Imagine you're on a trip to reconnect with your past. You're in the country of your birth, two decades after you left and never returned. Until now, that is.

'Growing up, I always had this fantasy of I would be able to go back to Korea and I'd just be welcomed with open arms, and I'd finally have a place where I belonged. When I got off the plane, it's like, oh my gosh, it's incredible. Everyone looks like me. But they could tell immediately that I was not Korean-Korean and I didn't fit in. And it was pretty obvious. Okay, this is this is going to be really hard.

And then all of the sudden.

I just heard these guys speaking English. Yeah! Speak some English! And I was super stoked. This sounds like fun and this sounds like home. And I just wanted to drink and make friends with these guys.

For Linsay DeBates, what sounded like home was a bit of a question mark. Born in Seoul, capital city of South Korea, and adopted at six months old by an American couple from the US state of Minnesota, Linsay grew up uncertain where she fit in. When she heard those American guys that day on the streets of Seoul in the year 2000, she was on a life changing adventure to reconnect with her birth parents. And Linsay's life was about to change even more, thanks to that unexpected run in on the street where the American Doug Gist. Doug was in the US Army stationed in South Korea, and he happened to be out for the night with a group of military buddies.

My first impression of Linsay was like, who is this chick? I mean, she's cute but loud. She's young and she seemed cool. So, yeah, come hang out with us.

These are guys that are out drinking, and this little gal comes bounding up to them. So they were all kind of like.

One by one trying to hit on her. And she was, like, deflecting left and right.

I mean, literally I was like, all right, come on, get out of here. And I wasn't there to hook up with someone. I was there to just speak English and drink some beers. Doug found me pretty quickly. I think he knew that I needed emotional support.

They were all like, all right, take my cue and bounce. So then we just ended up hanging out for the rest of the night.

Doug was pretty protective of me because the other guys were kind of hitting on me, and I kind of felt like he just established his presence, like, hey, she's with me. Not in a romantic way. Kind of big brother protector is the vibe that I felt. And we ended up just talking all night, just Doug and I, after the other guys fell away and realized they didn't have a chance.

'I'm Francesca Street, CNN travel journalist, and this is Chance Encounters, a podcast about the incredible connections we make while traveling. So far on this podcast, we've explored some amazing travel love stories. But this series, it's not just about romance. Sometimes, the chance encounters we meet while traveling can lead to continent, decades-spanning, lasting friendship. And those friends can leave an enduring impression, shape our lives forever. So this week is all about friendship and one friendship in particular, between that lonely American traveler Linsay DeBates and Doug, a guest that fellow Americans she ran into on the street of Itaewon in Seoul, South Korea, back in the year 2000.

When I was 19, I was invited to go back to Korea with Korean adoptee tours sponsored by the Korean government. So it was a two week tour in Korea, kind of like a crash course into the culture and into the country. So I did the two weeks with the Korean adoptee group, and at the end, a social worker came to pick me up and told me that we were going to go meet my parents. They'd been waiting all morning. They were really excited. And I met with my parents and my younger sister was there as well. And we had this reunion for maybe 15 minutes with a translator. And then, we drove two hours down to Daejeon, where they live. So I spent the next ten days with them. I didn't speak the language. I had one sister who spoke a little bit of English, but it was a lot of gesturing and a lot of singing Korean folk songs and really awkward moments with my family. It was very overwhelming and I needed to get away and I needed to take some space for myself. So I started traveling to Itaewon, which is a place I discovered during the tour. I felt very comfortable there because there is a very strong American presence there. It was an opportunity to feel like myself again and feel comfortable again.

Enter Doug, the big brother figure who spent that evening in Itaewon talking to Linsay, bonding with her and learning her story. He shared something of his life in return and at the end of the night, having become fast friends, dog walked Linsay back to her lodgings, at which point he immediately raised an eyebrow.

Yeah, this motel that I was staying at. It was just very, very, very seedy.

It was sketchy.

It was very sketchy. It was very seedy. Was very cheap. A night before, someone had tried to break in my room. And there was very questionable people staying there. And so Doug was just like, no, you're not staying here by yourself. I'm going to spend the night. There is nothing too hot and heavy going on. It was nothing like that. It was really like two friends having a good time getting to know each other, and ended up just talking like it was a slumber party all night. By the time Doug left the next morning, he knew everything about me.

After that night, we were like, instantly like best friends.

We had just talked and talked about like, family, about his family. It's like, oh, there's my new best friend.

Linsay and Doug knew from that first night, this friendship was the real deal. But after the break, Doug will show up for Linsay in a more powerful way than should ever have imagined.

Welcome back to Chance encounters. I'm Francesca Street. After bumping into each other in Seoul, Linsay and Doug became close friends. And when Linsay went back home to the US, she kept in touch with Doug from afar via email. Two years later, in 2002, Linsay returned to South Korea, now aged 21, to spend more time with her birth family. Linsay knew that emotionally, this journey might be even harder than the first. She'd definitely need a friend by her side.

'I think it was then that I'm just like, hey, do you want to come down to Daejeon? Meet the family? And so Doug came down to Daejeon and I was amazed. And my family was amazed because, first of all, in Korea, it's not that normal for Korean-speaking Black men to walk into their house. But Doug came in here, he had brought gifts for everyone in my family, which is very traditional and very welcomed.

Linsay's family liked Doug right away, and Linsay felt instantly more relaxed with a friend by her side. But with gifts given and introductions made, it was time to get down to business. Linsay had invited Doug down to her parent's home, not just for a friendly visit. She wanted to get some answers to questions that had been with her for a lifetime. Doug, after his years working in South Korea, he was fluent in Korean, so he agreed to translate the conversation between Linsay and her birth mother with one condition.

Don't ask about the adoption because it's going to be a touchy subject, right? And my skills, good as they were, I was not prepared to get into all the range of emotion that would have or could have come out because of that subject. And so we were supposed to keep it light and breezy. And that is not what happened.

I definitely just subjected poor Doug to being the awkward guy, having to translate this really awkward stuff. I remember at one point my mom actually got up and, like, left the room during my interrogation of her. Despite the fact that Doug had said, like, you know, keep it light and whatever, I'm like, no, I'm gonna I'm gonna find out today.

I just remember looking at Linsay when she asked, So why did you set me up for adoption? I looked at her like, Dude, seriously? You want me to ask? And I had to figure out how I was going to ask this lady why it was just Linsay that she decided to put up for adoption. And then the waterworks start and she's crying, Linsay's crying, and I'm in the middle trying to, like, talk between these two. And I'm like, oh my God, that was just the most awkward thing I've ever been in.

Well, yeah, it's such an intense thing to both of you, but I can imagine also quite a bonding experience. And, Linsay, for you to have an ally that while you're having this really upsetting and emotionally charged conversation, I'm sure, was, you were so grateful for that.

I was so grateful because having this comfort, it's like having this, having an old friend there, even though we had only met two years before that. It just felt like I have an old friend there. I definitely appreciated that.

While this conversation was difficult, it was also an important step for Linsay in accepting her past, building a relationship with her birth parents and looking towards her future. She was eternally grateful to Doug for helping her connect with her Korean family properly. Linsay and Doug said goodbye after that visit all the more certain they'd be friends forever, through all of life's difficult times and the good times too. And so, when it came to Doug's destination wedding a few years later, Linsay knew she had to find a way to be there, despite some obstacles. Namely, she was broke.

And Doug gets married in Hawaii. And then I'm like, I can't get to Hawaii. I'm a graduate student. And so Doug said, if you can get here and come to my wedding, I will pay for your room. I just remember that week meeting his family for the first time. And it was so incredible because, you know, he introduced me to as his best friend Linsay to everyone in his family. And I was like, oh, I'm a bestie! Doug made sure that I was included in everything that the family did, whether it be jet skiing or a luau. I was there, right there with the family.

Years passed and Linsay and Doug's friendship remained strong. They reunited in South Korea and the US. They stayed in touch from afar via emails and long phone calls. Linsay completed her degree and became a social worker. Doug split from his first wife, then fell in love again, remarried, and became a father, with Linsay supporting him throughout this journey.

Linsay is the godmother to your daughter, is that right?

Yes. As soon as she was born, I talked to my wife and I said, hey, I want Linsay to be the godmother. Yeah, I mean, there was like nobody else in the running.

And when Linsay finally had the chance to meet her goddaughter and Doug's wife for the first time, that connection and love was instant.

I'll never forget opening my hotel door and the first thing she did was go like this to give me a hug and like, oh, this is good. I'm going to like her.

Fast forward to today and Linsay has built up a good relationship with her birth family over the years. She's come to terms with her past, and she's so grateful for the role her friend Doug played in making that happen.

Now, looking back, I realize how fortunate I was to have run into him when I did run into him, and I wouldn't reflect on that if you hadn't asked me that, Francesca. So I appreciate you having me reflect on that, because I am extremely grateful that it was Doug that I ran into that night in Itaewon, and that it's brought us here. It's been incredible to have him in my life and supportive throughout these decades.

What I've tried to do with Linsay was show her that she matters even when she didn't think she did. because it's true. Well, Linsay's always there, and I know she's always going to be there.

I feel the same way about you, Doug.

Thanks.

'Thank you to Linsay DeBates and Doug Gist for sharing that chance encounter. This is Chance Encounters reported hosted and written by me, Francesca Street. Dan Bloom is our showrunner and co-writer. Sofía Sánchez and Kyra Dahring are the producers. Dan Dzula is technical director and Matt Dempsey is technical production manager. Haley Thomas is senior producer for development. Steve Lickteig is executive producer of CNN Audio. For more chance encounters, check out cnn.com/travel. CNN Travel's global editor is Barry Neild. Special thanks to producers Lori Galaretta, Felicia Patinkin, Graelyn Brashear, Grace Walker, and Jesse Remedios. Jamus Andrest created the artwork for this show. We had support from Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Joey Salvia, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Nichole Pesaru, Lisa Namerow, David Allan, and the team at CNN travel. Wendy Brundige is CNN Digital's SVP of Content Strategy. Chance Encounters is a CNN Audio production. Thank you for listening.