Betty and daughter BJ could have applied to go on a free round the world trip simply by virtue of having the name Elizabeth Gallagher.

    This year Elizabeth Gallagher had the chance of a lifetime to go on a free around the world tour. The only question was which Elizabeth Gallagher.
    Torontonian Jordan Axani, 28, was planning to take his girlfriend Elizabeth Gallagher on a trip around the world - the only trouble is they broke off their relationship. He was left with a very expensive ticket made out in her name. Rather than see it go to waste, he posted on Reddit that he was looking for someone with the matching name to go on the trip.
    While he selected a young woman from Nova Scotia, he missed out on a couple Elizabeth Gallaghers right here in Drumheller.
    News of the trip drifted right to Betty (Elizabeth) Gallagher, 88, of Drumheller, and her daughter B.J. (also named Elizabeth), 67.
    “No (I didn’t apply) but I got phone calls, one from Peace River, just a person who had seen the advertisement and they looked up the name to see if I was interested” chuckles Betty. “I’m a bit to old to go with a 28 year old man.”
    While there was the option to go alone and not travel directly with the other person Betty saw drawbacks to that.
    “He would be on his own and I would be on my own, and I wouldn’t find it enjoyable unless I was with someone else,” she tells The Mail.
    BJ said they she has heard from friends all over Canada calling or messaging her on Facebook to see if she were interested.
    “It’s not something I would be interested in doing. I was absolutely not interested in going anywhere over Christmas, I didn’t want to go to Thailand, and I didn’t want to go to India… I didn’t want to go alone, and would not have considered going with that fellow,” said BJ.
    She adds that the trip was leaving from JFK Airport, so that woud be an added expense. She does acknowledge that it is an interesting way to get rid of a ticket.
    It would be a whirlwind trip too. It started on December 21 in New York and goes to Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and New Delhi before returning to Toronto.
    “To see that many  places in that short of time would be really hard work, not my way of traveling,” she says.
When asked if she would have entertain the idea  a few years ago, she said she might. Betty said  if it were 60 years ago she would have  jumped at the idea.