Man travelled 35 hours to surprise girlfriend on her holiday and propose
A man surprised his girlfriend after travelling for 35 hours and 9,000 miles to propose to her while on holiday.
Bailey O'Brien left his native Sydney, Australia and embarked on the mammoth journey more than a third of the Earth's 24,000 mile circumference to see his girlfriend Madison Hare who was enjoying a break on a Greek island.
The 25-year-old couldn't contain her emotions when her boyfriend unexpectedly turned up at her holiday destination and got down on one knee. Given the length and laboriousness of the journey, thankfully Madison said 'yes'.
The gym co-owner had quite the journey to get there. It began with a lift from friends to Sydney Airport, which was a 45-minute drive away, before he caught a flight to Melbourne, Australia, which took an hour and a half.
He then had to wait another four hours before catching a 14-hour flight to Abu Dhabi, UAE, where he twiddled his thumbs for nine hours before getting on the five-hour plane journey to Mykonos, Greece. The final leg of his journey involved a half-hour taxi ride.
'I'm spending £20k on a new bathroom - but won't help my brother out with cash'At the end of it he was finally able to propose to Madison. Bailey had been in contact with his now-fiancé's friend, Elle, who was with her in Mykonos, and she helped to make sure that his plan ran smoothly.
Bailey is a professional CrossFit athlete and hadn't joined Madison travelling as he wanted to take part in qualifying tests to try and secure a spot in the Down Under CrossFit Championships. Due to an ongoing injury, Bailey had to withdraw at the last minute, prompting his decision to surprise Madison on holiday.
Madison explained: "He concluded that if he genuinely wanted to surprise me and catch me off guard, it would have to be when I was least expecting it - across the other side of the world. After a week of being separated, which was almost the longest we've been apart in our eight-year relationship, Bailey said it had never been so clear that I was the one."
The overwhelmed wife-to-be could not believe that her beau had travelled such a long way to pop the question. She said: "Not in my wildest dreams did I think Bailey would arrive. On my first day in Rome, I saw someone who looked like him and got my hopes up. Knowing the workload associated with running the gym back home, I didn't think at any point he would show up.
"I have never been more speechless in my life - seeing him legitimately took my breath away. The shock quickly turned to tears when I realised the effort he'd put in to travel to the other side of the world by himself just to see me.
"As Bailey waited for my arrival, he was nervous and pacing back and forth. The minute that he saw me, he was cool, calm, collected, and excited about what was to come. Considering Bailey and I talk every day and he had to travel 35 hours without me knowing anything was up, that meant it wasn't just a surprise to me, it was a surprise to lots of our family and friends.
"We have received so much love from friends and family and are so appreciative of their support. Considering we run a business together and are active on social media, we have quite a public relationship, so a lot of people feel they've also been a part of our journey.
"We are not only each other's fiancé, but best friends, and whether you believe in soulmates or not, I think we are pretty damn close."