Planes, travel pains, and an automobile

It was a Sunday evening in the Orlando airport, when a group of travelers heard the news everyone dreads: their flight to Knoxville, Tennessee, was canceled. And to make matters worse, there were no other available flights until the following afternoon. 

😭 Every traveler's nightmare... While most passengers left to wait it out until the next day, there were a few who desperately needed to make it to Tennesee by morning. 

• One couple and their high school daughter were scheduled to tour her dream university the next day.
• Another passenger was speaking at an important career conference on Tuesday morning. 
• A few others simply needed to get back home to work and their families. 

🚐 Put it in drive... As frustrated passengers waited for customer service, an idea started to spread through the group. What if they rented a van to take the 650-mile trip overnight?

While it seemed crazy at first, soon enough 13 people had agreed to the trip. "We got a really good vibe, because these are regular normal wholesome people trying to get home and having things that they need to take care of," shared one of the passengers, Carlos.

And with the vibes *immaculate,* he went down to the Hertz rental car desk. Luckily, they had a van available. 

The 13 strangers piled in and hit the road. 

The group spent the rest of the night driving and documenting their journey, which quickly went viral on TikTok. By the time they made it to Tennesee, millions of people were following the trip. 

👯 Road-trip things: The group numbered themselves 1 to 13 – just to be sure everyone was in the van after stopping for gas or a rest. When on the road, they chatted about their lives, jobs, and why exactly they needed to make it to Tennesee by morning. And by journey's end, they had each made a dozen new friends. 

❤️ From the ringleader's mouth to your... eyeballs?: "Everybody was so awesome. It almost went too perfect," Carlos shared. "There was no traffic. Everyone got along, everyone pitched in. It was just seamless."