Canadian Man and Woman With Ex-Girlfriend's Name Return From 'Life-Changing' Global Trip
Jordan Axani, Elizabeth Gallagher returned from the three-week trip this week.
— -- Jordan Axani, of Toronto, Canada, and the woman with his former girlfriend's name returned this week from their whirlwind trip around the world, which he called "a life changing experience."
After buying the tickets before he and Elizabeth Gallagher split, the real estate developer last month offered his ex's plane tickets for free to a woman who had to be named Elizabeth Gallagher.
He received thousands of emails and finally chose Elizabeth Quinn Gallagher of Nova Scotia, Canada, so the ticket, worth thousands of dollars, wouldn't go to waste.
In three weeks, the pair traveled to Milan, Vienna, Prague, Paris, southern Thailand, Bangkok then Delhi, India, and an unexpected stop in Hong Kong due to visa complications before returning to North America on Jan. 12.
“While traveling with a complete stranger may seem like an odd idea to many, Quinn and I had an incredible experience on our trip around the world," Axani told ABC News. "From Prague to Paris to Hong Kong, we learned so much from the different cultures and the incredible people we met along the way. We both felt so lucky to have had such a life changing experience."
The two also survived a lost iPhone and missed train.
Marriott agreed to be the charity's travel partner and housed the pair in separate rooms. Gallagher, a recent graduate of St. Francis Xavier University, has a "serious" boyfriend, she said.
The pair posted photos on Twitter and Instagram of their travels, including from the world's highest open air bar Sky Bar in Bangkok.
"At the most terrifying bar in the world, Sky Bar, as featured in The Hangover Pt. II," Axani posted on Instagram.
Upon her return to Nova Scotia on Wednesday, Gallagher tweeted a photo with her dog, saying: "Home sweet home in good ol Nova Scotia! Still can't believe this whirl wind world trip is over!"
She resumed her classes that day at Dalhousie University.
The two say there wasn't any romance on the trip, but they plan to stay in touch. A headline in the Toronto Star read, "Elizabeth Gallagher back in boyfriend’s arms after round-the-world trip."
Before the trip, Axani founded the charity in California that is helping "underprivileged and at-risk" people travel. A Ticket Forward invites the public to donate through CrowdRise.com.
Today, he traveled to San Francisco to attend the entrepreneurial Hive Global Leaders Program.
Axani said he believes travel shouldn't be a luxury reserved for the few but a "rite of passage" for everyone, so he launched #TheWorldAwaits travel sweepstakes. The fundraising contest will reward one lucky fundraiser and a friend with a trip around the world.
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