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.
CNN's Isabelle Chapman investigates the mysterious death of Ilya Beloozerov, exploring whether he was a spy or a civilian caught in a complex situation.
6 Feb 2026
Great Escapes: The Sisters Who Got Stuck in a Scottish Castle
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 contacting CNN Travel via the contact form embedded in our articles.
Writer & Narrator: Francesca Street
Producer: Dan Bloom
Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig
Editor: David Allan
Global Editor, CNN Travel: Barry Neild
VP, Digital Franchises: Robert Boyle
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30 Jan 2026
Great Escapes: She Was a Broke Teenager Stranded in a Strange Town. Then Two Nuns Saved the Day
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 contacting CNN Travel via the contact form embedded in our articles.
Writer & Narrator: Francesca Street
Producer: Dan Bloom
Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig
Editor: David Allan
Global Editor, CNN Travel: Barry Neild
VP, Digital Franchises: Robert Boyle
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
23 Jan 2026
Great Escapes: The Man Who Saved Two Strangers’ Lives on a Mountain
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 hear your feedback on this episode. Let us know what you think by contacting CNN Travel via the contact form embedded in our articles.
Writer & Narrator: Francesca Street
Producer: Dan Bloom
Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig
Editor: David Allan
Global Editor, CNN Travel: Barry Neild
VP, Digital Franchises: Robert Boyle
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
1 Aug 2025
English Channel: The Summer Spark That Never Ended
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
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25 Jul 2025
Pittsburgh: Our Five-Minute Airplane Chat Led to Lasting Love
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
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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 Nicholls/Reuters
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11 Jul 2025
Mazatlán: The Summer I Ran Away with a Yacht Captain
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
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4 Jul 2025
Yellowstone: We Bonded Over Ice Cream, Then Eloped
American hiker Andrew McGowan and Taiwanese student Shallen Yu recount their serendipitous meeting in Yellowstone National Park that led to a whirlwind romance and elopement, defying all odds in this interview.
27 Jun 2025
Rome: We Fell in Love at the Trevi Fountain
Catherine Tondelli recounts her fateful trip to Rome in 1999, where she met her future husband Fausto Mezzana at the Trevi Fountain, sparking a love story that has lasted 25 years; this is an interview.
17 Mar 2025
"I'll take a chance, hop on the back of his motorcycle."
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
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10 Mar 2025
“After that night we were instantly like best friends.”
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
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3 Mar 2025
“I found the guy I'm going to marry on a trail.”
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
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24 Feb 2025
"We went out skinny-dipping that night."
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
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17 Feb 2025
" We started flirting in Mongolia. We kissed in Siberia, somewhere on the train."
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
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10 Feb 2025
“Just a brief second can change things in a wonderful way in life."
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
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5 Feb 2025
Introducing: 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 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 stories of travel connections.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who has been a guest on Chance Encounters
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Andrew McGowan
Shallen Yu
Catherine Tondelli
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.4 / 5
83 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
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