Travelling can be exhilarating and educational – but when you find yourself alone for the holidays, it can also get a little gloomy.
That’s why Bob Weavers, a 21-year-old British tourist facing a lonesome Christmas in Vancouver, decided to try his luck finding a surrogate family to celebrate with on social media.
“After seeing all the Christmas advertisements, house lights, brightly decorated trees and yummy food in supermarkets, I’m really worried about spending Christmas alone,” Weavers wrote.
“I know it’s an extremely long shot and a huge amount to ask of someone but I’d very much like to be part of your Christmas this year.”
It may have been a long shot, but boy did it pan out.
Days after posting the humble request on Reddit, which included an offer to provide gifts and help with the cooking and cleaning, Weavers had received more than 200 offers.
“I’d kind of hoped there might be one person who could put me up,” he told CTV News.
“I still can’t quite believe it’s that many. As much as I’d like to accept all of them, I haven’t got the room to eat 200 Christmas dinners.”
In his post, Weavers said he’d be happy to spend Christmas with students, an elderly couple, even a fellow holiday loner – but when the flood of offers came in, he ultimately decided on a Coquitlam family that would remind him a bit of home.
“They’re quite a big family and they have some British heritage,” he said.
The family told Weavers there will even be a couple of his countrymen in attendance, and sweetened the deal further by offering to serve up some traditional cuisine.
“They listed a few British food items that I haven’t had since I left,” Weavers said. “I thought ‘Oh, God, that sounds so nice.’”
The young man is still near the beginning of what he hopes will be at least 18 months of travelling the world. He headed off in November after quitting his full-time job working in IT and selling most of his possessions.
In the few weeks since, he’s managed to make it to Iceland, Puerto Rico and several Caribbean Islands and Canadian cities. But on Monday he arrived in Vancouver keen to spend the holidays with a tight-knit family like the one he left behind at home.
Weavers will be staying with the Coquitlam family for a few days, but his plans after that are up in the air. He said his initial idea was to spend New Year’s Eve in Seattle, but given the incredible reception he’s already received from hundreds of total strangers in Metro Vancouver, he might be sticking around a little while longer.
“You can’t really get a much warmer welcome,” Weavers said.
To read more about Weavers’s travels, visit his blog, Bobbing Around.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk
