What if the thing you thought made you different… is the very thing that connects you to everyone else?

Anton and Ben did not set out to make a podcast. They started with a conversation. Two migrants comparing notes over a glass of wine, asking a simple question: “Why did no one tell us this before we came?” What followed became A Stranger, A Suitcase, and A Story.

Episode 19 is our Season One reflection where we look back on the stories, patterns, and moments that stayed with us, and on why this podcast exists in the first place. It’s about what we heard, what we learned, and why these conversations matter for anyone who’s ever packed a suitcase and started again.

Across the episodes of Season One, we listened to people who left for different reasons - safety, opportunity, adventure, conscience, family, but arrived carrying the same quiet questions. We heard stories of courage and hesitation, grief and rebuilding, ambition and belonging. Some guests left because things were broken. Others left because things were good, but they sensed another chapter waiting.

What emerged wasn’t a checklist for migration, but something more human. That the stranger feeling is normal. That the suitcase is heavier than it looks. That the story you bring with you does not disappear, it asks to be understood. And that belonging often arrives quietly: a neighbour, a colleague, a braai, a conversation where you finally exhale.

Season One is not about having the answers. It’s about recognising yourself in someone else’s journey and realising you’re not doing this alone.

If these stories helped even one person say: “It’s not just me”, then we have succeeded.

🎧 Listen to episode 19 of a Stranger, a Suitcase and A Story at https://3spod.com

Also on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

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