Chance Encounters

Chance Encounters

The unexpected connections you make while traveling can change your life: from romance that sparks at 30,000 feet to unlikely friendships that begin on the road. Chance Encounters, the podcast companion to the hit column on CNN.com from Francesca Street, chronicles incredible real-life stories of unforgettable travel connections.

Episodes

Special Bonus - Introducing: Civilian or Spy

August 14, 2026 • 1 min
When a Russian-born American citizen named Ilya Beloozerov is gunned down by the FBI in 2024, the authorities refuse to say why they’d killed him. CNN’s Isabelle Chapman embarks on a sprawling investigation that takes her from the Mississippi parking lot where he died to Washington, D.C. to unravel the mystery: Why did Ilya abruptly leave his family a...
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Great Escapes: The Sisters Who Got Stuck in a Scottish Castle

February 6, 2026 • 23 mins
Great Escapes is a series about how sometimes travel doesn't go as planned, and how those moments often lead to the best stories. From a daring rescue atop the highest mountain in the Alps, to the moment two American tourists realized they were trapped inside a centuries-old Scottish castle. Read along with the third episode at cnn.com/travel. We'd love to hear your feedback on this episode. Let us know what you think by con...
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Great Escapes: She Was a Broke Teenager Stranded in a Strange Town. Then Two Nuns Saved the Day

January 30, 2026 • 21 mins
Great Escapes is a series about how sometimes travel doesn't go as planned, and how those moments often lead to the best stories. From a daring rescue atop the highest mountain in the Alps, to the moment two American tourists realized they were trapped inside a centuries-old Scottish castle. Read along with the second episode at cnn.com/travel. We'd love to hear your feedback on this episode. Let us know what you think by contact...
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Great Escapes: The Man Who Saved Two Strangers’ Lives on a Mountain

January 23, 2026 • 26 mins
Great Escapes is a series about how sometimes travel doesn't go as planned, and how those moments often lead to the best stories. From a daring rescue atop the highest mountain in the Alps, to the moment two American tourists realized they were trapped inside a centuries-old Scottish castle. Read along with the first episode here. You can find the series in written audio and video formats by visiting cnn.com/travel. We'd love to...
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English Channel: The Summer Spark That Never Ended

August 1, 2025 • 22 mins
American Kerri Cunningham fell for Brit Dirk Stevens when they met as teenagers on vacation. They were each other’s first love but lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Then almost three decades later, they unexpectedly reunited. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Episode photo: iStock/Getty Images Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Pittsburgh: Our Five-Minute Airplane Chat Led to Lasting Love

July 25, 2025 • 16 mins
Hunter Smith was working the gate, John Lihas was working the flight. The two had a five-minute conversation that set in motion an unexpected travel love story that’s still going strong today. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Episode photo:  iStock/Getty Images Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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London: Standby Airplane Tickets Changed Our Lives

July 18, 2025 • 19 mins
American Southerner Vickie Moretz didn’t know what “standby” meant when she booked a cheap flight to London in 1982. Just before takeoff, she was rushed onboard and seated beside Graham Kidner—a 22-year-old Brit. That last-minute seat sparked a connection that’s lasted over 40 years. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Episode photo credit: Henry N...
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Mazatlán: The Summer I Ran Away with a Yacht Captain

July 11, 2025 • 24 mins
Bob Parsons was an American yacht captain. Beverly Carriveau was a Canadian librarian. One summer in Mazatlán, Mexico, a “thunderbolt" passed between them, and their lives were never the same again. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Yellowstone: We Bonded Over Ice Cream, Then Eloped

July 4, 2025 • 22 mins
American hiker Andrew McGowan and Taiwanese student Shallen Yu spent one glorious day together eating ice cream, stargazing and bonding over peach cobbler in Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2013. They were determined to be together against the odds. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Episode photo: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
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Rome: We Fell in Love at the Trevi Fountain

June 27, 2025 • 23 mins
American Catherine Tondelli won a trip to Rome, Italy in the summer of 1999. On her first night, she threw three coins in the city's Trevi Fountain and came to face-to-face with her future husband, Italian local Fausto Mezzana. Here’s how a vacation romance turned into a love story spanning 25 years and counting. Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Episode Photo: Steve Chr...
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"I'll take a chance, hop on the back of his motorcycle."

March 17, 2025 • 21 mins
When Rachel Décoste traveled to West Africa’s Republic of Benin in 2018, she was anticipating a life-changing trip. Then she jumped on the back of Benin local Honoré Orogbo's motorbike and the trip changed her life in more ways than she ever could have imagined. Read Rachel & Honoré's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
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“After that night we were instantly like best friends.”

March 10, 2025 • 19 mins
Adopted from South Korea to the US as a baby, Linsay DeBates returned to her birth country for the first time in 2000, aged 19. By chance, she met fellow American Doug Gist during the trip and a friendship began that continues 25 years later. Read Linsay & Doug's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...
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 “I found the guy I'm going to marry on a trail.”

March 3, 2025 • 18 mins
Trish Salazar and Aaron Toro connected instantly while trekking in Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park. Within days, they were committed to a long-distance relationship and planning a future together. Then life took another unexpected turn. Read Trish & Aaron's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...
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 "We went out skinny-dipping that night."

February 24, 2025 • 19 mins
Canadian student Bianca Gignac only had a few days left in Italy when she crossed paths with Italian local Alessandro Morelli in the beautiful Cinque Terre region. Here's what happened when she decided to stay longer. Read Bianca & Alessandro's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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" We started flirting in Mongolia. We kissed in Siberia, somewhere on the train."

February 17, 2025 • 15 mins
Frenchwoman Marie-Claire Martineau and American traveler Elaine Comerford were thrown together by fate on board the Trans-Siberian Railway in the summer of 1991. Here's how that serendipitous railway journey turned into a decades-spanning romance. Read Marie-Claire & Elaine's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
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“Just a brief second can change things in a wonderful way in life."

February 10, 2025 • 15 mins
Italian traveler Cristina Farina arrived in London in the summer of 1984, only to be stood up by a man she met on an airplane. But then Cristina started chatting with American stranger Matt Reineke in London’s Trafalgar Square, changing the course of their lives forever. Read Cristina & Matt's story on CNN.com Read more Chance Encounters by Francesca Street Share your Chance Encounter with CNN Learn more about your ad ch...
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Introducing: Chance Encounters

February 5, 2025 • 1 min
The unexpected connections you make while traveling can change your life: from romance that sparks at 30,000 feet to unlikely friendships that begin on the road. Chance Encounters - the hit column on CNN.com from Francesca Street - chronicling incredible real-life stories of unforgettable travel connections makes its podcast debut with CNN Audio just in time for Valentine’s Day 2025. Each week, Francesca brings us incredible ...
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