Traveling during this time of year is never easy. There’s additional holiday traffic, snow is beginning to cover many parts of the world, and flights seem to get canceled left and right. It can be extremely frustrating to be stranded in an airport or left staring at the clock as you see your flights get delayed over and over again. But sometimes it’s just out of our hands; a snowstorm or a shortage of healthy employees due to COVID cases and flu season can quickly derail a trip home or back to work.
But if there’s a will, there’s a way, right? And for 13 travelers who recently got stranded in the Orlando International Airport, there was no way they weren’t going to reach their destinations on time.
Four days ago, Alanah Story posted a video on TikTok explaining how her family and a handful of strangers decided to rent a 15-person van and drive to Tennessee after their Frontier flight was canceled. Below, you’ll find the video that the internet can't get enough of, as well as photos of everyone included on the trip and an interview with one of the passengers from the trip, Michelle Miller, or The Farm Babe. Let us know in the comments if you would ever be willing to embark on a road trip with fellow stranded pandas, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring wholesome encounters people have had with strangers, you can find that right here!
More info: TikTok
After a canceled flight left travelers stranded in Florida, 13 strangers decided to rent a 15-passenger van and drive all the way to Tennessee instead
Image credits: Adolf Froese
One of the passengers, Alanah Story, decided to document the experience on TikTok
She gave everyone a chance to introduce themselves in her video and explain why they were traveling
Image credits: alanahstory21
One woman was hoping to get back to her university without missing her finals
Image credits: alanahstory21
Another was traveling for her son's custody battle
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
One man was simply traveling to see friends and ended up getting stuck
Image credits: alanahstory21
The group was even international, as a few of the travelers shared that they had come from Mexico
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
These passengers were on their way to visit the University of Tennessee
Image credits: alanahstory21
One woman was trying to get to Knoxville to deliver a keynote speech the following Tuesday
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
To learn more about this wholesome trip that the internet instantly became obsessed with, we reached out to one of the passengers, Michelle Miller or The Farm Babe. We asked Michelle how the idea of driving came about in the first place, and she told Bored Panda, "I had made a suggestion to the Frontier airlines 'customer service' to just send us via bus or van since it was only 10-12 hours, and we could just wake up in Knoxville!"
"They were of no help," she added. "Amy had overheard and turned around and yelled to the crowd that if anyone was interested, to just get together over in a certain part of the line. People slowly made their way over to us and said they were interested!"
Michelle also shared with Bored Panda that she had been traveling to deliver a keynote speech at a convention for agricultural pilots, The National Agricultural Aviation Association. Thankfully, she made it on time and was able to deliver her speech without any hiccups!
3 hours into the trip, Alanah shared an update on how it was going
Image credits: alanahstory21
Michelle even shared that she would definitely do this again if she found herself stranded in the future (but hopefully she won't have to!). We also wanted the juicy gossip on what the best and worst parts of the whole journey were. "Best? Laughing at the comment section!" Michelle said. "Watching our story go viral and how many people could relate to one or more characters in the van. It was funny! People were invested and wanted updates."
"Worst? The uncomfortable van and the fact I felt like I needed a sports bra over every bump!" she shared with a laugh. "It was tight for all of us to fit with luggage, but we made it work. Having to inconvenience other passengers with bathroom breaks and feeling like an inconvenience."
Although it started in a stressful situation, the story thankfully has a happy ending. "We are all friends and are staying in touch!" Michelle says. "Four of them went out for karaoke last night in Knoxville. Wish I could’ve went! But still traveling on business in Canada now."
Michelle also noted that her faith in humanity has been restored. "Realizing that kindness is still alive and well and that the general public is hungry for GOOD NEWS stories. Good news really does sell! I can’t even watch the news anymore because it’s so much crime, sadness, shootings… I turn it all off, always. If more media outlets covered happy stories, I’d be more likely to watch, and 100% of people out there likely agree with me! Enough of bad news!"
After a long 10 hour journey, they finally arrived
Image credits: alanahstory21
Image credits: alanahstory21
Later, Alanah noted that the airline offered them vouchers to attempt to make up for the inconvenience
Viewers became extremely invested in the story, with many of them sharing their amusement in the comments
