World tour ends in anti-climax for jilted Canadian

OTTAWA (AFP) - A jilted Canadian man who posted an ad online for a travel partner with the same name as his ex-girlfriend is back home in Toronto after a world tour.

But love did not blossom between Jordan Axani and the woman who filled in for his ex, as some who followed their adventures online reportedly hoped.

Rather the pair developed a "brother-sister dynamic" during the trip, Mr Axani told several Canadian media.

"I kind of feel like our travelling together days are done," he told the daily Toronto Star, adding: "We've had a great ride."

Mr Axani, 28, had posted an ad on the social networking site Reddit seeking a female travel partner answering to Elizabeth Gallagher - the same name as the woman who had jilted him a few months earlier.

Offering the alternate Ms Gallagher a free plane ticket, Mr Axani proposed a month of travel, with stops in Milan, Prague, Paris, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

They went up the Eiffel tower, rode a Ferris wheel on Vienna's Weiner Reisenrad, and took a three-hour drive along "a twisty, windy, sketchy, on-the-edge-of-a-cliff mountain" in Thailand.

Ms Gallagher also visited children she taught English to last year in Thailand.

On a few occasions, they split up to go sight-seeing.

In the Reddit post, Mr Axani said he came up with the scheme to swop in another Canadian named Elizabeth Gallagher as his travel partner because of difficulties cancelling the pre-paid trip and obtaining refunds.

Having the name on the tickets changed after their break-up would have been "damn near impossible", he said.

This Elizabeth Gallagher - chosen from 18 who responded to the ad - made it clear in advance that she would be a replacement travel partner for Mr Axani and little else, since she already has "a pretty serious boyfriend."

Still, several media expressed disappointment that the trip didn't turn into a quirky love story.

A Star headline noted they would be "friends for life".

"Love not on the itinerary as Canadian pair return from round-the-world trip," said the Guardian newspaper.

But it could still be turned into a romantic comedy, as Mr Axani is now in talks to turn his story into a movie or television series.

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