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For our CNN Travel roundup this Thanksgiving weekend, we’re bringing you a potluck of stories about love, family and friendship from around the world. Hold onto your dinner napkins, as there may be some tears in store.
A movie-worthy romance
Englishwoman Charlotte Phillips knows a thing or two about plot twists as an editor for movie trailers, including the 2006 rom-com “The Holiday.”
What she never expected was that she’d be a main character in a real-life love story that would begin thousands of miles from home in a hospital in India.
In 2009, Charlotte was visiting her mom when, with a matchmaking twinkle in her mother’s eye, she was introduced to a young American patient named Amy B. Scher.
Amy had never considered a relationship with a woman before, but she felt instantly connected to Charlotte and invited her to dinner. On their date, they talked and laughed for hours and the friendship grew closer.
“I remember we were sitting on the steps of the hospital, and she was showing me something on her phone and I remember wanting to kiss her,” says Amy.
Here’s what happened next.
A Goldilocks for the 1980s
John Morris, pictured in 1980 with his 1969 Chevrolet Nova. – Courtesy John Morris
It was the night before Thanksgiving 1980 and a blizzard was raging in Missouri.
When 18-year-old John Morris’ car spun off the road, the pragmatic — or “naive” — teenager sought out the only shelter that was available: a clapboard farmhouse, set back from the road.
No one was home, so he tried calling the tow company (no answer) and then washed up some dishes as a good deed for his unknown hosts.
John had settled in for the night and was just wondering if he could help himself to the food in the fridge when he heard voices on the other side of the front door.
His encounter with the owners turned into a surprising night for all of them.
In the footsteps of her father
Mayumi and her father in 1990. – Courtesy Mayumi Maruyama
Mayumi Maruyama grew up in a suburban house outside Detroit. Her dad was a man of few words, but he always knew how to make people laugh, and he was always present for Mayumi and her sister. There wasn’t a school event he missed.
Then, when Mayumi was 12 years old, her father died.
“For more than 20 years, I carried the weight of his death in silence,” she writes in this thoughtful memoir. “What saved me was his love for the camera.”
His photo albums led her on a journey around the world, from the Michigan of her childhood to her father’s birthplace in Japan and to the life he led in Indiana, Turkey and India. She says, “By walking his path, I came to know him — and myself.”
‘I’m going to marry that girl’
Shallen Yu and Andrew McGowan met in Yellowstone National Park. – Courtesy Shallen and Andrew McGowan
In the summer of 2013, American hiker Andrew McGowan and Taiwanese student Shallen Yu spent one wonderful day together eating ice cream, stargazing and bonding over peach cobbler in Yellowstone National Park. They were determined to be together against the odds.
Two years later, facing pushback from Shallen’s parents, they eloped in the Utah hills where Andrew grew up. While they faced family challenges, the words of a fortune teller helped get everyone on the same path.
There are now a dozen episodes of CNN Travel’s “Chance Encounters” podcast to enjoy in our audio hub, including this one. This companion to Francesca Street’s hit column shares incredible real-life stories of remarkable travel connections.
Good fortune in Tokyo
Actor Tony Shalhoub, host of the CNN Original Series “Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread,” has been on a mission to find the world’s best, most surprising, food items for under $10.
In Tokyo, he tried taiyaki, a Japanese street food speciality. This sweet treat is modeled after red sea bream, which is a good luck symbol in Japan.
In case you missed it
This American couple made a spreadsheet of countries they could move to, scoring for hiking, weather and more.
They settled on a destination in Southern Europe.
This Japanese-Irish polyglot found global fame by speaking dozens of languages.
His spontaneous street interviews are both a personal challenge and a chance to connect.
How a 60-mile, sixth-grade field trip became a life-changing date with destiny.
It all began with a boxed lunch.
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