Launceston man Samuel James Mitchell did exactly that, sending a friend request on Facebook to another man who shares the same name.

“Some of my mates had started to add people with their names, so I thought I’d give it a go,” he said.

“I had a look and scrolled through a few, found one with the exact same name, we shared the middle name and all.”

Melbourne-based Sam Mitchell, originally from London, accepted the request and within four hours, he was booked on a flight to Tasmania for the New Year’s weekend.

The idea to fly Melbourne-Sam down to visit Launceston-Sam was thanks mostly to friends and family who enjoyed the story playing out on their Facebook profiles, while world-travelling Melbourne-Sam was keen to visit any new places.

“It was only $80 or something to get him [on a plane] so we all chucked in and within four hours of being friends on Facebook, he was [booked],” Launceston-Sam said.

He admitted it was “a bit different in the morning” when the reality began to sink in that a complete stranger was about to land at Launceston Airport and stay for the weekend.

But it all turned out well.

“We were probably too similar if anything, it was weird,” he said.

“It was uncanny, pretty similar sense of humour and everything.

“If we didn’t like him we had a plan to take him down town and leave him there, he could find his own way back.”

Thankfully Plan B wasn’t needed, and the two Sams spent a weekend involving impromptu Tasmanian Olympics, Melbourne-Sam’s first encounter with Australian wildlife, and a New Years kiss under the fireworks.

And to others thinking of searching their own name on Facebook, Launceston-Sam suggests it’s probably “not the safest thing” to invite a stranger to stay – even if you share the same name.

“Once in a blue moon I suppose it’ll work out alright – luckily,” he said.