No love for pair in travel union

Jordan Axani was looking for the right woman to take on a round-the-world air trip. But there was a catch. She had to be named Elizabeth Gallagher and have a Canadian passport.

Mr Axani, 28, from Toronto, Canada, and his then-girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher, booked the heavily-discounted tickets in May, but later split up.

Nevertheless, Mr Axani didn’t want her ticket to go to waste. It had a strict no-transfer policy, but since passport information was not required when booking, it could be used by any Canadian woman named Elizabeth Gallagher.

“I just wanted to see the ticket go to good use and for someone to experience a lot of joy,” said Mr Axani.

He posted the offer on the Reddit social media website and received thousands of emails, including between 15 and 30 from actual Elizabeth Gallaghers with Canadian passports.

From the get-go, Axani told prospective EG’s that he would put no pressure on them to do him any favours. He was not looking for his ex’s doppelganger to mend a broken heart.

“I am not looking for anything in return. I am not looking for companionship, romance, drugs, a trade, or to take selfies with you in front of the Christmas Market in Prague,” he wrote.

Elizabeth Quinn Gallagher from Nova Scotia quickly tweeted Axani a photo of her passport. Scrawled on the shot in hot pink, the words “Take me!!!”

He did, and the duo have since returned, with many wondering whether romance blossomed during their trip.

They have insisted that there was no romance.

Ms Gallagher kept in touch with her boyfriend over the phone, after leaving him behind at Christmas to travel the world with a stranger.

The two travelled from New York to Milan, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Khao Lak, Thailand, and Hong Kong, both touring together and spending time apart.

“We probably got along better because we were strangers,” Ms Gallagher told Canadian media. “We didn’t have a relationship to break.”

“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 at me for my fear of heights.”

The pair plan to meet again whenever Mr Axani goes to the East Coast, where Ms Gallagher lives, to see his own friends.