Jordan Axani, 28, broke up with Elizabeth Gallagher in May but couldn’t get a refund for the trip.
After putting out a request on Reddit for a travelling companion with the same name and a Canadian passport, Jordan Axani received thousands of responses.
One was from 23-year-old Elizabeth Quinn Gallagher from Nova Scotia.
Jordan Axani picked the student, a homeless shelter volunteer who has a boyfriend, after talking with her on the phone.
He said he was impressed with her social conscience.
“It’s totally platonic,” Jordan Axani said from New York, where the trip starts on Sunday, December 21.
“Do I think we’ll become friends? Sure.”
The pair will also be visiting Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and New Delhi until January 8.
Other responses to his Reddit post were more odd.
Jordan Axani, who’s from Toronto, said he heard from hundreds of people, male and female, who offered to legally change their names.
“I thought it was worth a shot,” he said.
“Why not throw something like this out there into the universe? And sure it’s a little weird.
“I’ll be the first person to say that but on the back side we had an incredible response which I never would have anticipated of people that haven’t had the chance to go on trips like this.
“My original post remains true to this day. All I wanted was someone to take the ticket and just go and enjoy themselves.
“Whether we travel together, or spend any time together, is totally irrelevant to me.”
The Canadian has now set up a charity called A Ticket Forward, which aims to fund trips for underprivileged people.
Jordan Axani said the original Elizabeth Gallagher had been in touch but didn’t want to say she had said to him.
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