A free trip around the world for a Canadian woman who happened to be named Elizabeth Gallagher. Sign me up! My question: Who breaks up with a dude who gets her a trip around the world? Second, why am I not Canadian and named Elizabeth Gallagher?!
The pair has taken the now famous trip, returned just a few days ago, and now can't stop gushing about each other. But not in a love way. After all, Gallagher has a boyfriend.
"It was wild," she said in an interview, "And it's just because of my name… I have to thank my mother for that."
But the burning questions lingered.
How did the trip go between two complete strangers? Were there any sparks?
Their itinerary seems like one ripe for romance: They met for the first time at the departure lounge ahead of the three-week Christmas holiday trip to New York, Vienna, Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi, Khao Lak, Venice, Milan and Prague. Sigh. But nope. They are just BFFs.
"It sort of brought out this brother-sister dynamic between us," Axani said.
And Gallagher agreed, saying, "We probably got along better because we were strangers. We didn't have a relationship to break."
Jordan Axani photo 1
Jordan Axani photo 2
Jordan Axani photo 3
The completely platonic trip didn't seem so awesome to everyone, though. Gallagher's boyfriend (who has remained anonymous) apparently wasn't too keen on his long-term girlfriend taking off for the holidays to spend it traveling around the world with another man.
But a little of his fear must have been assuaged when Marriott International picked up wind of Axani's plight (he said in his original post that he never booked hotel rooms after the breakup with his girlfriend) and said they would provide him and his stranger-companion with two rooms at each of their stops.
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All in all, it seems like this trip went really well for Axani and his new "friend."
And a greater good has come of all of this, besides just a "wicked" trip. Axani has started a campaign to help give vacations and travel options to people suffering from or victims of disease, war and abuse. It is called A Ticket Forward.
And Ms. Gallagher? Safely and securely in the arms of her beau.
What a story to tell her future grandkids, huh?
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