podcast
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.
Yellowstone: We Bonded Over Ice Cream, Then Eloped
Chance Encounters
Jul 4, 2025
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.
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Episode photo: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images
Episode Transcript
Francesca Street
00:00:01
Imagine you're on a summer vacation in a gorgeous national park and on day one, you fall in love at first sight. And love, that was the last thing you were expecting.
Andrew McGowan
00:00:16
Me and my oldest brother, we were like really excited to go fishing. Like he had found this really good spot.
Francesca Street
00:00:26
'This is Andrew McGowan, a 20-something college student on vacation in Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2013.
Andrew McGowan
00:00:35
We had to go get our fishing licenses and we went into the store that she happened to be working at. I remember when I was walking into the store, I like saw her through the window and I was just like, I'm going to marry that girl.
Francesca Street
00:00:50
'That girl, Andrew spotted and fell in love at first sight with, that was Shallen Yu, a fellow 20-something college student who'd moved across the world for a summer she'd never forget.
Shallen McGowan
00:01:05
I grew up in Taiwan, go to school in Taiwan completely, and it's my last year I can apply as a student to work in the summer. I have a degree in geographic information, so I went and worked in Yellowstone that summer.
Francesca Street
00:01:23
For Andrew, the moment in the store was love at first sight. For Shallen, it wasn't quite that, but it was a memorable first interaction. Imagine, this tall blonde guy came bouncing up to her in the general store, grinning.
Andrew McGowan
00:01:39
So I went in and we found out we couldn't buy fishing licenses there, but I still wanted to talk to her.
Shallen McGowan
00:01:46
Our name tags have our name and where we're from and so it says Taiwan and he saw Taiwan he's like oh I studied one semester in Mandarin so he used his really poor Mandarin and asked me like oh you're from Taiwan I said yeah I am and then he left.
Andrew McGowan
00:02:05
Yeah, and I didn't know like what else to say.
Francesca Street
00:02:10
What were you both thinking in that interaction? I mean, Andrew, you sort of said it was a bit of a love at first sight moment, but for both of you, were you like, I'm interested in this person or was it more?
Andrew McGowan
00:02:18
She thought I looked like an idiot
Shallen McGowan
00:02:25
Because he's smiling really big, and he looks like he froze. I was just like, haha, I was like, OK. And then he left.
Andrew McGowan
00:02:35
And then me and my brother went to the ranger station that was right there and we got our fishing licenses and then I was sitting in the car with my brother. He was like, all right, we gotta go back and I was like no, I gotta talk to that girl again. My brother had started the car, he was starting to back up. And I was just like, nope, I'm going for it. So I got out of the car while he was backing up and he was like, what the crap are you doing?
Francesca Street
00:03:08
'I'm Francesca Street, CNN Travel Journalist, and this is Chance Encounters, a podcast about the incredible connections we make while traveling. This show is based on my series of online articles for CNN.com, where I interview ordinary people about their extraordinary travel-based love stories and tales of friendship. In this podcast series we're chronicling the summer loves that turned out to be more than just a vacation romance. This week we're accompanying 20-something college student Andrew McGowan on a life-changing vacation to perhaps the most famous national park in the US, Yellowstone, known for its hot springs, old faithful, and miles of beautiful parkland and fishing spots.
Francesca Street
00:04:12
So, Andrew walked back into the general store, still smiling at Shallen, and this time she was smiling back.
Andrew McGowan
00:04:24
She was smiling really big like she was waiting for me to say something. I think she kind of knew that I was trying to talk to her. I was like, you got a boyfriend?
Shallen McGowan
00:04:34
'In Mandarin. He just straight-out said do you have a boyfriend and I was like, uh, no.
Andrew McGowan
00:04:40
And I was like, oh, can I take you to dinner?
Shallen McGowan
00:04:42
Can I, yeah, can I take you to dinner? And I go, no, 'cause we're in the middle of nowhere and dinner sounds so formal. I'm like, this is weird. So I said, well, if you wanna practice your Mandarin, we can grab ice cream. Like I don't know you and I'm here like in the States all by myself.
Andrew McGowan
00:05:09
But then when she said ice cream, I was like, okay, deal, we'll do it.
Francesca Street
00:05:13
Andrew and Shallen set their ice cream date. Then Andrew embarked on this fishing excursion with his brother. They'd planned a short hike to a fishing spot, nothing too strenuous.
Andrew McGowan
00:05:26
'But then, a ranger was coming down and she said, oh, the fishing is really good, like nine miles up the trail. But we had only planned and had enough water for like 2 miles, but we ended up going the whole 9 miles in. I wasn't wearing sunscreen. I just got super like burned and red, and then we ran out of water. I'm gonna have to drink out of this river, I'm going to get like, girardia or something. So we go fishing, best day of fishing of my life. We come back down. I'm super burnt. I got in the car and I was like, oh my gosh, I've got a date tomorrow. And I'm like super sunburned. And like, I didn't have any like nicer clothes packed cause I was camping and fishing. And my brother had like a nicer pair of jeans and like a V-neck t-shirt that he let me wear. But the V-neck, I had a really bad sunburn line right here. And so when I wore the V-neck, there was like this like super wide like, blazingly white chest patch or whatever you want to call it.
Francesca Street
00:06:47
When you're driving around and you're having ice cream, are you sharing a lot about your lives? What's the kind of feelings?
Andrew McGowan
00:06:55
I like talking to people, I like talking to new people, but I don't really connect deeply with people very often. With her, it would just like, it clicked and like I could tell that she was like a really curious person and that she really wanted to know and understand more about the world.
Shallen McGowan
00:07:10
I'm more of an introvert. It takes me a while to get to know a person and connect with them, but for him it was like that. After we got ice cream...
Andrew McGowan
00:07:26
'I was like, is there like a really good place to view the canyon? And she's like, oh, there's Artist Point. So we took my brother-in-law's truck and we drove to Artist Point and then my sister texted me and she said that there was peach cobbler ready. And I was, like, well, I'm still on a date with this girl. And my sister was like yeah, just bring her. It's fine.
Shallen McGowan
00:07:45
And I didn't know what peach cobbler is, and I'm a sweet tooth. And he explained, I was like, of course I'm going to come. And all I think about is the dessert. I didn't think about that I will meet his entire family.
Andrew McGowan
00:07:58
My mom was smitten with her like right away and she met my family on the first date.
Shallen McGowan
00:08:04
Well so he grew up in the Mormon family, but then his parents left the church.
Andrew McGowan
00:08:11
At the time I was a practicing Mormon still.
Shallen McGowan
00:08:14
And so his mom is hoping that he will meet someone that's outside of the church and then just pull him out. So, that was me.
Andrew McGowan
00:08:24
And then she also just, I think she could see how you were.
Francesca Street
00:08:31
You've met this guy, you've had all these hours together, and now you're with his entire family. What was going through your head during those moments?
Shallen McGowan
00:08:39
It's something that I will never have in Taiwan. And my family is very traditional and very protective. They would never let me do anything like this. And I'm just having the best time. But I feel like, oh, I can do things that I choose to do. And I am having this great connection with the guy I just met. I think it's more bonding than flirting. I feel like I've know this person for a long time.
Andrew McGowan
00:09:06
After the cobbler, we ended up stargazing for a bit.
Shallen McGowan
00:09:10
Yeah, we ended up having our first date. It was like six, seven hours long.
Andrew McGowan
00:09:17
It was more than that. I got you back to the village at 2, and the whole time we were just talking about you know our lives and all that.
Francesca Street
00:09:28
When this super long date eventually concluded, Andrew and Shallen said their goodbyes, and they planned to meet again before Shallen's summer in the US was up. Andrew went back to Yellowstone in August to go camping and met a bunch of Shallen's friends. Then she returned the favor by visiting him in Utah.
Shallen McGowan
00:09:52
His friends all thought he was lying like how do you meet someone in Yellowstone just like that? And so when I finally meet them like okay you're a real person.
Andrew McGowan
00:10:02
Yeah, you do exist.
Shallen McGowan
00:10:04
And then I went back to Taiwan and we began our long distance relationship.
Francesca Street
00:10:14
Like, how'd you kind of leave it before you're going back to Taiwan? Like, what conversations are you having? Again, you're quite young. Are you sort of saying, let's try and make this work? Or is it a bit more like, we'll see what happens.
Andrew McGowan
00:10:28
I was more like, let's make this work. She was more, like, let's just see what happens.
Shallen McGowan
00:10:32
One part of me is like, if I go home, I know my family would have all the disapproval.
Andrew McGowan
00:10:39
Yeah.
Shallen McGowan
00:10:40
Which they actually did.
Andrew McGowan
00:10:41
No, they disapproved a lot.
Shallen McGowan
00:10:43
They disapproved a lot and my mom's trying to introduce me to someone who's like 10 years older than me and when when you're like 24 someone 10 years old or than you is a lot.
Andrew McGowan
00:10:53
He went to a better school and he was more wealthy.
Shallen McGowan
00:10:59
So my family's standard is like, oh, did he graduate yet? Does he own his own house? It's very traditional East Asian culture. So my mom's is like yeah, this would just be child's play.
Andrew McGowan
00:11:11
Like, this is just a childish thing.
Shallen McGowan
00:11:12
Yeah, but it become more serious when you came to Taiwan.
Andrew McGowan
00:11:18
Yeah.
Francesca Street
00:11:19
Andrew knew that to win over Shallen's skeptical family, he would need to show up in Taiwan and make his case face to face.
Andrew McGowan
00:11:27
So that year I saved up and then I went to Taiwan.
Francesca Street
00:11:32
After a break, Andrew visits Shallen and meets her family for the first time.
Francesca Street
00:11:48
Welcome back to Chance Encounters. I'm your host, Francesca Street. Before the break, Shallen and Andrew had fallen for each other after a summer ice cream date in Yellowstone National Park. After a year of staying in touch only via email and video call, Andrew arrived in Taiwan and they were reunited. Andrew loved seeing Shallen's home country, but meeting Shallen's family was a bit more complicated.
Andrew McGowan
00:12:18
Her mom is like this really accomplished person in the finance industry. When we met, her mom was like, okay, I guess I'll take you around. I think at that point she was like. All right. I guess I have to deal with this. And so she took me golfing and I've never gone golfing, but like in Taiwan golfing is kind of what the more like affluent people do.
Shallen McGowan
00:12:40
Well, for her age.
Andrew McGowan
00:12:42
Oh, for her age group, yeah. So she takes me golfing, takes me to a driving range, and I've never golfed before. And she's like trying to teach me, and I think that she thought I was pretty dumb or something. I don't know. Because I could not get it, and I kept hitting these balls, and they would just like pull really hard to the right, and I could figure out why. But I hit one and it flew up over the fence. And it came down, and... it hit a golf cart. I don't know what to say, so I was like, watch out! And it hit a car, and then later, one of her friends was in the golf cart, and they were like, this dumb American, or this dumb foreigner, like, hit my golf cart!
Francesca Street
00:13:30
This golf outing was like a lot of challenges Andrew and Shallen faced in the early period of their relationship: tricky, but surmountable. They were determined to make it work, despite the roadblocks in their way. So after the vacation, Andrew returned back to the US and to his college studies, but he applied for a semester abroad in Taiwan to study Mandarin. By this time, Andrew and Shallen has started talking about the future and a life together.
Andrew McGowan
00:14:01
And at the time, her family knew that we were getting more serious. We got engaged, we decided we were going to get married. And her family, that's when her family was like, absolutely not.
Francesca Street
00:14:11
After some difficult and tense conversations, Shallen made the decision to disregard her family's pushback.
Shallen McGowan
00:14:18
So we didn't get my family's approval and we just eloped.
Andrew McGowan
00:14:22
Yeah, so Shallen and I made kind of we talked about it and we decided that you know, they're not gonna support us. But we have to do what we want and what makes us happy and so we were like, yeah, we're gonna get married anyways, like.
Shallen McGowan
00:14:43
Yeah. They didn't know until a year after.
Andrew McGowan
00:14:46
So we got married in July, we eloped. We got married in the hills above the town where I grew up.
Shallen McGowan
00:14:53
A mountain meadow.
Andrew McGowan
00:14:54
Yeah, on a mountain meadow, we spent $300 on our wedding. But because I have really good friends and really good family, it was magical.
Francesca Street
00:15:05
It was a really special day. So there were some mixed emotions at play. Shallen was sad that her family weren't there.
Shallen McGowan
00:15:13
I get really emotional when I talk about my family.
Francesca Street
00:15:23
But she was really excited to start a new family and a new chapter with Andrew.
Shallen McGowan
00:15:28
We were dirt poor.
Andrew McGowan
00:15:30
Yeah, we were super poor.
Shallen McGowan
00:15:31
We make it work .
Andrew McGowan
00:15:33
Then we bought our house and we had our kids. Eventually her family came to terms with it. It was after our oldest son was born.
Francesca Street
00:15:43
In 2016, about a year after their elopement, Andrew and Shallen, who took Andrew's name following the wedding, becoming Shallen McGowan, they celebrated their wedding with a big party. And against the odds, this time round, many of Shallen's loved ones were present.
Shallen McGowan
00:16:01
So we had a reception in Utah and my mom, my brother, his wife and their one year old baby, they flew here and two of my best friends came.
Andrew McGowan
00:16:12
We had a kind of like a little ceremony.
Shallen McGowan
00:16:15
And at the time, my mom was like, okay, my daughter is not coming back with me. She went to this Chinese fortune teller, because she asked me for Andrew's birthday and time. Like that's how you do the fortune telling of the person. It's your birth date and time and so I gave it to her and she went to the fortune teller and the guy actually told him they match really well. They're different but they always work it out and so because of the fortune teller my mom's like okay I guess that's okay.
Andrew McGowan
00:17:00
I think it was difficult for her to listen to her daughter a lot of times, but the fact that she like, something that she could have observed and just seen, she's like, no, a fortune teller told me it, so now it's, now I agree. So that was kind of funny, but now like her family's come to terms with it and they see how happy we are. We also have really cute kids, like really cute kids, and so, you know, you can't complain about that.
Shallen McGowan
00:17:31
I always thought that I would just never get married, I'll just be single and I'll be happier that way. And then I met Andrew and something just switched.
Andrew McGowan
00:17:42
For me, it was love at first sight. But I obviously, I couldn't see where our journey would take us. If I could go back 100 times over, I would do it again.
Francesca Street
00:17:55
Thank you to Shallen and Andrew McGowan for sharing their Chance Encounter. If you have your own chance encounter to share, I'd love to hear it. You can share your story with CNN in the contact form linked in our episode description.
Francesca Street
00:18:17
'This is Chance Encounters, reported, hosted and written by me, Francesca Street. Dan Bloom is our showrunner and co-writer. Sofia Sanchez and Kyra Dahring are the producers. Dan Dzula is technical director and Matt Dempsey is technical production manager. Steve Lickteig is executive producer of CNN Podcasts. For more Chance Encounters, check out cnn.com/travel. CNN Travel's global editor is Barry Neild. Special thanks to producers Lori Gallaretta, Felicia Patinkin, Graelyn Brashear, Haley Thomas, Lauren Kim, Grace Walker, and Jesse Remedios. Jameis Andres created the artwork for this show. We had support from Alex Manasseri, Mark Duffy, Robert Mathers, Joey Salvia, John Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Lisa Namerow, David Allan and the team at CNN Travel. Wendy Brundige is CNN Digital's SVP of content strategy. Chance Encounters is a production of CNN Podcasts. Thank you for listening.
