NEWS - It might sound like it's straight out of a sitcom, and it very well could be.
Just imagine the chaos that unfolded after Frontier decided to cancel their flights to Knoxville, Tenessee last December 4. People were frustrated, angry, and demanding an immediate solution; a very understandable response to such an abrupt inconvenience.
If you are an experienced flyer, you might be familiar with two of the most common scenarios that could happen next.
- One, you can get rebooked for the next flight (as long as there are available seats left).
- Or two, your ticket gets a full refund then you're on your own.
With 48 hours left to wait until the next flight, a group of strangers decided to take matters into their own hands and drive to Knoxville instead.
The Road trip Of A Lifetime
A viral Tiktok video entitled "I can't make this up! Roadtrip!" went around the internet last December 4, introducing an unconventional group of strangers coming together and renting a van to make a 10-hour drive to Knoxville.
@nowthis How flight cancellations led 13 strangers to pile into a van and drive 10+ hours from Orlando, FL, to Knoxville, TN, instead of wait around the airport #roadtrip #strangers #airport #airplane #florida #tennessee ♬ Powerful Succesful 5 Minutes (Inspiring Corporate Upbeat Background Ambient) - MPmedia
Carlos Cordero, Mikayla's future stepdad, did not want his future daughter to miss her university campus tour. So together with another stranger, they decided to rent a van.
"They canceled our flight, but you know I never argue," Cordero said, showing the text printed on his shirt to the camera reading, "I Never Argue."
"So we're just renting a van and hitting it out there," he explained.
Amy Sadd, the woman who initiated the alternative plan called out to the people who got their flights canceled. She knew that people had places to go and schedules to keep up with, so she decided to ask around for other people who would like to join the group.
"We're going to do cars, trucks, planes, and automobiles. We're going to get ourselves where we gotta go tonight," she said in a Tiktok video that has racked up 4.2 million views as of writing.
The Unconventional group
The video was posted by another stranger in the van who visited Orlando with her mom and godmother. Alanah, 23, initially thought it was not that bad of an idea to spend two more days in sunny Florida, but when her mom told her that they were going to get into a van with ten strangers, she was all for it.
In the original video which has been liked more than 840,000 thousand times, Alanah can be seen as slightly wary but amused about the whole unconventional ordeal.
"So, me, and a bunch of strangers, and my family— we've decided to rent a 15-passenger van and ride back eight hours to Tennessee."
@alanahstory21 I cant make this up. Road trip! 🚐 @The Farm Babe @StarrPuck @doerksen92 @Renee @robinwharton976 @CozumelAutentico ♬ original sound - Alanah
The trip lasted 10 hours instead. Aside from Carlos and Alanah's family, there was also Lexi, a student who was about to take her finals, Robin, a woman who was in Orlando for her son's custody battle, and Seth, who is a minister.
All of them did not know of each other beforehand.
The group also included two Mexico-based European farmers named Adolf and Yohan, Michelle Miller who was a keynote speaker at a conference in Tennessee, and a man who introduced himself as "Q."
A Happy Ending
As the TikTok video increased in view counts, the unlikely group of strangers developed a special friendship as well. Alanah claimed that the whole trip was fun because they could not believe how much traction their surprise road trip was getting online.
In addition to that, their different backgrounds gave them a lot of topics to talk about.
The group reached Tenesse at 8:30 am the next day.
Everybody made it early including Carlos and Mikayla, who were very happy and excited not to have missed her university campus tour scheduled at 10:00 am that day. In fact, she was really happy about the tour and was glad that her family had made the trip.
@shamelesscloutchaser So honored to have met this family and help them see this campus! Go vols!🧡 #maxtinterview #college #utk #roadtrip ♬ original sound - max t
As for the dad who drove for an entire 10-hour trip, he said he chose to do it because he prefers to have control over the situation. That, and because his partner told him that he was just going to fall asleep after two seconds behind the wheel.
Suffice it to say that with the right motivation, he could last much longer than two seconds behind the wheel!
The whole group wants to plan a reunion in Mexico sometime in the future.
