- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230214091239-chance-encounters-animation-card-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230214091239-chance-encounters-animation-card-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
Francesca Street
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-02-14T09:58:51Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/02/10/love-stories-traveling-chance-encounters-cprog-lon-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key="chance-encounters"
data-video-slug="love stories traveling chance encounters cprog lon orig"
data-first-publish-slug="love stories traveling chance encounters cprog lon orig"
data-video-tags="asia,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,california,continents and regions,ground transportation,himalayas,mountains (by name),nepal,north america,physical locations,private bus services,south asia,southwestern united states,the americas,transportation and warehousing,united states"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Meet the couples who fell in love while traveling
04:50
- Source:
CNN
Best of Travel
15 videos
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230214091239-chance-encounters-animation-card-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230214091239-chance-encounters-animation-card-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
Francesca Street
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-02-14T09:58:51Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/02/10/love-stories-traveling-chance-encounters-cprog-lon-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key="chance-encounters"
data-video-slug="love stories traveling chance encounters cprog lon orig"
data-first-publish-slug="love stories traveling chance encounters cprog lon orig"
data-video-tags="asia,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,california,continents and regions,ground transportation,himalayas,mountains (by name),nepal,north america,physical locations,private bus services,south asia,southwestern united states,the americas,transportation and warehousing,united states"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Meet the couples who fell in love while traveling
04:50
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230815135955-australian-surfers-found.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230815135955-australian-surfers-found.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-08-15T14:41:25Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/08/15/missing-australian-surfers-found-indonesia-lon-orig-cw.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="missing australian surfers found indonesia lon orig cw"
data-first-publish-slug="missing australian surfers found indonesia lon orig cw"
data-video-tags="asia,australia,brand safety-nsf crime,brand safety-nsf sensitive,continents and regions,crime, law enforcement and corrections,iab-crime,iab-extreme sports,iab-sports,iab-surfing and bodyboarding,indonesia,missing persons,oceania,southeast asia,sports and recreation,surfing,water sports"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
See the moment surfers are found after 38 hours lost at sea
00:43
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230814153143-rome-largo-argentina-julius-caesar-site.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230814153143-rome-largo-argentina-julius-caesar-site.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-08-15T02:50:33Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/08/15/rome-tourism-increase-julius-caesar-assassination-site-wedeman-pkg-nc-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="rome tourism increase julius caesar assassination site wedeman pkg nc vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="rome tourism increase julius caesar assassination site wedeman pkg nc vpx"
data-video-tags="argentina,assassinations,ben wedeman,brand safety-nsf health issues,brand safety-nsf sensitive,brand safety-nsf violence,brand safety-nsf war and military,continents and regions,coronavirus,diseases and disorders,domestic alerts,domestic-coronavirus,domestic-health and science,domestic-international news,europe,health and medical,iab-diseases and conditions,iab-infectious diseases,iab-lung and respiratory health,iab-medical health,iab-travel,iab-war and conflicts,infectious diseases,international alerts,international-coronavirus,international-health and science,italy,latin america,life forms,microscopic life,misc people,respiratory diseases,rome,south america,southern europe,the americas,tourism,travel and tourism,unrest, conflicts and war,viruses"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Why this assassination site has become a tourism hotspot in Rome
02:06
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230803100816-dangerous-airport-03.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230803100816-dangerous-airport-03.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-08-03T14:15:27Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/08/03/most-dangerous-airport-lukla-nepal-cprog-orig-fj.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="most dangerous airport lukla nepal cprog orig fj"
data-first-publish-slug="most dangerous airport lukla nepal cprog orig fj"
data-video-tags=""
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Pilot explains what it's like to fly into the world's 'most dangerous' airport
01:52
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230720135917-another-tourist-defaces-colosseum.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230720135917-another-tourist-defaces-colosseum.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-07-20T14:41:55Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/07/20/rome-colosseum-tourist-graffiti-contd-lon-orig-mg.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="rome colosseum tourist graffiti contd lon orig mg"
data-first-publish-slug="rome colosseum tourist graffiti contd lon orig mg"
data-video-tags="iab-travel,tourism,travel and tourism"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
See moment tour guide catches teenager defacing ancient landmark
00:46
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230706104654-nude-beach-thumb-3.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230706104654-nude-beach-thumb-3.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-07-07T13:12:29Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/07/06/nude-beach-etiquette-newbies-contd-ff-mc-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="nude beach etiquette newbies contd ff mc orig"
data-first-publish-slug="nude beach etiquette newbies contd ff mc orig"
data-video-tags="beaches,brand safety-nsf mature,brand safety-nsf sensitive,destinations and attractions,leisure and lifestyle,manners and etiquette,nudists and nudism,points of interest,society"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Nudist explains what you should definitely not do at a nude beach
02:23
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230621161801-cheap-flight-packing-hacks-01.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230621161801-cheap-flight-packing-hacks-01.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-06-22T11:18:07Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/06/21/cheap-flight-packing-hacks-cprog-bu-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="cheap flight packing hacks cprog bu orig"
data-first-publish-slug="cheap flight packing hacks cprog bu orig"
data-video-tags=""
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Woman attempts to get on plane with viral packing trick. See the result
01:44
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230705091855-05-msg-sphere-las-vegas.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230705091855-05-msg-sphere-las-vegas.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-07-06T14:32:16Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/07/06/msg-sphere-las-vegas-led-travel-contd-jo-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="msg sphere las vegas led travel contd jo orig"
data-first-publish-slug="msg sphere las vegas led travel contd jo orig"
data-video-tags="business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,chemical industry and chemicals,chemicals and environment,consumer electronics,consumer products,continents and regions,domestic alerts,domestic-business,domestic-health and science,electronics,environment and natural resources,food additives,food and drink,food products,iab-business and finance,iab-consumer electronics,iab-environment,iab-food & drink,iab-industries,iab-science,iab-technology & computing,iab-technology industry,international alerts,international-business,international-health and science,kinds of foods and beverages,las vegas,lead (metal and element),nevada,north america,southwestern united states,technology,televisions,the americas,toxic and hazardous substances,united states"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
It seats 18,000 and cost over $2B to build. See Vegas' new venue lighting up the skyline
00:54
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230126135125-seattle-hot-tub-boat-space-needle-amazon-starbucks-boeing-innovation-spc-00003801.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230126135125-seattle-hot-tub-boat-space-needle-amazon-starbucks-boeing-innovation-spc-00003801.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-26T20:02:32Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/26/seattle-hot-tub-boat-space-needle-amazon-starbucks-boeing-innovation-spc.cnn"
data-branding-key="quests-world-of-wonder"
data-video-slug="Seattle hot tub boat space needle amazon starbucks boeing innovation spc"
data-first-publish-slug="Seattle hot tub boat space needle amazon starbucks boeing innovation spc"
data-video-tags="celebrities,continents and regions,domestic alerts,domestic-entertainment,international alerts,international-entertainment,north america,northwestern united states,richard quest,seattle,the americas,united states,washington (state)"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
This city has given us things we now can't live without
05:22
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230216122754-first-footage-titanic-lon-orig-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230216122754-first-footage-titanic-lon-orig-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-02-16T13:23:55Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/02/16/first-footage-titanic-wreck-1986-cprog-lon-orig-na.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="first footage titanic wreck 1986 cprog lon orig na"
data-first-publish-slug="first footage titanic wreck 1986 cprog lon orig na"
data-video-tags=""
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Video: First footage of the Titanic wreck released
01:05
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230131164947-boeing-747-dv-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230131164947-boeing-747-dv-1.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-31T17:08:30Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/31/boeing-747-history-contd-mxb-lon-orig.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="Boeing 747 history contd mxb lon orig"
data-first-publish-slug="Boeing 747 history contd mxb lon orig"
data-video-tags="aircraft,aviation and aerospace industry,boeing co,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,companies,domestic alerts,domestic-health and science,iab-aviation industry,iab-business and finance,iab-industries,iab-science,iab-space and astronomy,international alerts,international-health and science,space and astronomy,space industry,spacecraft and satellites"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Boeing 747: How the 'Queen of the Skies' redefined the way we fly
02:52
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230130110529-algerian-store-tz.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230130110529-algerian-store-tz.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-30T12:46:56Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/30/algerian-coffee-stores-london-intl-giokos-cprog-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key="global-connections"
data-video-slug="algerian coffee stores london intl giokos cprog vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="algerian coffee stores london intl giokos cprog vpx"
data-video-tags="beverages,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,coffee,coffee and tea shops,consumer products,continents and regions,domestic alerts,domestic-international news,eleni giokos,england,europe,food and beverage industry,food and drink,iab-attractions,iab-bars & restaurants,iab-business and finance,iab-dining out,iab-food & drink,iab-food industry,iab-industries,iab-non-alcoholic beverages,kinds of foods and beverages,london,misc people,northern europe,restaurant and food service industry,restaurant industry,restaurants,united kingdom"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Why this London coffee shop attracts customers from around the world
02:58
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230116145202-yakutsk-russia-extreme-cold-lon-orig-na.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230116145202-yakutsk-russia-extreme-cold-lon-orig-na.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-16T15:24:04Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/16/yakutsk-russia-extreme-cold-contd-lon-orig-na.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="yakutsk russia extreme cold contd lon orig na"
data-first-publish-slug="yakutsk russia extreme cold contd lon orig na"
data-video-tags="companies,thomson reuters corp"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
See what life is like inside one of the world's coldest places
01:14
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230115180156-jfk-planes.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230115180156-jfk-planes.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=" Newsroom
"
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-15T23:49:01Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/15/jfk-airport-planes-close-call-schiavo-sot-vpx.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="jfk airport planes close call schiavo sot vpx"
data-first-publish-slug="jfk airport planes close call schiavo sot vpx"
data-video-tags="air transportation,aircraft,airports (by name),aviation and aerospace industry,business and industry sectors,business, economy and trade,commercial and general aviation aircraft,continents and regions,federal aviation administration,government organizations - us,iab-air travel,iab-aviation industry,iab-business and finance,iab-industries,iab-travel,iab-travel type,john f. kennedy international airport,misc people,new york (state),new york city,north america,northeastern united states,pamela brown,points of interest,the americas,transportation and warehousing,united states,us department of transportation,us federal departments and agencies"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
Radar animation shows near-miss between 2 passenger planes at JFK
01:45
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
- Source:
CNN
"
data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230112170541-video-thumbnail-ostrich-egg-israel.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230112170541-video-thumbnail-ostrich-egg-israel.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }"
data-vr-video="false"
data-show-html=""
data-byline-html="
"
data-check-event-based-preview=""
data-network-id=""
data-publish-date="2023-01-13T16:17:32Z"
data-video-section="travel"
data-canonical-url="https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/01/12/prehistoric-ostrich-eggs-israel-cprog-lon-orig-tp.cnn"
data-branding-key=""
data-video-slug="prehistoric ostrich eggs israel cprog lon orig tp"
data-first-publish-slug="prehistoric ostrich eggs israel cprog lon orig tp"
data-video-tags="accidents, disasters and safety,anthropology and archeology,brand safety-nsf accidents and disasters,brand safety-nsf sensitive,continents and regions,fires,humanities and social sciences,israel,middle east,middle east and north africa"
data-details="">
Video Ad Feedback
4,000-year-old eggs discovered near ancient fire pit
00:47
Now playing
- Source:
CNN
See More Videos
CNN
—
When Tiffany Woods met Bridgette, she was at a crossroads.
It was February 1987 and Tiffany was 23. She’d got married two years previously. Now her marriage was on the rocks and divorce seemed imminent. Tiffany was training to become a police officer, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Tiffany, who is trans, had also yet to come out. For much of her life up to that point, she had tried to quash her identity.
Tiffany wasn’t sure where she was heading next. For now, she was simply focused on lining up at Sacramento Bus Station to catch the Greyhound bus back home to San Francisco.
Travelers were starting to deposit their bags in the bus hold. Tiffany wasn’t paying attention, but then a young woman further up the line reached over to hand Tiffany a luggage tag.
“You’re going to need one of these to check your bag in,” said the stranger, smiling.
“Oh thanks,” said Tiffany, breaking out of her reverie.
Fateful meeting: Bridgette and Tiffany happened to be catching the same Greyhound bus from Sacramento to San Francisco in February 1987. This chance meeting was the beginning of a 35-years-and-counting romance. Here's the couple on California's Pacifica Pier in 2021.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Instant connection: Tiffany and Bridgette met while waiting in line for the bus, then they sat next to each other on board. Tiffany tells CNN Travel the interaction was one of "those conversations where you meet a stranger and you spend several hours with the stranger as if you've known them your whole life -- and you also assume you're never going to see them again, so your defenses are down." Tiffany took this photo of a Greyhound bus at Sacramento Bus Station in 2010.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Wedding day: Tiffany and Bridgette got married on December 28, 1996. The couple say it was a spontaneous and special day.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Growing up together: Tiffany and Bridgette have a loving and supportive relationship. Here they are on Tiffany's 50th birthday.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Family photo: Tiffany and Bridgette have three kids. Here's the family photographed in 2008.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Making a difference: Tiffany and Bridgette say they're focused on trying to make a difference in the world, and they're raising their children, who are now teenagers, to do the same.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
"Things happen for a reason:" Reflecting on their chance meeting three decades later, Tiffany says: "I think we all meet each other for a reason, things happen for a reason."
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Photos: They fell in love on a Greyhound Bus 35 years ago
Prev
Next
The woman with the extra luggage tag was Bridgette. Then 18, she was living and working in San Francisco, and on her way back there after a weekend visiting her parents in Sacramento.
Bridgette and Tiffany started chatting – first about the luggage tags, then about the journey ahead.
The person in between them, sensing this conversation wasn’t going to come to an end anytime soon, asked if they’d like to switch places so they could stand together. Why not, figured Tiffany and Bridgette, and they switched.
“We were just talking back and forth. And we were waiting for a long time in that line,” Bridgette, who has asked only to be referred to by her first name for personal reasons, tells CNN Travel.
Tiffany and Bridgette met at a Greyhound bus station in Sacramento.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
The two were enjoying each other’s company. When they eventually boarded the bus, sitting together seemed the obvious next step.
Journeying from Sacramento to San Francisco by car usually takes around an hour and a half. But with the Greyhound’s multiple stops, and the inevitable traffic, the bus was on the road for several hours.
Tiffany and Bridgette talked the whole way.
Tiffany describes the interaction as one of “those conversations where you meet a stranger and you spend several hours with the stranger as if you’ve known them your whole life – and you also assume you’re never going to see them again, so your defenses are down.”
The two talked about everything, but also kept some things private. Tiffany didn’t mention she was still married. Bridgette added a few years to her age, telling Tiffany she was 21.
A couple of hours into the journey, a woman sat across from the pair, charmed by their obvious connection, cut in with a question:
Not long after their first meeting, Tiffany and Bridgette were inseparable.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
“How long have you two been together?” she asked.
Tiffany and Bridgette turned to one another and laughed. Then Tiffany turned back to the woman, and told her they’d been together since kindergarten. Without skipping a beat, Bridgette named the fictitious teacher who’d taught the imaginary class where they’d supposedly met.
“We just started playing off each other like we had been together since kindergarten,” recalls Tiffany. “I guess we just had that chemistry.”
The bus eventually pulled into the steel surrounds of the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, where a friend of Tiffany’s was waiting to pick her up.
Bridgette had been planning to catch the Bay Area Rapid Transit train to her aunt’s house, where she was living at the time.
The bus’s late arrival meant she’d missed the last train, so Tiffany offered Bridgette a ride home.
En route they detoured to a pizza restaurant, then a bar and exchanged phone numbers. When Tiffany eventually dropped Bridgette home, she kissed her goodnight.
“That was very sweet,” recalls Bridgette. “And the rest is history, as they say.”
They met on top of the Empire State Building and knew it was love
Openness and communication
Bridgette and Tiffany both had vague plans to travel back to Sacramento the following weekend. Sometime during the week, they connected on the phone and arranged to travel there together.
Bridgette planned to stay with her parents for the weekend, so she suggested Tiffany could crash there too. Tiffany agreed, and so less than a week after they’d met waiting for the bus, Tiffany was introduced to Bridgette’s parents.
“I spent the weekend with her. We went to her parents’ home then to her sister’s high school play. She introduced me to her friends afterwards,” recalls Tiffany.
Since that weekend, she adds “we’ve never not been together.”
That Friday evening, the two were curled up on the couch in Bridgette’s parents living room. It was 3 a.m., and everyone else was asleep. They’d been drinking champagne. The fire was crackling in the fireplace.
“She was stroking my hair and she’s like ‘Oh, what’s your favorite color?’” recalls Tiffany. “And I said: ‘Purple.’”
That was an unconventional choice for a cis, heterosexual man in 1987, suggests Tiffany. By telling Bridgette this fact about herself, she was hoping to incite a deeper conversation.
“I think I have gender issues,” she said.
The next morning, feeling slightly hungover, Tiffany panicked, and tried to backtrack on what she’d said.
“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out. You’re fine. You’re okay. You’re perfect the way you are. We’ll figure it out together,” was Bridgette’s response.
“Nobody had ever said that to me before,” recalls Tiffany today.
It was everything she’d ever hoped for.
“Because there wasn’t any expectation of the relationship or anything, there was such an openness, there weren’t any consequences – there was just a complete trust of whatever the natural understanding of each other was. And as that relationship grew, that just stayed there,” says Bridgette.
“We clearly always had, I think, the soul mate connection,” says Tiffany.
Three women, one airplane journey, and an unexpected friendship
Growing together
Tiffany and Bridgette now have three teenage children.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
As February slipped into March, Bridgette and Tiffany continued to get to know one another. Their relationship was deepening, but Tiffany wasn’t sure how to bring up the fact that she was still married.
She hadn’t mentioned it right away, and now it had become a secret.
Eventually, Bridgette found out. It was fraught.
“I was very angry,” says Bridgette. It took a while to work through. She says today that this memory “is one of the little scars.”
“I took complete ownership of it,” says Tiffany.
Tiffany and her ex-wife, who were already separated, got a divorce. By September 1987, Tiffany and Bridgette had moved into a small apartment in San Francisco.
The two started building a life together, working through what they wanted from their careers, families and for themselves.
Becoming a cop, Tiffany had decided, was not for her.
“I was going to be a police officer, because I couldn’t ever see a path of transition,” she recalls. “And so that’s what we did as trans folks in the 70s, 80s, 60s, we kind of went into hyper masculine professions.”
But the unconditional, supportive relationship she had with Bridgette allowed her to reevaluate. Together, Tiffany and Bridgette started looking into how Tiffany could be herself.
“If you don’t figure out your gender identity and your issues in a healthy way and start to build a healthy foundation, then it’s always going to be a struggle,” says Tiffany now.
In the late 1980s, there was no internet to turn to. There was also a lack of trans representation in the media or public eye.
“It was so different, there wasn’t resources, there was so much stigma, there still is now,” says Tiffany. “I mean, now we’ve come a long way – we’re still having obviously backlash of the trans visibility – but at that point, I was just trying to figure out if this was even a reality.”
But as the new decade drew in, the two found a new sense of belonging as they immersed themselves in San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community.
“We just found a lot of kindred spirits and a place and belonging and a purpose,” says Tiffany.
It was a turning point, but the impact of the AIDS epidemic on their community, as well as the “double life” that Tiffany, who hadn’t come out to her family, says she was living at the time, was tough.
When she decided to fully transition, Tiffany stopped talking to her family altogether.
“Fear is a huge barrier,” she says. “I was afraid of rejection. So I rejected them first, because then I could control the rejection. But I also, I didn’t give them the opportunity to affirm me or support. That’s the flip side of that.”
Two strangers meet on an airplane. Four years later they fall in love
A spontaneous wedding
The couple married in December 1996.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Bridgette had always wanted to get married. Tiffany had been less sure – she’d already been married and it had ended badly.
But by 1996, the two were in agreement that it was the right thing for them both.
Backed by the enthusiasm of their gay friends, who were unable to marry at that time and told Bridgette and Tiffany they should “get married for us,” the two tied the knot on December 28, 1996.
Tiffany and Bridgette weren’t sure how the minister would react if they both dressed in a traditionally feminine way, so Tiffany wore a men’s tuxedo with soft make-up and a ponytail.
But afterward, the couple’s housemates, who were drag queens and experts in styling, helped Tiffany get ready for the evening celebrations. Then the newlyweds went out for food and cake with their close friends.
She flew from Australia to England for a first date
A few years later, with the dawn of the new millennium, Tiffany and Bridgette decided to have children.
Bridgette had always wanted kids, but Tiffany had taken longer to come to that decision.
“I figured the kids would reject me, because I didn’t know how to have those conversations – you know, at that time, there wasn’t a lot of trans parents,” she says.
The two decided the first step was to rebuild the relationship with Tiffany’s family.
“We wanted to change the narrative and create a new path that’s healthy for our family – also, knowing that we needed the support of our families, navigating a world as a trans woman and perceived as a lesbian couple,” says Tiffany.
After the years of silence, there was some hurt there, but Tiffany’s family were excited to support Tiffany and Bridgette through parenthood. The old wounds gradually healed.
Today, Bridgette and Tiffany have three teenage children.
Tiffany’s fears of rejection from their kids proved unfounded, as Bridgette always said they would be. They give her, Tiffany says, “nothing but unconditional love.”
Their flights were canceled and they spent 24 hours falling in love
‘Things happen for a reason’
The couple say they are proud of where they are today.
Courtesy of Tiffany Woods
Today, Tiffany and Bridgette say they’re focused on doing their best to make a difference in the world and raising their children to do the same.
Bridgette has her own company, while Tiffany works for the California Department of Public Health as the state’s transgender health specialist.
Tiffany is also on the executive board for the California Democratic Party, and is the LGBTQ Caucus co-chair.
Today, whenever they see a Greyhound bus on the road, the two think of their serendipitous meeting. They’ve not been on a Greyhound together since, but they enjoy road trips together from time to time.
Tiffany and Bridgette say they’re both proud of where they are today, and how they’ve grown together over their 35 year relationship.
“Anything is possible, you just have to believe you can make things work,” says Bridgette.
“Don’t be afraid to take chances,” agrees Tiffany. “I think we all meet each other for a reason, things happen for a reason. And we may not understand what the reason is, but be open to them. And don’t let fear hold you back.”