating how Jordan had a few Elizabeth Gallagher females to choose from but I forget why he chose her. If he did want something romantic to happen, he probably should have picked an Elizabeth Gallagher who was single and not romantically involved.
Um, why are they wearing the exact same outfits in every single photo?
@StevenK, @JW,
Perhaps this adult woman decided she wanted to take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity on her own. Maybe her boyfriend's permission was never asked for because she doesn't need it. If they have a healthy relationship, they may have discussed it. Or maybe they didn't. Women aren't property, they don't need a man's permission to do something, and not everything is about sex.
@ steven k, I don't think she did it because the guy in the video seems gay, and that's probably why her boyfriend let her
After watching the video, I think I have a theory about why he broke up with his girlfriend.
Lucky, you may have a shot at traveling with somebody reasonably attractive if you are quick ;-)
@ Steven K - were you dropped as a child? why can't 2 adults just have fun; just as platonic friends...
To paraphrase Andy Warhol :
In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes
That guy seems pretty unbearable. Hard to listen to him for 2 minutes let alone spend 3 weeks with him. I also don't think Elizabeth's boyfriend has to worry about any romance going on there...
ok, may be i missed that part. but still what she did was not cool and very selfish. i'd say she did it.
why would this girl go on a trip around with another man, sleeping in same room if she is involved?
if she indeed has a "serious boyfriend", then she has every incentive to lie about not sleeping with her travel buddy.
and what kind of "serious boyfriend" would let it happen?
i hope the boyfriend breaks up this freeloading who@#.
@ Steven K -- please read the article more carefully before jumping to conclusions. They stayed in separate rooms courtesy of Marriott.
Didn't follow their trip but I'm very happy they had a great time and managed to get along despite not knowing each other and their different preferences.
I'm also glad they kept it platonic but -- let's admit it -- for the movie/TV version, there will be romance for sure! :D