He arrived in Australia with no job, no backup plan, and noguarantee it would work.
But Francois Scheepers had already made the decision: “I’m going to make thiswork.”

In Episode 7 of A Stranger, A Suitcase & A Story,Francois Scheepers shares the raw, real journey of building a life from scratch in a place where no one knows you, and no one owes you anything.

He speaks openly about what it was like to arrive young,full of energy, but unsure of where (or how) he’d fit in. The accent gave him away. His directness rubbed some people the wrong way. And his confidence built in South Africa, had to be re-earned in a new context.

But through sport, service, and the hard work of self-reflection, Francois found belonging.

He learned that sometimes it’s not about having a perfectplan. It’s about staying open, showing up, and backing yourself when it mattersmost.

This episode is for anyone who’s had to start over beforethey felt ready, and chose growth anyway.

🎧 Episode 7 – No Plan B: Just Keep Going
Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and 3spod.com

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We packed up our lives into nine suitcases… and waited.And waited.
For four years, Kevin Horstmann and his family lived inlimbo, chasing a dream that seemed like it might never come.

Just when he was about to give up, something extraordinaryhappened.

In Episode 6 of A Stranger, a Suitcase and a Story,Kevin shares the deeply moving journey from uncertainty and heartbreak to finally feeling at home in Australia.

He talks about losing his father at five, living with hisgrandparents, forging his own path, and building a better life for his children, with honesty, humour, and incredible heart.

“This wasn’t my idea,” Donovan admits, yet the decision tomove across the world reshaped everything: his identity, his career, and hisfamily’s future.

This episode, on the podcast A Stranger, a suitcase and aStory, is about a man who didn’t plan tomigrate, but found something better than he imagined.

Donovan had built a life in South Africa: a career, a home,a community. Migration wasn’t his idea, it was his wife’s. But love, trust, and family meant stepping into the unknown, together.

What followed wasn’t easy. Uprooting. Rebuilding. Feelinglost in a place that was supposed to be a fresh start. But with time and a fewkey constants like family, faith, and even a familiar couch—Donovan found hisfooting.

And what started as resistance became resilience.

This is a story about letting go of certainty, leaning intochange, and discovering that starting over doesn’t mean losing yourself. It canmean finding more: more freedom, more safety, more space to breathe, and more moments that matter.

Most of all, Donovan reminds us:

Keep an open mind. Because sometimes, the life you didn’tplan becomes the one you were meant to live.

🎧 A Stranger, a Suitcase and a Story - Availablenow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
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