It turns out that casting off his corporate shackles, cashing in his 401K, embarking on a solo sailing trip around the world with his cat Phoenix, and gaining millions of social media followers wasn't the strangest thing to happen lately to Oliver Widger.
The new bar to clear: getting a care package from a major beauty company via airdrop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Widger, 29, embarked April 30 on the first leg of his journey from Oregon to Hawaii. On Day 24, a day before arriving in Honolulu, Widger recorded himself watching a small plane circling above his Com-Pac 33 sailboat, named Phoenix after his female calico.
"He's got his door open!" Widger tells the camera. "Oh! He dropped something. I've gotta go!" The next cut shows Widger hoisting a large, dripping package strapped to orange flotation buoys.
In one of the most unusual unboxings to ever happen on social media, Widger digs through the care package containing snacks, sandwiches, Friskies cat treats, and letters from kids, which he reads aloud with a huge smile on his face.
"It makes me want to cry, man," Widger says. "This is the coolest moment ever."
Widger then reveals the package came from e.l.f. Cosmetics, brandishing the brand's Holy Hydration Face Cream and Suntouchable sunscreen. "I am pretty burnt!" he acknowledges with a laugh. "I appreciate that, you guys. Shout-out to e.l.f."
He then joined e.l.f. on a Twitch stream after his arrival in Hawaii.
One of Widger's friends, Skyler Slatosch, revealed on his Instagram Stories that he and others close to Widger had reached out to several brands proposing a partnership for the airdrop, and was rejected by "about 20" of them before they approached e.l.f.
The beauty company worked with them for two weeks to iron out the airdrop logistics and get the proper permits, Slatosch said.
Widger sailed into Hawaii on May 24 after 25 days at sea, escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard, with cheering crowds greeting him at the Waikiki Yacht Harbor and millions around the world watching on livestream. He planned to linger in Hawaii for a few weeks to relax, do boat repairs, eat steak, and get a hula girl tattoo.
The airdrop was "absolutely one of the wildest moments of my life," says Widger, who never predicted he'd build such a massive groundswell of public support with millions hanging onto every update.
Widger's @sailing_with_phoenix accounts on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook went viral the day he set sail for Hawaii, uploading videos every day via Starlink satellite.
His adventure became social media's hottest topic as fans made their own posts about his trip and created real-time trackers for his boat.
Widger has said that a diagnosis of Klippel-Feil syndrome, a rare bone disorder, had inspired him to rethink his life and mortality. "That truth pushed me to finally choose a life worth living," he wrote on his GoFundMe page. "I hated my job. I despised the corporate machine."
He quit his 11-year career at a tire retailer, liquidated his 401K, bought a sailboat and did an extensive refit, and taught himself to sail largely via YouTube tutorials.
On May 24, the day he arrived in Hawaii, Widger posted a photo of himself on his boat, pumping his fist in victory. The caption: "Dear Corporate America, I won."
NOTE: Edited 5/25/24 to with updated details.