A video has gone viral on the social media platform TikTok featuring a young New York woman telling a story of how she met an elderly woman while traveling home from Spain, becoming close friends instantly.
The story has since spawned various comments from commenters who share their own stories of meeting new people while traveling, as well as comments from popular hotels and airlines hoping to get the two on their way to their next destination: Puerto Rico.
The video only features the young woman who was traveling from Spain, working through the last leg of her trip on the train home. She wrote about the interaction on Substack in an article titled ‘Take Your Airpods Out,’ detailing how if she hadn’t removed her earbuds to speak to the elderly woman, whose name is Maria, she likely would never have become her acquaintance.
After talking for a bit, the two learned a lot about one another and agreed to travel together should the opportunity ever arise. Now that she’s posted a video to TikTok, companies and brands such as Hotels.com, Hilton, National Geographic, and even Delta Airlines have commented.
It’s even sparked a trend of more people walking around without their AirPods, just to make more personal connections when they’re out and about.
Reactions to New York Woman Talking About New Elderly Friend
Delta Airlines responded with, “We’d be honored to help write the next chapter of this story. How about we take you both on that trip to PR? ✈️❤️,” while Hilton replied with, “Such a suite story! Maria deserves to see the world, especially her family! DMing you! 🥹💖🌎.”
Many of the comments below the video came from others who have had similar experiences in traveling, with one person saying, “my 81 grandma befriended a 27 year old on a plane once and now she comes every year to thanksgiving.”
Others were far more focused on the fact that the situation really was just about two girls who wanted to chat and talk about traveling. At this, a person wrote, “this is incredible i’m crying girlhood really knows no age.”
According to a more recent post, the girl received an email from Hilton inviting the two of them to Puerto Rico. The video’s virality continues to grow as the original poster records more video updates about the situation, and more people express their opinions and stories in the comments.
