A decade-old hookup. A random text. A dirty bathroom. What could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, everything when you don’t save last names in your phone.
Here’s the wild tale that resulted in a failed trip to Hawaii involving one of the country’s few female astronauts.
Wrong Woman Gets Flown To Hawaii
In a viral three-part TikTok series with more than 1.3 million views, Zena (@zenawoz) shares the absolutely unhinged story of how she ended up on a free trip to Hawaii—except the guy who invited her thought she was someone else entirely.
The saga begins 10 years ago when Zena met a surf photographer during a work trip to Hawaii for a yoga festival. They had what she describes as “a lovely fun travel fling.” She says he spent the night in her hotel room, they got breakfast in bed, and that was that.
Over the next decade, she says they stayed in touch maybe two or three times total. Nothing serious.
Fast-forward to this January. Zena’s in Bali, about to start a therapy retreat where they take your phone away, when she gets a text from surf guy: “Hey, Spacefox. Are you in Japan right now?”
Spacefox. She’d never been called that before, but she thought it was quirky and charming. And the Japan thing? She figured he must have her location on Snapchat or something, because what were the odds he’d ask if she was in Asia while she was actually in Asia?
“I’m in Bali,” she says she texted back.
As it turns out, he was in Japan and wanted to meet up. She mentioned she might be back in Hawaii for work later that year. He said he’d love to see her.
A month later, on a random Wednesday night, she says he texted again: “What are you doing this weekend?”
Then he sent a proposed flight itinerary (using his miles) to fly her from Los Angeles to Oahu and back for the weekend.
“There’s no way this guy is serious,” Zena says she thought. She figured he was drunk. But he kept persisting, asking if she could get time off work, if someone could cover for her. The last thing he said before bed: “I just wanna talk about space with you and make out for hours.”
She says she went to work the next day and told her co-workers about the absurd offer. Her boss’ response? “That is like princess s—. No one’s ever flown me to Hawaii. A man wants to fly you to Hawaii. You go. If you don’t go, you’re stupid. And I’m mad at you.”
So Zena canceled her second date with another guy (claiming she had to work), texted surf guy that she was free, and sent over her info.
The Airport Revelation
The next night, she flew out straight from work, her “little suitcase just, like, packed full of dreams and optimism and all the hope in the world.” Everyone at work was thrilled for her. She watched a movie on the plane, listened to her “love has come for me” playlist, and landed feeling like a princess.
He texted that he was running late due to traffic. No problem—she’d wait on the curb. She saw his truck pull up. Still cute, she notes. He gave her a big hug.
“It is just so great to finally meet you,” he says.
Wait.
“But, like, you know we’ve met before. Right?” Zena says.
“Wait. What?”
At first, she says she was embarrassed. It seemed he didn’t remember their hookup from a decade ago. But then he started looking pale. He was staring at her, looking her up and down.
“We met 10 years ago,” she says she explained. “I came here for work. We spent the night. You were in my hotel room. We ordered breakfast in bed the next day.”
“Yes. Yeah. OK. I remember that. I remember you. I’m just really confused,” she remembers him saying.
Then he asked about her job—what did she do for a living?
“I’m a personal assistant,” she recalls responding.
“Oh my God,” he responded.
“Did you accidentally fly the wrong person to Hawaii?” she says she asked.
“Honestly? Kind of,” he fessed up.
The Mix-Up, Explained
As airport workers yelled at them to keep moving, they got in his truck, and he explained that he’d matched with another woman named Zena on Raya. When he texted “Spacefox,” asking if she was in Japan, he thought he was texting the other Zena.
The other Zena is an astronaut.
An astronaut.
“Spacefox, I just wanna talk about space with you”—suddenly it all made sense. He wasn’t quirky and into astronomy. He literally thought she worked for NASA.
“My dude, you have got to save last names in your phone,” she says she told him.
But Zena tried to salvage it. She was already there. It was 10pm. Could this still be a meet-cute? They both started laughing about the absurdity. He had sushi and drinks waiting at his place. They ate and talked, and then she went to take a shower.
That’s when she saw the bathroom.
“I don’t like to be judgy about people’s homes,” she says. But this was “the messiest boy bathroom I’ve ever been in”—one that felt like it had “just never been cleaned properly.” The tub was yellow with dark corners. She couldn’t get past it.
“I wasn’t upset by the mix-up. I was upset by this bathroom,” she says. “You can’t have an astronaut shower in this shower. Like, they are used to sterile environments.”
She says she looked up nearby hotels—the closest was a sold-out resort at $1,000 a night. So she says she buckled down for one night, watched half of a movie, and fell asleep.
At 5am, she says she woke up from jet lag and “general humiliation” and texted her friends. Her bosses (the same ones who’d gassed her up about the trip) immediately offered to book her a first-class flight home in two hours. She says she declined. She’d already flown all the way there. She’d feel stupider going right back.
Instead, she says they booked her a hotel room and a massage in Honolulu. Surf guy drove her there, and they actually had a nice conversation about how hard dating is.
He dropped her off, apologized again, and texted her later: “There’s part of me that wishes we had just kept in touch and that, like, I had just invited you out because I feel like we would have had a good time.”
“That’s very sweet,” she thought, while remembering the bathroom. “It never would have worked out between us.”
They haven’t spoken since.
“The lesson here is save last names in your phone,” Zena concludes, “and if a man wants to fly you out, maybe have him come see you first.”
What Is Raya?
Raya is a private, elite, members-only app unofficially known as the celebrity dating app for the rich and famous.
According to Business Insider, getting into Raya is notoriously difficult. An algorithm and an anonymous global committee of 500 people determine membership based on applications that require referrals. Only 8% of applicants are approved, with 100,000 people on the waiting list to join Raya’s community of 10,000 members.
The app shows users globally rather than locally, displays profiles as slideshows with soundtracks, and costs $7.99 a month. It prohibits screenshots and sends warning messages if you try.
Did Astronaut Zena See This?
She does seem to have seen the saga, according to a screenshot that was posted by a viewer. In it, she wrote:
“Listen, I live on a spaceship with six dudes. I haven’t showered in hour months, and I drink recycled pee. So, like… my bar is low.”
@zenawoz how a man accidentally flew me to Hawaii thinking I was another woman pt 1/3 #storytime #datingstorytime
BroBible reached out to Zena the content creator via TikTok direct message and comment and to astronaut Zena via Instagram direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if she responds.