Tom Frankenburg had the perfect romantic getaway planned: a $1,600 vacation to Malta, including a room at a four-star hotel with sunny views of the Mediterranean. He bought the tickets and made all the reservations.
Then, as happens sometimes, Frankenburg and his girlfriend broke up. The dream vacation was gone.
But rather than mope around Malta all by his lonesome, the heartbroken Nottingham, England resident had a better idea: give away the entire vacation for free. Frankenburg publicized the plan with a slick YouTube video.
“I want to give this to someone who deserves it,” he said. “Maybe you’ve had a tough month, maybe you’ve never been abroad.”
Within a few days he’d received 2,000 views and 30 emails. On Thursday the BBC picked it up, and his story quickly spread to American sites like The Daily What and The Huffington Post. The view count now sits at more than 26,000.
Frankenburg, a 22-year-old guitar teacher, told the BBC:
“The majority of responses are not people nominating themselves, it’s actually people nominating other people which is really nice actually, that people are doing that.”
One YouTuber has called Frankenburg out as a scammer out phishing for emails. It’s worth noting, however, that there are easier ways to collect emails than posting a video of yourself and then also revealing your real name to the BBC.
If you want Frankenburg’s holiday and think you deserve it, you can email him here. Just make sure you live somewhere near the East Midlands Airport.
