romantic travel stories

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

If you’re in the mood for romance, or just love a good anecdote, these inspiring travel love stories from the road will have you captivated.

As in, booking a flight in search of your very own  Eat, Pray, Love  story.

Just to fill you in on how this project came to light:

A few months back I sent out an email to my community sharing my personal tips for balancing my relationship in NYC with my trips. The response was incredible, as people wrote me back sharing their own advice and romantic accounts.

With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of romantic stories from other nomads. To do this, I reached out to some of my favorite bloggers to roundup a selection of incredible narratives, from passionate trip flings to underwater engagements to Couchsurfing marriages and beyond.

Honestly, this was a really fun post to read and edit! I think you’ll agree.

After reading the following 38 love and travel stories, let me know in the comments if you’ve got one of your own to add.

And if you’re not sure where to go on your next trip, this free 10-question travel personality quiz can help you discover unique places tailored to your interests!

Psst, don’t forget to pin this post for later!

Table of Contents

Come Travel #BeyondTheGuidebook

Before we dive into this incredible list of romantic stories from the road, I want to invite you to join my inner travel circle via my #BeyondTheGuidebook Newsletter .

It gets sent out once per month and features quirky travel news, inspiring adventures, conscious travel brands, and tons of fun content for curious nomads.

Once you sign up, reply to the welcome email and let me know where you’re heading to next or where you’d like to go. I always love connecting with people in my community.

On that note, let’s dive into the love and travel stories!

1. Love, travel and overcoming long-distance

“Long-distance relationships are not easy. After cutting ties with my crazy ex who stalked me from overseas, I tried my best to stay away from long-distance relationships.

But they say love will find you when you least expect it. Never would I have thought I’d meet the love of my life shortly after moving back to my home country, Taiwan .

It all started in the summer of 2011. A Canadian friend with whom I went to school in Vancouver paid me a visit in Taipei. She brought along her fellow classmates who came for a summer exchange. Among them was my now-husband, Kev.

No, we didn’t hit it off right away.

Actually, it was quite the contrary. I had no impression of him whatsoever; he just wasn’t my type. The turning point actually happened when his friend misdialed my number and invited me out — I guess to make up for the fact that he mistook me for someone else.

It was at that second meetup that his personality really shined through – I had never met a guy who was so witty and caring!

Because he doesn’t speak Mandarin, I volunteered to be his tour guide. We went out several times during his time in Taiwan. From the trendy XiMenDing district to the old town of Jiufen, we explored many parts of the country and made new memories together.

One month had passed and it was time to say goodbye. As much as I despised long distance, I was reluctant to end the friendship there and then.

‘Maybe this time will be different,’ I thought to myself. After all, this is a different person.

So, I decided to give it a shot and made our relationship official on the day he left.

Two years of long-distance.

10,080 km apart.

For 730 days, we fought through 15 hours of time zone difference – thank goodness for modern technology!

Yet the feeling of loneliness was inevitable.

In 2013, I made the bold move to relocate to Calgary, Canada – a city I had never visited before.

Despite having to deal with some serious culture shock, I am glad we could finally put an end to our long-distance relationship.”

-Cat from For Two, Please  

2. A romantic date via Instagram

“While in Thailand, a trip to the 7-Eleven is a must, am I right? I was entering a 7-Eleven in Koh Lanta when I saw this handsome guy looking at me.

‘He must think I’m cute.’

Yes, he was actually staring at me. He paid for his yogurt, gave me another look and, just before he drove off, he looked at me one more time. I was hoping he would say hi, but he didn’t.

Later that day, I got a reply to my Instagram story. Being a blogger , I try to share some travel experience stories on Instagram when I can.

It was a message from him saying, ‘Haha, I thought you looked familiar today at the 7-Eleven. Up for coconuts at the beach?’

He knew my blog.

In fact, he had known A Broken Backpack for several years. We found out later that he even invited me for a coffee when I was in Prague a couple of years back. He had left a comment on a photo where I was announcing I was going to Prague next.

I had declined his invite publicly on Instagram.

In February, we are going to celebrate our first year together. We’ve traveled to several countries since we met. We are both full-travelers and we both work online so the transition was smooth.”

-Melissa from A Broken Backpack

3. Overcoming language barriers

“In 2017 I was staying in a small town on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. On my last night there, right before I was scheduled to catch a bus down south, I met a very beautiful local girl.

The irony is that she only spoke Spanish and my Spanish skills were limited at best.

On the night we met, I said that I wasn’t fluent and that she would have to excuse my numerous mistakes. She laughed and didn’t seem to mind at all. We had a lovely evening together but I had to leave the next morning. Like, for good.

We ended up saying goodbye after having met only a few hours beforehand and it was a rather sad ordeal. I was really beating myself up over the circumstances.

Two days later, once I finally arrived and settled into my new destination, I decided to blow off all of my prearranged plans just to go back to that same town and spend more time with her.

Over the course of the next day, I canceled a tour, got a refund on my hostel, booked a new shuttle, and turned right back around for the five-hour return journey. I had been away for about 72 hours by the time my shuttle dropped me off in this town for the second time.

At that point, I had four full days left before flying back to the United States. As you might imagine, I spent almost every waking moment with my new friend.

I took her on a sunset sail tour and she drove me around on her motorcycle. On our last day together, we visited a nearby beach and spent the entire day lounging under the sun and drinking cheap Costa Rican beer while howler monkeys moved along the trees above us.

Although our travel romance only lasted for a few days, it was an extraordinary experience and I’m very lucky to have met her.”

-Michael from Passport Explored

4. Nurturing a relationship in South Korea

“Sitting at a bar rolling silverware at the end of my shift, a shy yet cute guy came up to me and asked to buy me a drink.

A couple of weeks later we started dating and Carl almost immediately asked me to move to South Korea with him. I barely knew the guy, so I told him no and broke up with him.

Carl showed up at my apartment and told me he’d rather have me than Korea and asked if we could try again. While I was hesitant, I said yes and we continued dating; however, six months later I was tired of living in our hometown in West Virginia — so we packed up our bags and booked tickets to South Korea!

We lived in Korea for five years together in one-room apartments and often sleeping on a twin bed. Learning to navigate life in a new country is hard enough, but our relationship wasn’t even a year old when we packed our bags.

In Korea, we started documenting our lives and fell into a community of bloggers and the rest is history!

Korea taught us how wide the world is and my life wouldn’t be the same if Carl hadn’t been bold enough to ask me to move with him.

Ten years after a boy asked me to move to Korea we have a two-year-old and blog about our new home state of North Carolina full-time!”

-Christina from NC Tripping

5. Meeting my soulmate in a hostel in Edinburgh

“When I went backpacking in Europe back in 2011, I expected to meet a handsome foreigner and have a whirlwind romance. Instead, I met a sweet southern US boy who swept me off my feet and became my soulmate.

My husband and I first met in a hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland. We had both chosen the same one because:

A) it was the cheapest one in town, and

B) it was housed in an old church which we both thought was very cool.

We happened to be put in the same dorm room. We had an instant connection and spent a few days exploring Edinburgh together, enjoying whisky, joining in the hostel pub crawl, and so on. It was amazing.

We kept in touch after that — thank you, Facebook — and eventually met up in London.

Eight years and a lot of countries later, we’re married, running a couples’ travel and relationships blog together, and happy as can be.

We’re forever grateful for that fateful meeting in Edinburgh.”

-Amy from Two Drifters

6. Getting to know each other from a distance

“For the longest time, I thought long-distance relationships were impossible. I mean, how can you really get to know someone when you’re not living anywhere near each other?

But that all changed when I met Andy.

It was 2010, and I was living in Atlanta. I tweeted about having trouble setting up the hosting for my website, and Andy, who was living in Freiburg, Germany at the time, saw my tweet and responded with an offer to help.

Despite the six-hour time difference, he stayed up late to wait for me to get home from work, and he helped me with my blog.

It could’ve ended there, but I was intrigued by him. I started reading his blog and emailing him questions about his move from the US to Germany.

Eventually, we started talking on Skype more and more, and it didn’t take long before we started falling in love with each other from 4,000 miles away.

After four months of getting to know each other through Skype and emails, we finally met in person in Prague — a trip I had already booked before we even knew each other. Being with him there felt so natural, and it cleared up the tiny amount of hesitation still lingering in my mind about being in a long-distance relationship.

Over the next few months, I flew to Germany a few times to see him and see where he lived. Then in June 2011, we got married  outside of Atlanta, less than a year after that initial tweet, and a month later, I moved to Germany.

Now we live in Berlin, and we travel quite often. And taking a chance on a long-distance relationship was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Getting to know each other from a distance like that meant we had tons of time where all we could do was talk. If anything, our relationship went at warp speed because we spent hours talking, whereas in a normal dating situation we’d be sitting in silence at a movie theater.

So even though the majority of our relationship was spent on opposite sides of the Atlantic, it was absolutely the right thing for us, and I love him more today than I did the day we got married.”

-Ali from Ali’s Adventures

7. Enjoying a travel fling in Europe

“I absolutely love tour groups because they are the perfect way to meet new people.

The excitement of a fling while traveling is similar to the concept of summer love. It is fast, exhilarating, passionate, and because you know it is eventually going to come to an end there is no reason to hold back.

When experiencing a traveling fling, carpe diem — or seize the day — is key.

This past summer, I went on a 16-day tour from Rome to Lisbon. I was 25 at the time and living in the United States when I met this incredible Australian guy on my tour.

We hit it off right away and would spend hours talking with one another while traveling through the Mediterranean countryside. About halfway through the trip, in Barcelona, we realized that our friendship had developed into something more and wanted to continue traveling together.

We both pushed our flights back to continue our travels and spend more time with each other. We traveled to the beaches of Cascais, explored the gardens of Sintra and danced multiple nights away together in London.

As solo travelers, it was delightful to enjoy this beautiful world with each other and we still talk frequently!”

-Jill from Robe Trotting

8. Traveling with the one you love

“On a trip to Europe with a friend, we were invited to join a table of German guys for a drink. I hit it off with one of them after being intrigued by the tattoo of Argentina on his ankle and we talked about travel, culture and languages between tequila shots and German bars.

The next morning I left on a train to Switzerland and we vowed to keep in touch. Which we did on and off for the next few months when he asked if he could come and visit my new home in Italy. We hired a car and spent a week road tripping Italy and in the end, made our relationship official.

After six months of long-distance, I made the commitment to move to Frankfurt on the condition that we go traveling as soon as he finished his studies.

Two years later we embarked on a 20-month backpacking adventure, which involved a road trip through Eastern Europe, a month Couchsurfing Iran, attending the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan, five months in India and Nepal, a couple of trips back to Germany and finally ended in my home of New Zealand.

We’re currently building our own tiny house on a trailer and planning our next travel adventure!”

-Rohan from Travels of a Bookpacker

9. A Southeast Asia love story

“I left everything behind in Canada to go to Australia solo for a year, ended up meeting my partner — he’s from New Zealand but was living in London at the time and was home visiting family when we met — and he moved back to Australia and we stayed in Australia for five years together!

We then moved to Bali together to start a new adventure, and have been based in Bali for two years with our rescue dog (our baby) Suka. Right now, we’re enjoying slow travel in southeast Asia together.

We are now engaged and planning our Bali wedding for early 2021.

Next stop for us will be to move to Spain for a few years to enjoy the slow travel life in Europe with our little Bali rescue dog!”

-Tia from The Caffeinated Expat

10. Unexpected romance in Cuba

“We didn’t intend to fall in love in Cuba. In fact, we hardly intended to say hello to each other.

We were there on a brief mission trip to host a sports camp for local area youth. Our focus was on the kids and the joy that we could bring them. Yet it seemed like at every meal as we sauntered in to eat, the last two places at the table were always next to each other.

Then there were the times when we were free to wander the streets and we kept running into each other taking pictures of the colorful doors and beautiful people.

It didn’t take long for me to ask her out.

On the last night in Cuba, while the rest of our team headed off for an early bedtime, I asked her to the rooftop bar overlooking Santiago and we shared mojitos together. There was something there. I could feel it. And I sensed this was just the beginning.

The next nine months passed like a blur as we courted, were engaged and then married on New Year’s Eve. We had met in the midst of a traveling adventure, so it would only be fitting that we marry on one, too.

The small island of Utila, 18 miles off the coast of Honduras, had a special place in my heart. And as my bride-to-be knew of this endearing place, she chose it as the place to exchange our vows.

Despite the late-afternoon rain, our pastor forgetting his notes and strangers who wandered into our wedding ceremony — because it happened to be at a seaside bar with the best view of the sunset — we were married as the sun sank into the Caribbean Sea.

The next morning we celebrated our marriage with a dive.

We now live full-time on the road, having just celebrated our sixth year of marriage. What began on the road now continues, for as long as the road will stretch before us.

-Chris and Lindsay from Called to Wander

11. Bonding through travel and photography

“Our love story began at a busy bar in Melbourne on a Monday night in 2016 — perks of being a traveler, Monday night parties!

Yet, it wasn’t until six months later that we started dating.

When we first met, it didn’t take long to realize we liked each other; however, Adam was traveling onwards to travel solo in New Zealand soon after and I was planning to stay in Melbourne. These were plans neither of us was willing to change.

Both Adam (from Oregon, US) and I (from London, UK) had been traveling solo for several years and loved the freedom that came with it, something we were both reluctant to give up.

But fate brought us back together; six months later we both found ourselves in Cairns, Australia, and arranged to meet immediately. We knew instantly that the connection we’d had was still there.

While we had loved traveling independently, we knew these feelings were something we didn’t want to give up. As our visas both reached their expiration in Australia at the same time, we realized we wanted to try this crazy travel life together.

We packed our bags and set off from Cairns to Bali together. We bonded through our passion for photography and love of travel. As we continued on from Bali to Singapore then to England and the USA — where we met each other’s families — we fell in love with each other.

Since then, we’ve traveled to around 15 countries together and across four continents.

Neither of us had expected to fall in love on the road, but that’s exactly what happened.

Without traveling, we would never have met each other or have developed the passion for photography which helped us bond at the beginning.

It hasn’t been without its difficulties, as with all relationships, but having similar interests has meant we’ve rarely had to compromise. Now, we couldn’t imagine traveling any other way.”

-Sophie from We Dream of Travel

12. I fell in love with a stranger through Couchsurfing

“Love crazy short stories ? I met my now ex-boyfriend on the second day I’d been in Santiago, Chile. He was a local, and, thanks to a mutual friend who had stayed at his place a few years previously, was letting me CouchSurf in his spare bedroom for the weekend.

I only stayed there for two days, but we immediately clicked.

It’s quite impressive to find yourself not running out of conversation with someone new — particularly when you’re speaking in a second language that you only have a cursory grasp of.

After that weekend, I headed down into Patagonia for a month, but we stayed in touch and he promised me there would always be space in his spare room if I needed it.

I passed through again on my way out of the country and what was meant to be a week-long stay evolved into a three-year relationship with both him and a country I now see as my second home.

Because of him, I became fluent in Spanish and was even commissioned to write the new Moon Chile guidebook, thanks to my knowledge of the country.

While we eventually broke up amicably — having learned that we didn’t want the same things in life — everything about my life changed because of that decision to take a chance on Couchsurfing with a stranger.”

-Steph from Worldly Adventurer

13. Meeting through Instagram

“Our love story is a bit of a modern one as we actually met via Instagram! I was drone- and travel-obsessed and Boyan ( @boyanoo ) is the best drone photographer from the Netherlands.

I saw his Instagram and was immediately in awe of his drone photos.

Fast forward and he was coming to London, so he sent me a message to see if I could show him around. I had never even seen his face at this point and had no intentions at all!

I had already booked a trip to Amsterdam not long after this and this is when we had our first date, as the London meeting had gone so well we spent the whole week together.

On our first date, we sat in a restaurant for hours while it poured with rain outside. After this, he asked me whether I’d like to travel around England with him in December. I hate the cold, and despite this, I had such a good time.

I knew he was special.

By March, we had both quit our jobs to travel full-time. Being a full-time nurse and Boyan’s video jobs abroad, it was hard to see each other and I had already started blogging part-time.

We now run the travel blog together, as well as a business doing videography and photography for worldwide clients.

We have escaped the European winter for Bali this year, which has been a dream of mine my whole life. It was amazing to finally find someone with as much energy and passion for travel as I do.

With our two suitcases, we now travel from place to place and every now and then pop back to see our families.

Since we met a year ago we have traveled to over 20 countries in Europe and Asia. He even convinced me to go to the Faroe Islands!

For someone who considers themselves solar-powered, a week in the Faroe Islands with nothing but rain and still enjoying myself says it all!”

-Hanna from SolarPoweredBlonde

14. Falling in love in Cuba

“Cuba will always have a special place in my heart. I don’t know if it’s because it was the first vacation I took sans parents, if it was the amazing weather and beaches, or (most likely) because it was where I had my first vacation love. Maybe a combination of them all!

When I arrived in Cuba, I didn’t expect to find love, but it happened.

I was on the beach when two gorgeous men walked by and started talking to my sister and me. Well, they tried to talk to us because they had very limited English and we didn’t speak much Spanish.

I really hit it off with one of the men. The language barrier wasn’t enough to stop us from hanging out together and we spent the rest of the day getting to know each other with my broken Spanish and his broken English. It was the first time I really realized that you don’t need to speak the same language to communicate with someone, and that body language is more than enough.

We spent the rest of our short five days on vacation together, exploring places in Varadero we would have never gone to without a local guide. It remains one of the best vacations I ever went on.

We exchanged emails, but our relationship eventually fizzled out. It was fun while it lasted and I’ll never forget him either.”

-Naomi from Eat Love Explore

15. Becoming digital nomads together

“When Couchsurfing just outside of Gibraltar in September 2015, I looked in a digital nomad Facebook group for my next host in Tarifa, Spain.

A German guy named Jonas answered my request for a piece of floor to sleep on for one night in a matter of minutes. I hitchhiked to Tarifa and met Jonas.

We fell pretty hard for each other over a game of durak and sharing our travel lore. I ended up staying with him in Tarifa for two weeks. After that, I hitchhiked to Portugal alone — but we kept in touch.

A week or two later, he decided to travel to Lisbon to meet me. As scary as that was, that’s where we admitted our feelings and decided to try to be together.

Two days later I was on a plane to Berlin with him and one month later we were in Gran Canaria waiting for our repositioning cruise to take us to Brazil. Essentially, we directly moved in with each other via our full-time traveling lives.

That was a whirlwind time.

I taught Jonas how to hitchhike, and he taught me how to become a digital nomad .

We started Digital Nomads Guides together and hitchhiked around South America — sometimes together, sometimes apart; I was too stubborn to get on a bus or plane, and Jonas didn’t always want to hitchhike. We never wanted to stop each other from realizing our own goals and dreams.

In 2017 after kayaking on lake Guatapé in Colombia, I shared my big dream:

To kayak down the entire Danube River in Europe.

Jonas happened to have a similar dream:

To do a long-distance kayak trip.

We would do it after I got out of student debt in 2019. We decided to paddle from the source in Donaueschingen to Budapest in 2019 and finish the other half to the Black Sea in 2021, spending the intermezzo in Asia, where we are now.

For four-and-a-half months, from spring till autumn, we were happily stuck together on the Danube River in an inflatable canoe named Zucchini .

Kayaking together and working on moving us downstream was really challenging, but something that brought us together even closer. The trip went so well that we continued paddling beyond Budapest and paddled 1,253 kilometers (779 miles) in total.

I’m thrilled to share more dreams and journeys with Jonas. Together we can do great things.”

-Iris from Mind of a Hitchhiker

16. From Jerusalem to Vietnam

“It was December 2016 in the Old City of Jerusalem. I’d just gotten back from my trip to Bethlehem, which I was evaluating as part of my job in the hostel I was working at.

I was sitting at the tour desk when a guy walked up and asked about the Bethlehem tour. I’d just had such a great time on the tour myself, so I confidently took over and told about my experience.

This guy was very engaging and I could see he was interested in booking the tour. After 30 minutes of him asking questions, which I eagerly answered, he simply gave a cold ‘I don’t think I’ll do the tour.’

As you can imagine, I was not happy. But I managed to tell him it was no problem, and that if he changed his mind the tour desk would be there.

From then on, this guy would come over to say hello or have a drink in the common area with me for a few minutes. We weren’t really hanging out but we would often greet each other around the hostel and in the bar area.

About two weeks later, he told me that he was leaving Israel to continue his trip towards Turkey. Since that day we would message each other to keep in touch once in a while. I even told him my next travel plans for June.

One day he told me that he’d like to meet me in Malaysia. I didn’t believe him but he showed up — flying all the way from Lithuania.

We then traveled for about a month through Thailand, parting ways in Chiang Mai about two weeks later.

Then I went to Cambodia, and a few weeks later he flew from China to meet me there.

After ten days, he left for China again as he was trying to see if he could make it his new temporary home.

A month after we parted ways, I was in Vietnam building my own new home base and, you guessed it, he flew to Vietnam to meet me.

That was September 2017. Two and a half years later, we’ve been to four continents and fifteen countries together. We are still traveling the world and working on our individual dreams together. “

-Mary from A Mary Road

17. A romantic story that began on a mountaintop 

“My partner and I met on top of a mountain in the Austrian Alps almost ten years ago. We were both snowboarding in Mayrhofen during the end of season festival called Snowbombing, which is a huge party.

We bumped into each other in an apres-ski bar and our groups ended up snowboarding — and drinking — together for the remainder of the festival week.

Hailing from Australia, when I first heard his accent I was hopeful for just a holiday romance, but then it transpired. He lived in London too, having moved there a few years earlier.

So after the trip, we met up and the rest is history.

Except not quite.

After 18 months together in London we decided to go traveling and become nomadic in the process. My partner already had a location-independent business but I started freelance writing work and also growing my travel blog .

During our two years traveling we spent a summer in Amsterdam house-sitting because it seemed like a fun place to live, with good Internet for our work, lots for me to blog about, and the chance to just stay put for a little while.

That summer changed our lives as we fell in love with the city and the way of life there.

We returned to Amsterdam a year later after more nomadic travel, putting down some roots in the form of signing a six-month rental lease for an apartment, which seemed forever at the time after staying in places only a few weeks or months.

Fast forward six years and we are still living in Amsterdam in a house we own and with our two young boys living there, too!

Having kids has absolutely changed how we travel — we definitely prefer to have a home base and long-term travel just doesn’t suit us — but we still enjoy discovering new places together. It’s just more likely that we go on a luxury family vacation .

Of course, we still make time for snowboarding trips in Austria — that’s where it all began — but we also really enjoy exploring the country we now feel so lucky to live in, the Netherlands.”

-Frankie from As the Bird Flies

18. A holiday romance in Uganda

“When I arrived in Kampala, Uganda, for a four-month volunteering stint in 2018, I was definitely not looking for love. I was, however, keen to make friends, and I thought one good way to meet people would be to go on Tinder.

Since I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, it didn’t really matter if I fancied the guys; they just needed to look fun to hang out with.

So when I spotted James (not his real name), it didn’t matter that he wasn’t my type. He was the same age as me and said he was also new in town. Maybe we could check out some of the amazing things to do in Uganda together !

On a Friday we met after work for a drink. He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, smiled a dazzling smile, and BAM ! I was smitten.

That one drink turned into drinks, dinner, and dancing until late. The next day we met for lunch…

…and I didn’t go home until the end of the weekend.

We were both infatuated. We exchanged dozens of WhatsApp messages a day, both incredulous at our luck to have found each other so soon after arriving in a new country.

We made plans to go away the following weekend and spent an idyllic two days in Entebbe on the shores of Lake Victoria.

I’m a travel blogger and photographer, and James took to the role of Instagram husband like a duck to water, grabbing my camera to fire off shots at every opportunity (the photo attached is by him).

We started to talk about me extending my stay in Uganda. He invited me to visit his home country, South Africa . He sent a photo of us to his mum.

But like most whirlwind romances that start with fireworks, the spark burned bright but it also burned fast. James started to feel crowded:

It was too intense, he was a free spirit, he didn’t really want a relationship. When he finally ended things I was devastated.

It made the rest of my trip rather difficult. Kampala is a very small ex-pat community, everyone hangs out in the same few bars and restaurants, and by now we were firmly in the same friendship group.

Everywhere I went, there he was, flirting with other girls. Our group had even planned another weekend away, and since I was determined not to let this breakup limit my chances to explore the country, I went anyway, even though he would be there too.

I spent most of the trip trying not to cry.

I did have a wonderful time in Uganda and love the country, but I’m more cautious now. Something like that can really color your experience, and I wouldn’t want it to happen again.

That said, I’m passionate about travel, and am still hoping to meet someone like-minded on another trip.

Maybe next time I’ll be luckier.”

-Bella from Passport & Pixels

19. Love at first sight in South Korea

“When I took up a teaching job back in 2009, I never would have guessed that I would fall in love and find my wife. In 2009 I left my home in South Africa to embark on a three-year journey to Seoul, South Korea .

The reason for going was to get my second degree through correspondence and I needed money to support myself. South Korea beat my original choice of Japan due to many factors, but the biggest factor was that it paid more.

I had never been to Asia before and had no idea what to expect.

Six months into my stay in 2010 I went out with a friend on my birthday. She invited a mutual friend and when she walked into the room, time stopped and all went in slow motion, just like a cheesy RomCom. But for real.

Over the course of several years, our relationship grew from a spark to a flame, and that growth was instigated by traveling the country.

They say that you know if you are compatible with someone depending on how well you travel together. It’s the real proof that the relationship will last.

We would venture out to the far-flung corners of South Korea discovering the many islands, cultural differences, and foods of the country.

We lived for another year in Los Angeles, cultivating our relationship and finally getting married six years later, in 2016.

We still move between Cape Town and Seoul — and everywhere in between — and see travel as an integral part of our relationship. We always come back new, utterly refreshed and invigorated, after a stint of travel.”

-Cal from Once in a Lifetime Journey

20. Meeting the love of my life on the other side of the world

“I met my now-boyfriend pretty much exactly four years ago on a night out in Sydney. He is from the UK, I am from Germany, and it was only a few weeks before I had to leave Australia to start my working holiday year in New Zealand.

I never imagined anything serious to come from this, but after that first night, we spent every day together until I had to leave.

He dropped me off at the airport and saying goodbye was incredibly hard. We had no idea whether we’d ever meet again and I really did not want to leave.

He promised he was going to visit me in New Zealand but I didn’t know if he meant it or just said it to make the goodbye easier.

Only two weeks after I left though, he actually came to New Zealand to visit me. We spent a wonderful week together before he returned to Australia to rejoin his friends that he was traveling with.

Which meant we had to say goodbye. Again.

At this point, we decided to make it official and were committed to a long-distance relationship.

We were planning to visit each other and figure out everything else along the way. What I didn’t know was that he would come back only two days after he left to start his working holiday year in New Zealand with me.

He basically just went back to Australia to get the rest of his luggage and apply for the visa in New Zealand. You can imagine how happy I was when he told me.

From then on, we have been together literally 24/7. Don’t ask me how we are still getting along!

Two years into our relationship we started an online business together so that we could keep traveling. Which we did.

We have been to about 30 countries on five different continents together. We have had the greatest adventures and a life I could only have dreamed of before we met.

Now, four years later, we are in the United Kingdom planning to buy a house.

I never expected meeting the person I would end up with on a night out on the other side of the world only a few weeks before I had to leave the country. But that’s exactly what happened and I could not be happier!”

-Valerie from Valerie’s Adventure Time

21. Falling through a bridge on a first date in Thailand

“If you like short funny travel stories, here’s one for you:

I kind of sort of met Garrett in Thailand, but also kind of sort of met him online.

It’s a very weird and long story involving a creepy mutual friend who forced us to become Facebook friends “because we both liked traveling.” Little did I know Thailand and this creeper would have such an impact on my life.

Fast forward a year or so later, Garrett was living and working in New Zealand and I was happily chilling in Thailand working online. He was going on vacation to Thailand and since the creeper dude a year prior forced us to be friends online, he knew I was there.

He asked me a few typical questions and I told him to let me know when he came through so we could meet up.

And he did.

And we literally haven’t been separated since! (Okay, fine, we both have some random solo travels, but you get the point.)

The day after we met we went strolling along the bridge in Pai, Thailand. Kind of a first date, I guess?

I had literally just spoken about how funny it was that you always had to look down in Thailand because there’s always some obstacle — when I fell through a hole in the bridge!

I was rustling through my purse instead of looking down. Luckily, the hole was only big enough for one of my legs to fit through.

I still have a dent in my leg in that spot to this day and for some reason, Garrett’s still with me. He always makes sure to point out potholes, bumps, and cracks in the road for me now. How sweet.

So that’s how I met my boyfriend in Thailand and fell through a bridge on our first date.

It’s been over four years with countless adventures in between and more to come.”

-Nina and Garrett from Oregon is for Adventure

22. A Peruvian love lust story

“It all happened when I was solo backpacking in Peru. I had been in South America for close to two months at that time and had just recently arrived from Ecuador.

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to meet locals and get a perspective on their daily lives and culture. Naturally, I was on one of those horrible dating apps to meet some local Peruvians. I am not going to say which dating app specifically but let just make up a name.

Let’s call it Tinder.

So I was on Tinder in a small city in Peru called Trujillo. Trujillo is the home of the magnificent archaeological site known as Chan Chan, the biggest city from the pre-Colombian period. I matched with this girl and we started talking.

Let’s call her Maria. Things were going great.

Then one day I decided to eat some Anticuchos, a Peruvian street food of cow hearts on a skewer.

Well, the next day I was properly ill. Puking, nausea, fever — everything.

I thought I was going to die; but Maria took care of me for the whole week I was there, taking me to the hospital, to the blood tests, and everything. She even made me traditional Peruvian cuisine and that was when I knew I had something for her.

After I got better we started traveling Peru together, trekking up the Andes, visiting Machu Picchu, and walking down the cobblestoned streets of Cusco.

We were together for over a month until the day came when I had to leave Peru. Even though we said our goodbyes we planned to keep in touch.

But sometimes distance doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder.”

-Sean from LivingOutLau

23. Getting engaged underwater

“Alya is from Russia and I am a South African. We met in a small surf town in the Philippines, sleeping in neighboring beds in a dormitory and were together 24 hours a day since the day we met.

Both of us were traveling around Southeast Asia for a couple of months and came to San Fernando in the Philippines to surf.

We shared a tuk-tuk to a surf beach every morning and day trips evolved into traveling around the Philippines together for two months.

It was an amazing time. Both of us love hiking and diving and we were always searching for amazing mountains and beaches.

After traveling together for more than two years I asked Alya to marry me underwater while scuba diving from Nusa Penida island in Indonesia. While on the road, I had a couple of traveling jobs as a scuba instructor and Alya did some English teaching.

On a trip down the Amazon River, we decided to start a travel blog .

It has been four years and our successful travel blog, Stingy Nomads, allows us to work together while traveling full-time and doing things we love.”

-Campbell and Alya from Stingy Nomads

24. Finding love in Argentina

After getting a postgraduate degree in the south of Spain, interning in Barcelona and a year-long stint working in the Caribbean, I had my eyes set on Argentina.

I moved to Buenos Aires —where I luckily already had a group of friends installed and waiting.

“I’ll stay here for two years, tops,” I said to myself.

Four months into my Argentine life I was out at a club when I saw him. I’m not exactly a club-goer, and later I’d find out neither was he. We were just meant to meet there, out of our comfort zones.

We immediately made plans for an actual date two days later and have been inseparable ever since. It’s been ten years.

I never thought I’d still be in Argentina, let alone that I’d have fallen head over heels for an Argentine. My friends were right; he stopped me in my tracks. He’s also obsessed with travel and spent time in Australia and Thailand.

We travel as much as we can together but have our roots here in Buenos Aires. We’re having a baby this year and are excited to see what the future holds!”

-Erin from Sol Salute

25. An around the world travel romance

“When I decided to move abroad, I put my dating life on a shelf.

I figured I’d worry about my single status when I got back, though, in the back of my head, I couldn’t help think that at 28, going abroad for a long period of time was only going to prolong the long journey of finding love.

But…I wanted to travel.

After nearly 15 months of being abroad, I landed on the island of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand for the last four days of my trip.

I didn’t know a soul, so I booked myself into a notoriously social hostel. I happened to join a flip cup game on the beach when I noticed the tall, handsome guy next to me.

When I told him I was from the US, he replied cheekily, ‘I know. There’s only one place in the world that does dental work like that.’

And what can I say? I fell for him.

He was from The Netherlands and we spent the rest of the night talking. We mentioned meeting up the next day but unfortunately, my phone had suffered a casualty on a boat trip and the only thing I could give him was my Facebook.

By the afternoon, I hadn’t heard from him so I sent him a Facebook message inviting him to dinner with a group of people and still never heard back.

I ran upstairs 10 minutes before dinner to check my computer, only to find that he still hadn’t responded. I was a little dejected, but when I got back down to the beach, there he was, waiting for me.

We were inseparable for the next three days and then I finally flew back home.

Two months later he came to the US to visit me and we decided to do a long-distance relationship. We met up in Italy, vacationed in Croatia , introduced our families, found a ring in Ireland and got engaged in The Netherlands.

About a year and a half after meeting, we got married and he moved to the USA. We’ve been here ever since!”

-Ashley from Jetset Jansen

26. A Roman love story

“My husband and I first met in the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum in 2001. I’d picked up a job as a tour guide there, and he was a tourist on one of my co-worker’s tours.

We chatted briefly, and a few days later he showed up to follow one of my tours. He’d been captivated by the city just like I had and decided to stay and become a tour guide .

So, we became colleagues and good friends.

Our mutual love of travel was what we initially bonded over. Both of us were pretty new to travel but dreamed of exploring the whole world, and we would spend hours in bookshops poring over guide books.

We even planned a three-month overland trip through the Middle East together, just as friends. I was a bit nervous about visiting that part of the world as a solo female traveler , so I invited myself along on his trip from Cairo to Istanbul.

It was just a couple of months before we left for that trip that our relationship took a romantic turn.

And for the first few years, we spent more time together traveling than staying in one place. In between trips, we did a few more stints as seasonal tour guides in Rome to save up money, and six years after we met we returned there to get married.

It was a small, intimate wedding with 30 or so of our closest friends and family, and it was the best day of our lives. We arrived in Rome just 10 days before the wedding and managed to throw it all together in time, even if some aspects were a bit unconventional.

Instead of the usual wedding reception with cheesy music and dancing, we all had dinner together at  our favorite Roman trattoria .

Over the past 20 years or so we’ve traveled to more than 100 countries on all seven continents, and we still make it back to Rome as often as we can.”

-Wendy from The Nomadic Vegan

27. Falling in love on a semester abroad

“When I was in college, I took my very first plane ride to my first international destination:

Studying abroad in Costa Rica for my last semester of university.

I had never been abroad before, but I was excited and open to new experiences in this beautiful, lush, tropical country — and little did I know it would eventually become my heart’s home.

I stayed with a local Costa Rican family and spent much of my free time getting to know them, practicing my Spanish and learning about the way Costa Ricans lived and connected.

I often invited the youngest son who still lived in a nearby house on outings and trips with us, and we usually ended up being the only two who didn’t cancel. We grew closer, spending a lot of our time together, and as you probably expected, eventually had a fling.

At the end of the semester, we both decided we could probably not continue to date long-distance from abroad; but as soon as I got back home, we would chat on Facebook and Skype nearly every day and eventually we could not keep up with the rouse so we gave in and started dating.

That winter, we traveled together to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, then took a bus to the border of Panama, walked across the bridge over the river of Sixaola, and spent the weekend traveling around the islands of Bocas del Toro .

We traveled well together, which doesn’t always work even with friends no matter how much you enjoy each other’s company. To stretch our money further we stayed in hostels, cooked in the kitchens, and took public transportation.

It was gritty and authentic and we absolutely loved it.

We dated for nearly two years like this, visiting each other in our home countries, traveling around and enjoying every moment of it.

Eventually, I landed an internship in Costa Rica, and after living only an hour away from each other for a few months, we knew this was what we wanted. So, we got engaged and planned our wedding in Costa Rica.

Now we have been married for nearly four years, going on a lifetime. Our favorite thing to do together is travel; how fitting for a marriage formed out of it!

I never expected for travel to change my life, but it did in many ways. I met my lifetime partner, and fell in love with travel itself while on the road.”

-Michele from Adventures Abound

28. Meeting my fiance on a press trip for travel bloggers

“I met my now fiancé on a trip to Menorca , Spain. The trip was a conference and press trip for travel bloggers and influencers , and we were both invited to participate. It wasn’t until the end of the trip that we really began to talk and realized that we had much more in common than our jobs.

We continued to date after the trip. I was living in London at the time and he had already been nomadic for several years.

Our early relationship involved meeting up in random places — including Estonia, Scotland, and London — when he had breaks from assignments and I could convince my boss to let me work remotely.

Around five months later, I quit my job in London to take my own blog full-time and we have been traveling together ever since.

We’ve now been together for nearly three years, living nomadically in countries such as Georgia, Mexico, Greece, and Japan.

Last year, we decided to set down some roots and bought a new-build apartment in Portugal. I’m from the UK and he’s from Canada, so it’s nice to find a place to make ‘ours’ after traveling so many countries together.

We’ll be moving to Portugal to start the next chapter of our life together this summer and we’re getting married just down the road from our new apartment next spring.”

-Jodie from Ala Jode

29. From Europe to the United States to the world

“Our love story began back in 2013 in the horse capital of the world in Lexington, Kentucky.

My husband, who is Russian, and I, being Ukrainian, were destined to meet not in our neighboring countries in Europe but on the opposite side of the world in one of the least touristy cities in America.

At that time, I (Anya), while living in Washington DC, was looking for various jobs that could help me relocate, let me travel and pay well. Mark (my husband) was living in Kentucky, working in the hospitality business but wanting to have a change, move somewhere new and experience other parts of the US.

My desire to move to another state brought me to Kentucky for one year where I came to work for Marriott Hotels and where I met Mark. Not much time passed after our first acquaintance, as we realized we wanted to travel and try to live in other states.

We took a leap of faith, packed our bags and moved together across the country to Los Angeles to spend three and a half years there just to understand that we actually wanted to see the world.

So we took another risk and packed again.

We left part of our life behind and set off on the most adventurous journey both of us could have ever dreamt about.

Today, two and half years later, after we left the United States to travel the world, we are location-independent and working online , living in different countries around the world, constantly traveling and exploring one region at a time.

Is it easy?

But this is the life we would never trade for anything else.

We are grateful to the United States for bringing us together, letting us catch this travel bug and helping us understand what type of life is best for us.”

-Anya from Road is Calling

30. Love in Bangkok

“At the age of 22, I booked a one-way ticket to Bangkok, Thailand and embarked on my very first solo travel trip through Southeast Asia and Australia. I never imagined that this trip would change the course of my life and that I would meet my current partner one fateful night in Bangkok.

I was enjoying an evening with other travelers in a small bar on Bangkok’s bustling Khao San Road when Rick and I crossed paths for the first time. We didn’t exchange each other’s numbers that evening, but as fate would have it we bumped into each other in the busy streets of Bangkok the next day!

Rick told me of his plans to travel to the beautiful island of Koh Tao the following day and invited me to join him. Unfortunately, I declined his invitation due to already having the train tickets for my solo trip to Malaysia booked for the next day.

He still held out hope and told me exactly where to meet him if I happened to change my mind.

To this day, I still don’t quite know what made me go and cancel my train ticket to Malaysia and meet him at the bus station. His face lit up as soon as he saw me walking toward him and that’s when I knew I made the right decision.

We spent one week together on Koh Tao and then due to pre-arranged travel plans, went our separate ways. We sporadically kept in touch via Facebook and a full year passed before we saw each other again.

My travels eventually brought me to his home city of Perth, Australia and that’s when he invited me to stay at his house and the rest is history. I found myself applying for a partner visa so that I could stay in Australia and telling my family back in Canada that I wouldn’t be coming home!

Fast forward eight years later, we recently got engaged in Tallinn, Estonia on our summer travels through Europe and we are now planning our wedding for 2021 in Canada!”

-Ann from TheRoad-IsLife

31. House-sitting across the world together

“I’ve met and become friends with many people thanks to my travel blog and social media.

I met Mark through Twitter over three years ago and learned we had a lot in common. We both loved to travel and it turned out we were both nomadic house sitters.

Over the years we ended up meeting a few times while house sitting in the same city. Twice for lunch and once for breakfast. We also chatted here and there as we moved around; we exchanged stories of the pets we were caring for and talked about the city we were staying in at the moment.

Then last summer we were both going to be in Miami for a few weeks.

We ended up spending more time together and we realized we really liked each other. We knew that a relationship together would have to start off as a long-distance relationship because we both already had a few things scheduled.

However, we wanted to give it a try. We talked every day and eventually, we were able to start house sitting together.

We have been on the road together now for a few months and already have house sits scheduled together through most of 2020. We’re so happy that our love of travel brought us together and are excited to continue to travel and explore new places together.”

-Vicky from Buddy the Traveling Monkey

32. Discovering a new road to travel

“I met my husband when I was on vacation in New York City . I was on a long multi-month trip around the world, catching up with friends, traveling and eventually making my way to Rio, where I was planning to stop and get a job teaching English.

Instead, two weeks before I left the United States for five months in Canada, I met Kevin.

We spent those two weeks wandering through the Met, having brunch at Balthazar’s, lazing around on the Hudson River, and having dinner in the East Village. New York is an easy place to fall in love!

In my five months traveling the width of Canada by rail, Kevin came to vacation with me three times.

A week soaking up the breathtaking scenery on the Rockies, another week kayaking and cycling around Salt Spring Island near Vancouver, and a final week freezing together in a Montreal winter!

Well, in the end, my journey south to Rio never happened. Instead, when I left Canada, we both moved to Australia for three years, then eventually back to New York, where it all began.

Since then, we got married and celebrated by playing tourists in our favorite city, drinking champagne at sunset on a sailing boat in New York Harbor.

We still live in NYC and I still travel, but I’ve substituted a nomadic existence for twice-yearly trips with my husband, sampling different locations all around the world.

So, I fell in love on the road, ended up down a different road altogether, and now travel a new one together with my husband.”

-James from Travel Collecting

33. Getting together through Couchsurfing

“It was a rainy rainy day in January in the mountains of Vietnam and I had just left my motorbike partner behind in Phong Nha after riding with him for 15 days as I needed some me-time.

Partway through the ride to Ninh Binh, it struck me that I wanted to keep riding and find some nightlife and enjoy myself.

It was a 330-mile ride and it was raining hard, so I couldn’t read the signs and was on a car-only highway. The police forced me to stop and turn around and get off the highway to go back to the regular roads, meaning I had to stay in Ninh Binh for the night.

The next morning I was up bright and early again, peddling through the rain until I finally reached Hanoi midday. Full of energy and eager to explore the city, I found myself on one of the best travel apps :

Couchsurfing .

Little did I know that by getting on the app that day it would forever change my life.

There was a group of 12 Couchsurfers from all over the world getting together for drinks and food and sharing travel stories. Inna and I were seated across from one another but not saying much, though we couldn’t help but feel a connection so strongly and deeply to one another.

After we left that spot the group got smaller, and continued to get smaller after each stop on our night out. Inna and I got to know each other a little more each time — until we ultimately ended up walking around Hoàn Kiếm Lake until the sun came up.

Unfortunately, she was scheduled to leave Vietnam two days later to go back to Ukraine and I was leaving Vietnam in two weeks to start my tour through Europe. After the longest week of our changed lives, we decided Inna would join me traveling, as well!

Two years later we are still traveling together. We’re engaged, fully in love, and still treat each and every day as though it’s our last!”

-Jim & Inna from Executive Thrillseekers

34. What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas

“Travel brought me and my now-husband together.

We were living in separate cities in the United States — I was a college student in Chicago and he had just moved to New York for work — and had both traveled to Las Vegas with friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

I was playing the slot machines at the casino at the hotel we were both staying at. He sat next to me and we talked and gambled for about an hour until I had to leave.

A few hours later and shortly before midnight we ran into each other again at the casino and shared a kiss at midnight on New Year’s.

We hung out and talked for a few more hours until we said goodbye since we were leaving Vegas the next morning. We did not make plans to see each other again, but we exchanged phone numbers.

We kept in touch by phone until he came to visit me a few months later and we decided to start dating long distance. Since we both were living with roommates and loved to travel we found it more convenient to meet in different cities in North America for weekend getaways.

Eventually, after a few years of dating long distance and traveling to see each other, we got married with a destination wedding in the British Virgin Islands.

We have been married for over 10 years and now live together in Chicago with our two kids and beloved yorkie.

They say “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas” but for us, that was definitely not the case!”

-Matilda from The Travel Sisters

35. A Mexican romance

“When I first met my boyfriend during a study abroad program in 2010, romance was the last thing on my mind.

I was determined to spend my 10 months in Mexico becoming fluent in Spanish so I could travel Mexico worry-free while simultaneously gaining enough college credits to graduate on time.

Meeting Héctor was not part of the plan.

We first met at a party I was hosting with my study abroad cohort (how else do you meet people in college?). We had an immediate connection and while the people around us shotgunned beers we fell into a conversation about one of our shared passions:

I know it sounds super cheesy, but I felt something inside me shift. He was different than anyone I’d ever met before. Maybe it was just because he laughed at my dumb jokes? I can’t say for sure.

Naturally, I was bummed to discover that he was moving away to Mexico City to study music in just a few weeks.

We kept in touch, IM-ing about our favorite bands and discussing whatever poetry I was reading for my literature classes, and I regularly begged him to play me Enrique Iglesias songs on his guitar. He refused.

Soon, an opportunity for me to visit Mexico City presented itself, and we went on our “first date” — a Shakira concert at Foro del Sol. It was amazing!

What followed was a whirlwind, semi long-distance (I lived five hours away) romance that ended when my study abroad program did.

Over the years we kept in touch as friends, and each of us had relationships come and go. For years, there didn’t appear to be future for us.

Then, in 2017, I finally had the chance to return to Mexico. I asked Héctor if he wanted to join me for a beach vacation in Playa del Carmen and he agreed.

From the minute I stepped off the airplane it was like no time had passed. We fell into conversations about music, making taco puns, and me requesting that he sing me Enrique Iglesias songs. At the end of the trip neither of us could deny that the feelings were still there.

Within a few short months, we’d both quit our jobs and relocated to Playa del Carmen to be together for real.

And now, three years on, we’re living back in Xalapa, Veracruz where we first met 10 years ago. We still talk about music, we still make taco puns, and he still won’t play me an Enrique Iglesias song.”

-Janine from Janine in the World

36. A Nigerian princess meets a Wyoming cowboy

“If you think this is a fictional story, you will be wrong. It is a true-life account of how I met the love of my life.

My twin sister and I left everything we knew in Nigeria and journeyed to a little town called Laramie, Wyoming, in the United States.

We knew no one in the town or neighboring state, and with a population of about 28,000 people, it was a huge culture shock for us since we had lived in a town of over 1 million people. Quickly, we got acclimated though, frankly, we had no choice.

I started working and taking college classes and made new friends. One of my coworkers, Zeb, used to think my sister and I were the same person and would complement how hardworking I was since I “worked all the time.” Until he realized that there were two of us.

Zeb was a nice guy, but I didn’t really think much of it.

Then I realized we had the same major when we met in class the next semester in a smaller class size. We worked on a group project together, and a good friend, Noelle, kept saying, “I think Zeb likes you!” She was great at reading people, and she was right.

Zeb had finally summoned the courage to ask me out on a date. I was clueless about dating, as my academics were my main priority, but I decided to give Zeb a chance.

As the saying goes, “The rest is history.”

I had asked God for three things in the person I was going to marry:

• The person’s family has to love my family and me as we are (the good, the bad, the ugly),
• he must have faith in God as Christians,
• and he has to be an excellent cook since I dread cooking.

Every day, I thank God for giving me the best gift I have ever received, my husband, Zeb.

Like in all relationships, it is not always smooth sailing from cultural differences to personality, but it has been worth it.

Now, we are on a quest to journey the world together, starting with  traveling in Africa . “

-Lydia from Africa Wanderlust

37. Finding love in India

“Some places that we travel to leave their mark more than others. We like to think that every place we visit changes us in some way, but in some countries that change is much more profound.

In the case of my travels to India , they have completely changed my life.

Before my trips to India, I would get nervous. Family and friends were never particularly understanding of why I insisted on journeying halfway across the world to solo travel India.

But once I settled into the chaotic peace, I would find myself more and more at home in India, learning to live by the moment and surrender just a little bit of that hard-wired need to be in control.

In 2017 my travels took a turn for the unexpected as I experienced what would become one of my favorite stories of India to share.

A day before I was due to leave after a month of traveling there, I met Ravi in his hometown of Mumbai. Over chai and wandering around Colaba, posing for touristy shots in front of the gateway, we discovered a connection we knew we wanted to grow.

I didn’t see him again for another four months.

Fast forward two years and we’re living on the other side of the world in Toronto, Canada. We’ve traveled many places in India and around the world that are new to both of us, and we’ve been able to see places differently through each others’ eyes.

Finding love in India has shown me that the typecasting around gender roles in patriarchal societies — which India is considered — are not always true. Both of us are a long way from home — in many senses — which has taught us to be kinder, more flexible, and more understanding.

I have learned a lot about what it truly means to be close to ones’ family, even at the end of a phone, and Ravi has learned to make the perfect poha (a flattened rice dish).

I have learned that far from trying to scam people — which is the traveler stereotype — most Indians are incredibly kind.

Back in India we have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who accept us openly as a mixed ethnicity couple, vs the number of people who judge for breaking the mold.”

-Ellie & Ravi from Soul Travel Blog

38. Falling in love in Barcelona

“In 2015, a good friend from university and I decided to have a little trip to the south of Europe during our semester break.

Since we were working full-time during most of our time off from university, we only had two weeks before our classes would start again, and we wanted to make them count.

So we booked several busses and flights starting from Madrid. After we visited Porto and Lisbon, we planned to stay three days in Barcelona before heading to Paris and returning home to Germany from there by bus.

Since we were students at that time, we tried to travel as cheaply as possible using Couchsurfing in most of the places we visited.

While my friend went to bed earlier during our first night in Barcelona, I stayed awake for hours talking to our host, Eduardo, in the living room of his flat. From the beginning, we felt a great connection sharing the same stupid kind of humor and a passion for traveling.

When we left Barcelona two days later, I was sure I would never see him again, even though we promised each other to stay in touch.

Little did I know that just 10 days later, he would take a flight to visit me in Germany, spending a whole week with me. Since I had classes to attend during the week, we went on a memorable little weekend trip to Amsterdam which became the first of many trips together.

The next three months we spent visiting each other once a month; however, for my last semester of university, I had a semester abroad coming up in which I had to spend three months in the Maldives.

It wasn’t easy not being able to see each other for three months in such an early stage of our relationship, and my WiFi-connection was awful, which made it almost impossible to video chat.

Anyway, when my internship was finally over, I flew right to Barcelona to live with Eduardo in the same flat where we first met.

Fast forward to today, after exploring more than 15 countries together, we are currently traveling around South America on a seven-month honeymoon!”

-Vicki from Vickiviaja

Romantic Travel Video

A note from Jessie:

While I personally didn’t meet my fiance traveling, we did say “I Love You” for the first time during a trip to Savannah, Georgia.

You can see the video from that special trip above.

Seriously, the atmosphere combined with the many things to do in Savannah makes it such a romantic trip!

Do you have any inspiring love stories from the road to share?

Bonus short travel stories.

Looking for more of the best travel stories ? Check out:

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud

Sexual Assault Stories From The Road (& What I’ve Learned)

8 Crazy NYC Subway Stories That Will Make You Hail A Cab

A Host’s Perspective: My Worst Airbnb Horror Stories

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

11 Epic Travel Fail Stories From The Road

18 Scary Travel Stories From Haunted Hotels To Creepy Cabins

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We found love in a hostel place! Who knew that the Couchsurfing app could be good for finding some romance?? Love this!

Awww, these are too cute! Thanks so much for sharing these – it’s always good to read about happy experiences on the road, as well as the more practical tips!

These are such amazing and inspiring stories. It gives me hope for finding a travel soulmate one day! 🙂

Gosh this was such a fun read! I loved reading all these stories. I think A Broken Backpack was my favorite – so unexpected! Great idea, Jessie ♥️

Loved these fairytale stories.Very well put together Jessie.

Thank you for sharing your information.Really i love this article.

These stories are so awesome. I really loved reading 🙂

very informative articles or reviews at this time.

This is so informative, thanks alot or sharing. love your blog so much

This was a lot of fun to read! All of these stories were fascinating to read. it was so unexpected! Excellent concept

These are really adorable! Thank you so much for sharing these – it’s always nice to hear about enjoyable road trips as well as practical advice!

Loved reading these, some made my heart melt! As if we need more reasons to travel! Thanks for sharing

Thank you so much for sharing this blog i really loved it. it’s so nice to get more information about road trips. thanks again, i really enjoyed reading your article.

These Love Stories are so adorable. Loved i.

What sweet love stories these are. I adored this lovely pair.

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The Best Inspiring Travel Love Stories to Read in 2024

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something. Please check out our  disclosure policy  for more details.

Romance on the road can be one of the biggest travel life lessons we can experience when travelling to new destinations and chasing our travel drams,

Our romantic travel love stories can become a big part of our adventures and linger for years in our memories.

I still fondly remember the guys I met on my travels and the fleeting travel romances forged in destinations worldwide.

Brief flings, hookups, dating disasters and full-blown relationships impact our adventures and lives. A little romance can often be one of the best outcomes of travel.

Inspiring Travel Love Stories

When we are in the zen of travel, our emotions are heightened. Sunsets seem dreamier, food tastes fresher, and possibilities seem endless.

With your feelings dialled way up, it can become easy to convince yourself that a scruffy German called Wolfgang, with a mere $12 to his name, is “the one”.

High on cheap cocktails and moonlit walks on the beach is a surefire way to get swept up in the moment and make starry-eyed plans to “meet in Paris ”.

Romance stories from the road

The problem with travel romances is that when you actually meet up away from the beaches, the mountains, or the frenetic energy of a busy city, there’s a danger it can all seem a bit beige.

Keeping an exciting connection alive once the holiday ends can be challenging for couples, especially if a big distance is involved. Sustaining a post-holiday romance or moving on from one is one of the most emotive lessons you can learn from travel.

We talk more about travel life lessons on my travel podcast Travel Goals , subscribe now and download all the latest episodes.

So, do travel romances ever really work out? Here’s a collection of inspiring travel love stories from travel bloggers. These tales include times when they found long-lasting travel romance on the road and also stories of heartache and disappointment.

Tinder travel romance

My story starts in Christchurch, New Zealand, four years ago. While backpacking, I turned to Tinder not to seek romance but to gather some tips for places to explore in the area and, quite frankly, beat the monotony of my own company.

After I matched with Kazimir, we immediately hit it off, and the next day, he suggested taking me on a walk around Christchurch. What better way to get the scoop on a new city than with the help of a local?!

That day was notable for three reasons: Firstly, it was Valentine’s Day! A fitting occasion to meet someone special.

Secondly, a 5.7 earthquake struck the city that morning, so I was keen to escape the shaky old hostel. Lastly, of course, it’s the day I’ll treasure as the day we first met.

We talked, walked, and explored some gorgeous spots of a city I now love. I felt so at ease with this handsome man, and we arranged to meet a handful more times.

Long-distance relationship

A month or so later, I left New Zealand to continue my travels, and I didn’t think we’d see each other again. But yet, our connection only got stronger.

Later that year, he came to stay in the UK with me. When we were reunited, I knew we had something worth trying. We endured a long distance realtionship for three years before we finally moved to Australia together.

I’ll never forget that bizarre start to our relationship. Because of that dramatic earthquake to trigger our meeting, I like to say he rocked my world! Contribution by Suzy Stories .

We met on a dating app

This is a story that was actually rejected by BBC travel for their ‘chance encounters series’. It was the first day of my round-the-world trip. A trip meant to last six months has now stretched past the six-year mark and is still climbing. 

I was jet-lagged, having just flown from the States to the South Islands of Thailand, a trip that took more than 30 hours.

Exhausted but unable to sleep, I was chatting with a couple of different guys on dating apps with 0 intention of meeting that night. In fact, I was already in bed happily watching ‘Breaking Bad’. 

One guy stood out—cute, Eastern European, and very my type. He asked if we could meet for a beer, and I said maybe tomorrow.

He said that night was his only available night as he was travelling with a friend, and they had plans. It wasn’t meant to be, I told myself as I directed my attention back to Breaking Bad. 

Swiping right

But, as I sat there, I thought- isn’t this why I left home on this big adventure- to meet new people and explore new places? And now, some good-looking guy is asking me out for drinks, and I’m begging off to stay in my hotel and watch Netflix. How lame.  I asked him where we could meet.

We met for drinks and then bought more beers to take back to my room., staying up all night talking.

We debated religion and politics, played our favourite music for the other one, and eventually chatted until sunrise. We took our beers to the beach to watch the sun rise as others did yoga and went for their morning runs. 

Romance in Bangkok

After that night, I assumed I would never see him again, but we stayed in contact and actually met up a couple of weeks later, this time in Bangkok. And then again, and then again.

Him being a flight attendant and me being a traveller, our romance played out all over the world. In more than 2 years of dating, we visited nearly 20 countries together.

We went hiking to see the ‘death corpse flower’ in Malaysia, scuba diving off Indonesian islands, and hurling tomatoes at the La Tomatina festival in Spain. He even came home with me one year for Christmas. 

Sadly, the romance didn’t work out after two and a half years, but the friendship remains to this day. Contribution by Foodie Flashpacker .

Los Angeles love story

I had a friend in high school I’d talk to throughout the years after we graduated from college and started our lives. Oddly, we’d reconnect randomly throughout the years and lose touch for some reason.

In 2011, I moved from Columbus, OH, to Los Angeles, CA, to get a fresh start. In 2016, she messaged me and asked how I was doing, and we started talking more and more every day.

After two months, she came to visit me for my birthday, and we had a lot of fun. We explored the city, hung out with friends, walked the beach, and started developing feelings for one another.

A month later, she visited me again, and we just clicked. Within a month and a half, she had packed up her life in Ohio and moved to San Diego with me.

Travelling full-time as a family

We got married in December 2017, had a baby in November 2018, and now travel the world full-time as a family .

It is unbelievable how we reconnected 11 years after our first meeting when we were 16 years old in high school.

It just shows you that love can show up when you least expect it. Contribution by It’s a Family Thing .

Quitting work to travel around Europe

When my work contract ended, Julie decided to travel around Europe with me for two months to escape her stressful tech job.

We bought flights, a six-week Eurail pass, and a four-week Britrail pass; everything else we booked as we went along. So much fun!

I have wonderful memories of bartering various country currencies (pre-Euro) for enough German Marks to buy another Hofbrauhaus beer, picnic meals on balconies overlooking the Florence Duomo and French Alps, and so much more.

Road trip romance

In fact, we had so much fun that when the trip was over, we decided to keep travelling.

A friend worked in a foam factory and custom-cut a six-inch-thick piece of foam to fit in the back of our SUV.

We spent the next 14 months road-tripping the US and Canada, camping most nights inside the snuggly confines of our temporary wheely home. 

Such experiences can make or break relationships, and we decided to stay together and get married.

We just celebrated our 25th anniversary and travel is still an essential part of our life together. Submission by  McCool Travel  and  Fun in Fairfax VA .

Love on a tour bus

My fiancé (Daniel) and I met about seven years ago while travelling in Europe. Honestly, it didn’t start nearly as romantic as most would assume. We were young, 21 years old, and on a Contiki bus tour.

For those of you who don’t know, these organized bus tours take you to many amazing places, but they focus on partying quite a lot.

What started out as a fun travel fling, though, eventually turned into something a lot more. After the Europe trip ended, Daniel and I kept in contact somewhat online.

A year later, I moved from Canada to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa. Daniel, who is Australian, and I reconnected and started a real relationship. And well, the rest is history!

Backpacking as a couple

We lived in Australia for a couple of years together before packing our bags and heading to South America.

We have been backpacking as a couple for the last four years and currently work full-time on our travel blog business together. We are currently in the process of planning our wedding, which will be held in Fiji next year! Contribution by Destinationless travel .

We met on Instagram

I met my partner while he was working in my home town, London. He is Dutch and was in London making a video for the drone company DJI.

We had been speaking via Instagram DM for a while about my drone obsession, as I wanted some tips on which one to buy.

We met at the station near my house. I had just finished a night shift as a nurse, so I have no idea how he stuck around after seeing me after a 13-hour night shift.

I ended up being his tour guide around London for four days, and he kept postponing his flight home as we wanted to spend more time together!

Quitting our jobs to travel

Following this, I had already booked a trip to Amsterdam, where we met again and had our first date. Soon after, he drove to London and whisked me off on a road trip around Dorset.

A few months later, we had both quit our part-time jobs to travel full-time! Now, we run a travel blog and videography company. We spent a while living in Bali and have travelled to over 20 countries in the last year alone. Contribution by Solar Powered Blonde .

Romance on the Taipei MRT

I moved to  Taipei  in 2008 as an English teacher, planning to stay there for one year at most. Having recently ended a sour relationship in my home country, I went most of the year without dating.

That all changed one day when I was riding the MRT to work. Listening to music on headphones and tapping my foot, I was approached by a local woman the same age as me, but nearly a foot shorter.

She asked me a few of the usual questions, but unlike most such conversations, she wasn’t looking to practice English. She was nervous but clearly interested.

We swapped numbers

I got off at my stop, and so did she. As we parted ways, she grabbed my hand and wrote her number on it (in those days, we still exchanged numbers). I decided to ignore the unspoken rule of waiting a day and call her 10 minutes later.

We met the following night for a drink, shared a taxi home, and had a kiss to remember outside her door (that is, until we were interrupted by my future father-in-law, who pulled up beside us on a scooter and pretended he hadn’t seen a thing).

Little did he know that the foreigner before him would be living in his home a few years later or that he was to become a proud grandfather of two! Contribution by  Spiritual Travels . 

Falling in love while studying abroad

I never planned for this to happen. I studied abroad in San Diego (I am originally from Germany), and I was supposed to return home after three years in the US. Well, fate had other plans. One day, he showed up in my class.

A new guy that I had never seen before at my school, which was unusual because, with only 150 students at the university and me working at the front desk, I knew everyone. So, of course, I had to investigate. 

We started talking during our break and ended up in the same group project, so we chatted frequently and became fast friends and study partners.

I was about to finish my MBA and then do a 1-year work exchange in San Diego before returning to Germany, so I was not looking for a serious relationship.

Moving fast

Well, that plan didn’t work out too well. After being friends for a few months, we started dating and things went really fast after that.

I moved in with him a few weeks later, and we got married less than 1.5 years after we met. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary, and we’re as happy as ever! Contribution by San Diego Explorer.

Travel Love story in the Philippines

I met my husband seven years ago while travelling in Southeast Asia. We were both travelling solo and, due to unplanned circumstances, ended up in San Fernando, a small place in the Philippines. Neither of us was planning on being there.

We stayed in the same dormitory at a small surf hostel. In fact, we were bed neighbours. Soon after meeting, we realized we loved the same things: surfing, diving, hiking, and other outdoor activities.

We decided to continue travelling together. After two months of exploring the Philippines together, I had to go back home. My husband decided to continue travelling and went to India.

Meeting up in Nepal

Two months later, we met in Nepal and went on our first multi-day trek to Everest Base Camp. Since then, we’ve been travelling together for six years.

Somewhere during our Latin America hitchhiking adventure, we started a travel blog for fun.

Now it’s our full-time job. 3 years ago we got married. We still travel full time visiting our home countries Russia and South Africa every year. Submission by Stingy Nomads .

South Korean travel romance

I met my husband in 2014 while solo travelling through South Korea. I had just finished university and had a graduate job waiting for me starting two months later. I took the opportunity to travel to Asia for two months before starting work.

My whole trip included one month in China, two weeks in Korea, and three weeks in Japan. It was one of the best trips of my life, and I had so much fun discovering Asia. 

Connecting through Airbnb

In South Korea, I tried to stay in Airbnbs and do Couchsurfing, as I read that it was quite safe for a woman to stay with local families there.

I met my husband when staying in his Airbnb in Gyeongju. As he had time off work those days, he showed me around the city.

We had such a great time together, and it immediately clicked. I never expected to see him again after leaving, but he came to visit me in the UK five months later.

Since then, we have been inseparable and now live together in Seoul. I absolutely love living in Korea and writing a Korea Blog . I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Contribution by Be Marie Korea .

Couchsurfing love story

During my semester break some years ago, I decided to travel through southern Europe with a good friend.

Since we also visited the beautiful city of  Barcelona on a budget and wanted to get to know a few locals, we decided to use the Couchsurfing platform to stay home with locals.

Little did I know I would get to know my future husband during my short time in the Catalan capital. I also would have never thought that I would fall in love with the guy who hosted us in his flat.

Barcelona romance

The chemistry between us was just right from the start. Only ten days after I left Barcelona in the direction of Paris, our host from Barcelona, Eduardo, came to visit me in the city I used to study in Germany.

We spent a few days together and even went on a weekend break by bus to Amsterdam. This little trip should become just the first of many trips we would take together.

I moved to Barcelona to be with Eduardo only a few months later. Since then, we have started working location-independently, travelled together to more than 20 countries, and even got married a couple of months ago. Contribution by Vicki Viaja .

When travel romance doesn’t work out

I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone special while I was travelling.  I had planned the trip for months and wanted to get out alone and enjoy my freedom. 

But then I met him Backpacking in Peru. He was a tour guide who was sweet, funny, and kind. He really seemed like a nice guy, which should have rang alarm bells for me straight away. My taste in men hasn’t always been the best! 

However, we hit it off and spent the weekend together. I told him that I’d been cheated on before and that all I wanted was honesty. I didn’t think that was too much to ask. 

I wasn’t stupid; I didn’t think it would last. I continued my travels for a week, and he took a tour group to a different part of Peru. Then, we met up again in Lima .  

It was wonderful when we were together. I felt a strong connection to him, and when he told me he loved me, I didn’t hesitate to say it back. 

We met in Peru

We’d spend a week together, and then, thanks to his job as a tour guide, he would leave Lima for a couple of weeks at a time. We’d meet up again when he came back. I’d go travelling in the meantime and explore more of Peru. 

Then things started to change.  I couldn’t turn that down because I had the chance to go to Venezuela.  I didn’t forget that this trip was for me, but leaving him was hard. 

I knew that if I left, things wouldn’t be the same. We kept in touch, texting as often as we could, but gradually, contact became less and less, and when I really needed to talk to him, he didn’t have his phone.

He had a girlfriend the whole time

When I returned to Peru a month later, I didn’t really expect anything to happen between us, but he said he was desperate to see me. 

We got together again, and he invited me to Bolivia with him.  However, I quickly realised he was spending much time on his phone.  It turned out that he had a girlfriend, he’d been with her the whole time. And she was pregnant. 

I was heartbroken.  I felt so stupid, somehow believing we had something special when I knew better. 

He was the one who pushed for us to see each other again, the one who said I love you.  The one who had lied since the moment I met him. Love on the road can be fun, but it can be painful, too. Contribution by Tales of a Backpacker .

A Couchsurfing romance

One of the most important experiences when it comes to travel is meeting the locals. I’m always looking to get to know the traditions and costumes.

I love spending mornings people-watching in a café or making new friends in a bar.

This is why I use Couchsurfing as much as possible. For those who don’t know of it, Couchsurfing is an app where you can find a couch to crash on, [and to offer your own], for travellers looking to stay with locals.

Little did I know that this app would allow me to make friends in many different countries and introduce me to the love of my life.

Croatia love story

After a quick visit to  Croatia  5 years ago, I stayed in touch with the guy who let me use his couch for the night.

I was backpacking around Europe then, so a month after we met, we decided it was time to meet again. True to travellers’ style, we set a date in Slovenia, halfway between us.

The rest is history. After a few years of long-distance, I moved to Croatia. More than two happy years later, I can say that travel romance is wonderful. Contribution by Experiencing the Globe .

A Rome Travel love story

My husband and I first met in the Roman Forum in 2001, when he was a tourist backpacking around Europe, and I was a tour guide.

He immediately fell in love with the city (it would take another year before he fell in love with me) and decided to stay and become a tour guide.

So we became colleagues, and then we became good friends and we bonded over our mutual passion for travel and desire to see the world.

We travelled the world together

When he told me he planned a three-month overland trip through the Middle East from Cairo to Istanbul, I presumptuously invited myself along.

I wanted to see that part of the world, too, but I was nervous about going there myself, so tagging along with him seemed like a great idea. Though we were not yet a couple when we started planning the trip, we were by the time we set out on the road.

For the next few years, we spent about half our time working in Rome to save money while exploring the city and  dining in its amazing restaurants .

We spent the other half of our time travelling the world in the off-season. Six years after we met, we returned to Rome to get married. Contribution by The Nomadic Vegan .

We eloped to Vegas

A 22-year-old UCLA senior meet a 25-year-old party-loving San Diego surfer in a Mexican bar and sparks fly. It sounds like a movie, but it was a life-changing Spring Break trip.

The bar was Carlos O’Breins, and he was wearing an unfortunate blue striped tank top with a day-glow pink lining. After spending hours chatting on the beach, he told me he was going to marry me.

We returned to California, LA, and San Diego, respectively. We visited each other but quickly became inseparable and decided to elope to Las Vegas. It had been six weeks since we met, and the tank top had been discarded! 

We’ve been married for 30 years, have two kids in their 20s, and have travelled to all 50 states and 40+ countries.

Almost empty nesters, we embarked on a travel challenge to visit 50 new countries in our 50s, and we have detailed it all on our blog, The Evolista.

Spending time together, being with our family, and sharing fun travel adventures are our dreams come true. Bon voyage! Contribution by The Evolista .

Hostel travel romance

In late 2015 I was living in a hostel in  Dunsborough , Western Australia when I met my girlfriend, Roxy.

I had flights and accommodation booked to go to New Zealand, but a week before I was supposed to leave, I cancelled my plans to stay and see how things with Roxy would work out.

It was easily the best decision I have ever made, and we spent the next four years travelling full-time throughout Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.

We met in a hostel

Over the last four and a half years, we have spent nearly every second of every day together, which seems crazy but has always felt pretty easy.

Roxy is the planner, and I am happy to go along with whatever off-the-beaten-path adventure she creates, which makes it work.

I am originally from Ireland, while she is Canadian, and we have recently settled in Vancouver, Canada.

We are adjusting to a more settled lifestyle but have grand plans to travel the world once again soon. Contribution by The Coastal Campaign .

Thailand travel romance

Many people are probably sceptical of travel romances and wonder if they can work. But the thing is, they can, and they do! I travelled solo in Thailand when I met a handsome guy on an island.

We instantly hit it off and talked well into the night. We made plans to meet up the next day for dinner, but after that, we were inseparable for four days.

Our time together ended when I had to fly home, but I had hardly made it to Bangkok when he called me on Facetime. And just like that, our romance continued.

Making A long-distance Realtionship work

I’m American, and he’s Dutch. We never discussed how difficult it would be to pursue a relationship or how many obstacles would be in our way.

We kept talking because we enjoyed hearing from each other. We planned to visit each other because we wanted to see each other.

We had a long-distance relationship, visiting each other whenever and wherever possible, and were engaged in less than a year. Now we’re married and living in the US! Contribution by Jetset Jansen .

A sunset date in California

I was about to graduate from college and had my whole life ahead of me. I didn’t have time to meet a guy—or so I thought!

In the winter of 2014, I found myself in a small college beach town on the central California coast, visiting a friend. While there, I met a dorky guy who asked me on a date to see the sunset along the beach.

Relocating to California

Sunsets and beaches are my favourite things in the world, but I wasn’t sure about getting in a car with some guy I barely knew. Luckily, the friend I was visiting encouraged me to go on the date, and I’m so glad she did!

That first sunset date lasted over five hours and became a day trip to San Francisco. We found a lighthouse that’s only open two days a week for three hours each day, open on the day we were there. It was kismet.

As I fell in love with the city, I fell in love with him. A few months later, a day after my college graduation, I relocated to the California coast. It’s been almost six years, and I’ve loved every single one. Contribution by Sea salt and fog .

Left home to travel the world

When I was 19, I quit my job and left home to travel the world. My first stop was sunny Costa Blanca in Spain. Romance had its own plans, though, as I met my husband about an hour after arriving.

Some 30 years later, when our daughters left home, we travelled the world together. Juan and I bought a one-way ticket to Nepal and trekked the Himalayas and journeyed for two months overland through India.

We enjoyed living in a rural village in Thailand and celebrating New Year’s Eve with the monks.

I took a slow boat down the Mekong in Laos, rushed through Vietnam on a 15-day visa, and chilled for four weeks in a beach cabin in the Philippines.

Digital nomad Romance

The ultimate digital nomad life, moving on where and when the fancy took us, sleeping in overnight buses and trains.

We’d stop for a few days in places we felt at home, where I would write my travel articles and where Juan would go cycling and chat with the locals.

And then he wanted to come home, so we didn’t get to the faraway lands of Australia and New Zealand.

That’s what being a couple is really about respecting each other’s dreams and agreeing on limits. I found a cheap flight home via Singapore, Greece and Bulgaria, so I am not complaining.

He cleverly tempted me back for a while with promises of the Amazons, our South America adventure, but that’s another story, another chapter in our lives that we embarked on together.

inspiring love stories

Travel romance can be a transformative experience, as seen in this travel love story collection.

Sometimes, things work out when we fall in love on the road; other times, it can lead to heartbreak.

No matter how it pans out, you can learn from each romantic encounter on the road.

Have you ever had a travel romance? Did it work out? Let me know in the comments below.

Love this Post? Why not pin it and share it?

Portia has spent years traversing the globe and having many misadventures. She now works as a freelance travel journalist, editor of Pip and the City and hosts the Travel Goals Podcast. She specialises in adventure travel, destination guides and city breaks. Her work has appeared in The Times, National Geographic and Lonely Planet. She can normally be found hiking, swimming outdoors in icy waters, or drinking coffee in bougie cafes.

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We met at a destination wedding in Chicago that we both traveled to. I guess you can say that was officially our first date. Five years later, we were married! If you're looking for love, my advice is always to take chances, because you just never know.

Kendra, 54, South Carolina

We were both staying at a youth hostel in Spain. He and his group of friends had checked in a day before me. We stayed up all night on the beach talking about our lives, but he and his friends had to check out the next day. He told me they were off to an event in Barcelona, but I was headed to Valencia. I gave him my address, and he promised to write, then we sadly said our goodbyes. But the next day, on the train to Valencia, I made the split-second decision to purposely miss my stop and go to Barcelona to find him. What I didn't know was that the day before, when he and his friends were on the train going to Barcelona, he had gotten off the train early at the Valencia stop to try and find me! I was wandering Barcelona trying to find him in every single hostel, and he was doing the same, trying to find me in Valencia. We never found one another; things were different back then, with no cell phones or internet. But months later, I received a letter from him about how he tried so hard to find me. It made me cry. It was postmarked from his grandparents' house, so I never got his address to write back. However, I still have the little pin he gave me from his hometown in Canada. I kept it all these years.

I made the split second decision to purposely miss my stop and go to Barcelona to find him.

M., 28, Canada

I fell deeply in love with a man I met on the island on a trip to Trinidad. As soon as he walked into the restaurant my friends and I were eating at, it felt like bolts of lightning. At the end of the evening, we ended up at the bar, talking for hours. My friends excused themselves, and I stood to follow, but he took my hands in his and begged me to stay. I told him we were all leaving the following day to go to Tobago and that I needed to wake up early. I said goodbye and figured that would be it. The next day, in Tobago, I was asleep by the pool at my hotel when I heard my name being called over and over again. It turns out I was being paged on the loudspeaker to come to the front desk. When I made my way over, there he was! He said he had asked his wealthy friend to loan him a private plane to get over to the island and look for me. The rest was history. I fell deeply in love, and he came and visited me in Canada. Things didn't work out for us, but our romance was one I'll never forget. I saw a photo of him recently, and he hasn't aged well. I like to think that it was because I broke his heart.

Relissa, 34, Utah

I was volunteering in rural Alaska when I met my husband, who was also volunteering. If you're looking to find love while traveling, I suggest getting involved with a cause you care about and volunteering! People with good hearts volunteer.

Mary, 66, Oklahoma

I met a man on a flight to a wedding in Washington, D.C. I was looking forward to stretching out and reading a book when I noticed I would be sharing my space with a very handsome seatmate. I was taken aback, and once we locked eyes, I couldn't look away. We started talking and didn't stop for the entire flight. We liked the same books and had traveled to the same spots; we had so much in common. We dated long distance for a while, and he sent me roses every week. Unfortunately, the pandemic put a stop to things.

Jane, 70, New York City

I was living abroad in Italy and had a romantic encounter with a handsome Italian man I met in Florence. We soon moved in together in a Florentine villa and had a passionate four-year relationship. Although it didn't last, I'm glad I followed my heart. Being with him was the adventure of a lifetime.

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15 People Tell Their Sweetest Travel Romance Stories

All you need is love... and a vacation. These cute travel stories might make you want to hop on a flight and have your own romantic travel experience. Just remember to keep in mind any local rules for the place you end up traveling to.

Shared A Kiss Under The Warm Brazilian Rain

From Redditor u/ SmoothTortuga :

I went to Carnaval in Salvador last year. Three of the four nights I went, a friend and I would meet up with a few of his other friends at a nearby apartment. Every time we went over there was this very handsome guy who was friends with the other group and he would wait outside as they got ready because he wasn't participating in the blocos (moving concerts that you can travel alongside with a ticket) this year. He, my friend, and whoever was ready and waiting outside would just talk and laugh among themselves while I just hung back and tried to keep up with their Portuguese. When everyone was ready we would say our goodbyes and he would just hang back.

My last bloco just finished and I was looking for my friends when this guy came out of nowhere and kissed me. It was just a magical feeling the spark between us under the warm Brazilian rain. After I snapped back to reality our friends were super close by so we all went to go get something to eat and see the free, sea-side show that closed out the day's festivities. The two of us were inseparable that night. We both just wanted to spend the night in each other's arms but our living arrangements didn't allow that. I got his number and ran back for one final kiss before getting some rest for the big day at the beach my friend had planned for us.

We are still texting and video calling after nearly a year. He has been a big help with my Portuguese and he is learning English as well. He's currently trying to get his American tourist visa and his plan is to visit in July while I'm trying to save up to visit him in Recife for New Year's hopefully.

Fell Asleep In Each Other's Arms On An Ecuadorian Bus

From Redditor u/ ItsYaBoiDJ :

So I was boarding a bus in Guayaquil Ecuador that was heading to Mancora Peru. I got in my assigned seat and got all settled in. Then this lovely Colombian lady happened to have the seat next to me. We didn't talk much until we got our papers to enter Peru mainly because I was, and still am, a pussy. Anyways the bus guy was handing out the papers and explaining the process in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish so I asked her if she spoke English and if she could explain it to me. Turns out she did. She explained everything to me as I have never traveled before lol. We started talking, getting to know each other, laughing and whatnot eventually we fell asleep. Once we got to the border the bus guy woke us all up. We had some issues at the border. We had to wait in 3 separate lines for hours each. We even got to the front of one before that section closed AND the other bus groups didn't let us skip to the front even though they just got there. So we talked and talked which made the time fly by. Later we decided to just sneak into the front together. It worked and we were the first two on our bus! So we fell asleep in each other's arms. I really didn't expect to meet anyone at this point time. I looked like sh*t, smelled like sh*t, and felt like sh*t. Funny how that worked out. Once we got to Mancora we tagged together for a few weeks until we had to go our separate ways. The best part of my 4 months trip right there.

Went Salsa Dancing With A Stranger In Cuba

From Redditor u/ arl1286 :

On a trip to Cuba, I met a local coffee farmer in the middle of a beautiful national park (I met him on a tour of the park that stopped at his farm). He invited me to go salsa dancing in town that night, and he rode his bike 5km through the park to meet me there. It wasn't too wild; we danced, chatted, had a good time. We emailed every day for almost two years. I had hoped to go back and visit him and travel the rest of the country with him, but life got in the way. It was really sweet. We joked that he was my "novio cubano" (Cuban boyfriend).

Stayed An Extra Night In Bolivia And Met A Woman With Beautiful Eyes

From Redditor u/ jp_books :

I was supposed to leave Sucre, Bolivia that morning to volunteer in a smaller village, but the organization mixed the dates up so I stayed another night at the hostel. I was upset about the delay until a stranger walked into the hostel and I saw her brown eyes. I fell for her instantly. Then she left with friends.

She came back past midnight and I tried to pretend I hadn't stayed awake the whole time just wanting to talk to her again. We talked halfway through the night. The next morning we exchanged contact info but realized that we were going different ways and would just be pen pals. She was Chilean; my next trip was to the Middle East. We kept in touch, flirting via Facebook for the next six months as we grew closer and closer. I was still hypnotized by her eyes.

Six months of constant messages and flirting later, we decided to give it a try. I had been in the Middle East for the previous three months and was comfortable but bought a one-way ticket to Santiago to be with a woman I accidentally met before and had never even hugged.

We spent the next six months together in Santiago. It was the best six months of my life, and years later I still dream of her eyes the night we first met.

Met In Singapore And Traveled The World Together

From Redditor u/ 39triangles :

I went and studied in Singapore for a few months. I met a guy from Canada (I'm from the US) and we instantly clicked. We would spend all day together and would even meet up in the middle of the night, even when he had to be up early the next day. About a month or so later we went on a trip to Bali, and a day into our trip he asked me to be his girlfriend. We were both nervous about getting so serious, but we were on the beach, it was nighttime, the stars were shining... it felt so perfect. We spent the next two months traveling together to many other countries like Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Thailand. It was literally the happiest two months of my life. In a few weeks, it will be our one-year anniversary!

A Cute Italian Came To Visit And Never Left

From Redditor u/ gxxxxmxxxxm :

Went to Amsterdam alone. Met a cute Italian guy staying in the same hostel. Explored the city all day with him. Confessed our feelings for each other the next day, went our separate ways (me to Dublin, him to Milan) and stayed in contact. He came to visit me and I went to visit him, and we established a long-distance relationship. Two months of this then he came to Dublin and never went back to Milan. Right now his snoring is keeping me awake.

Had The Most Beautiful Day With A Girl In Amsterdam

From Redditor u/ bayareadude7 :

Was in a hostel in Amsterdam. This Lebanese girl and her family were waiting to check-in. We looked at each other a few times. She was absolutely beautiful. When she went to check-in she left her phone on the table so I left a note under her phone with my phone number and a quick introduction. She messaged me a while later and we had the most amazing time for about 5 days, including visiting weed coffee shops, having breakfast, going to museums, and even going on a boat with some other people. We promised not to think about what would happen afterward and just enjoy the present moment. And we did. When we said goodbye we pretty much cried our hearts out. We still text every now and then but haven't seen her in over a year (I live in the US). Most beautiful days of my life.

It Started With A Short Chat In Line At The Airport

From Redditor u/ Podoviridae :

It's not my story, it's a friend's. But I love it too much not to share. They were in line to board a plane to Japan, and started chatting. Ended up finding out they were sitting next to each other. (He's American and she's Korean, Japan was a layover for her and his destination). Spent the entire flight talking. He was moving to Japan, and discovered after a quick trip home to Korea that she too was moving to Japan. They got each other's contact information and when she got her placement assignment, discovered she'd be in the same small city as him. That was 8 years ago. They are now married. All started from a short chat in line at the airport.

Found Each Other In A Mexican Bar And Again In LA

From Redditor u/ geesesocks :

While staying in Mexico I went to a bar with a friend at 1 AM one night just for kicks. Dissatisfied with how it was going, my friend and I started making our way out to go home instead. But while leaving, we passed a hot dog stand where two guys from inside were buying food. One of them shouted “no se vayan!” (Don’t go) and they bought us food and invited us back in. The guy who shouted and I danced and talked a lot, but eventually, I had to take my friend back home because she was beyond drunk. I gave the guy my number, and within a week we went on our first date. We got sushi and beer and hiked up a hill and had a picnic. We went on a couple more dates, we ended up at his apartment a lot of the time which was in the mountains and had a view of the whole city. We’d talk about our travels and our lives and politics. He took me to get a tattoo one time. On my last night in Mexico, I spent with him, I honestly thought it’d be the last time I’d see him. But, recently I was road tripping around the west coast and we both happened to be in Los Angeles around the same time. We met up again and are now planning to meet up in Mexico to take a beach trip together.

Met At An Airport And Then Got Married

From Redditor u/ StonerMeditation :

I was flying to Miami early in the morning at Oakland airport. I missed my flight because I'm almost deaf, and didn't hear the Southwest announcement over the speakers that the gate had changed. Yep, I'm sitting there waiting for the people to show up... and eventually asked "Where's my flight?", and they said, "It took off ten minutes ago."

Southwest is so cool. They put me on a flight going to Chicago, then transfer to Miami on the same day - getting in just three hours later, which was no problem for me, because I was scheduled to meet people the next day.

They had me do a disabled pre-board, and as I was waiting to board a woman sat down next to me, and we started talking. She was going to Chicago on business... I pre-boarded and saved the seat next to me. She sat next to me, and we talked some more and exchanged email addresses.

In Miami, we sent emails back and forth. Turns out she lived in a nearby town. When I got home, she and I met for dinner. We started a romance and we've been married now for 11 years. I can still remember what she wore on our first date. We're going to Morocco for a month next October. I'm 70, she's 66 now.

Studying Abroad Turned Into Living Abroad With A Handsome Local

From Redditor u/ SarahFrances1427 :

Studying abroad in Quito, Ecuador I met a guy from here. We started hooking up and kept telling each other that’s all it was. I had to leave a month later and we finally admitted we had feelings for each other. I had to go back for my last year of college, but we continued talking, and now I’m back living in Quito. We’re dating and very happy.

Met A Girl... And Her Boyfriend

From Redditor u/ DrNinjaFister :

I studied abroad in Wales. Randomly met some guys on the beach, and we ended up being friends. I went over to their apartment a week later, and there she was...with her boyfriend. She was visiting him from England for the weekend.

We talked all night and became great friends. She ended up breaking up with her boyfriend soon after for other reasons, but we still stayed friends. A few months later we traveled Europe together.

After that, we visited each other every few weeks and fell in love. Now I'm back in the US, and she is coming to visit me this December.

Oh and no regrets. Not a single one.

Lovers Took A Train Around Europe

From a former Redditor : 

My girlfriend and I had been dating for around 3 months when we took a trip to Europe. She had been in Ireland for 2 weeks already, and I left the USA to meet her in the Netherlands. We met in Amsterdam and took a train to The Hague for a couple of days. Then, we took a train to Cologne (layover), saw the cathedral and the river. From there, we took an overnight train (a sleepless, sweaty experience) to Vienna, where we spent a full day. From there, we went to Prague, where we spent 5-6 days while I worked. Then, it was back to Amsterdam to fly home while she went to Chicago.

All in all made some of my favorite memories of all time with her. Will never forget waking up with her on the train as the sun rose over Austria. Such an emotional cocktail.

Met A Canadian In Brussels And Wants To "Make It Work"

From a former Redditor :

Met a Canadian in the hostel common room in Brussels, Belgium and instantly connected. We spent the whole night laughing and talking and exploring before he left for a new city the next day. We kept in contact, sweet messages every day until we met in Vienna, Austria a few weeks later. Since then we have been inseparable, spending every hour of the day and night together exploring cities, playing our made-up games of "fake tour guide" and "what does the sign say" when we are exploring new places. We fall asleep together and wake up together. We have one week left together before I fly home to England and him home to Canada. It's not a long distance and we hope to make it work.

Met A Girl In A NYC Hostel

From Redditor u/ fellinloveinnyc :

It was in New York City. I stayed at a hostel for about a week - my first experience doing so - and I met a girl from Switzerland. She was beautiful, a little sassy, and a lot of fun to hang out with. Her accent had me from the start. In the beginning, I made several attempts to spark something, flirting with her only to get denied. Eventually, she started warming up to me, we started talking, and she started flirting back. And then it was time for her to go home. I wasn't going to let that happen though.

What was supposed to be her last night, we stayed up all night sipping whiskey on the porch, exchanging shoulder massages and deep, fulfilling conversations. After breakfast, we were walking around in a park waiting for the time to come that she needed to head to the airport. At the park, I convinced her to stay in the city for one more night with me. She called in sick to work right there and we spent one last day together in New York City. She slept with me in my tiny little hostel bed that night (she had to check out and there weren't any more beds left), we spooned, held hands, it was awesome. I don't even think I slept because I was so giddy with emotions and attraction.

We rode to the airport together, got a couple of drinks at the airport bar and reminisced about our time together. I went in for the kiss (my first attempt was denied a few days prior) and got it... we hugged goodbye and made a pact to see each other again. We made our way to our respective flights. Turns out we were so wrapped into our conversation she didn't realize how long her security line had gotten and ultimately missed her flight (but got on another shortly thereafter).

That pact we made... it happened. Several months later she flew across the pond to visit me in the states. We had an awesome long weekend together in my city. I took her ice skating, hung out with my friends, showed her the sights, ate, drank and gave each other massages. We made another pact to see each other again, this time I was to go to her. And then things took a turn.

A few months later, she was visiting the states again with a guy "friend" and playfully suggested I meet them in the city they were staying. The invite was quickly revoked and communication was wishy-washy. She lied about not wanting me to come by giving me some excuse. She ultimately fessed up and told me she ended up sleeping with the guy she was traveling here with - after she told me to come - and that it would be weird if I came now. I told her I understood, and we haven't talked since.

I still think about her multiple times a week.

• Relationships
• Places/Travel

Once you've found The One, what's next? Matching t-shirts, matching names, and matching tats—in that order.

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When it’s one of those moments when I have a trip coming up but I just can’t wait for it to arrive – I love to pick up one of the best travel romance books to give my wanderlust an extra kick. Whether you’re craving that wanderlust, a new place, a person, or just a new perspective of life with travel in it, you will love these 10 books.

So, buckle up, wanderluster and romantic, let’s go on an adventure! – Of course, To make your life easier, I’ve included direct links to Amazon and Goodreads, so you can either add it to your cart, designate it to read, or purchase it. 🙂

Best Books to Read While Traveling – Best Travel Romance Books Edition

There is nothing quite like an excellent book to transport you to another time and place, regardless of whether you are an avid traveler or a homebody. But what if you’re on the road and searching for a compelling read to enhance your trip? These stories combine the excitement of exploration with the heady joy of love, making them the ideal companions for your next journey, wherever it may take you.

The best part is that these stories aren’t just about summer flings or star-crossed romances in exotic locales (though rest assured, you’ll find plenty of that, too). They are about the physical and emotional journeys we undertake in the pursuit of connection and self-discovery.

These books will make your heart race and inspire your wanderlust – guaranteed.

Looking for something specific? Head over to it!

# 1 Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

After a difficult breakup, Gilbert travels the world in search of herself, stopping for spaghetti in Italy, spiritual guidance in India, and an unexpected romance in Bali. This book is a classic for all the right reasons: sometimes you have to be lost before you can find your way home to yourself.

This book is an excellent testament for the life-changing potential of travel and the strength it can instill in you – especially if you’re interested in solo travel. It’s a moving and eye-opening story about appreciating the wonder of the unplanned and abandoning your assumptions about how your life should go.

Find this bestselling book on:

#2 Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes

More than just a love story, it’s taking you to Italy, a renovation diary and a mouthwatering culinary journal all in one. It will not only inspire you for love and wanderlust, but also to the beauty of spontaneity and taking a transformative journey: like purchasing a villa in the Tuscan countryside.

Immerse yourself into a transformative journey that you didn’t plan for in your life and reflect on your own life.  

Discover yourself in the simple things again, such as vibrant local markets or homemade mouthwatering pasta. The lush Italian landscapes described in the book will make your heart yearn for travel, while at the same woven you seamlessly into a love story. 

Die-hard romantic? Travel enthusiast? Food lover? This book will check all your boxes.

Find it on:

#3 The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Even if there were a plan for romantic relationships, most of us wouldn’t stick to it. During his journey to understand why romantic love can’t be represented with algorithms, genetics professor Don Tillman falls in love and writes a novel about it. 

Usually, when you think of passionate couples in romance novels, you picture them in faraway places like Bali or Italy, but in this book, you’ll meet a man who goes about finding his soul mate in an unexpected way: by creating the perfect partner survey . Once he does find her, he learns that she is everything he (n)ever dreamed of: unpredictable, fiery, and willing to travel the world to track down her biological father ( makes sense, right? ).

This book will combine travel, humor, romance, and showcase transformation in all the different ways you wouldn’t expect.

Skip the scrolling and add your fave to your cart here!

#4 out of africa by isak dinesen .

A mesmerizing memoir that will transport you into the wild, untamed heart of Kenya with cinematic landscapes and adventures. Engage in a passionate affair with Africa’s wild places and discover a deeper appreciation for Mother Nature.

This book will stand out through the vivid depiction of the Kenyan wilderness and Blixen’s deep respect and understanding of it. The story of Blixen and Finch’s love will make your heart race with excitement and warm you up inside. So, what’s better than learning more about what it means to love a person, a place, and a new way of life?

Get captivated by poetic prose and make you yearn for the African sun on your face and the thrill of love in your heart.

#5 The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

If you’ve ever dreamed of 1920s Paris, then you’re in for a gin-soaked, jazz-filled ride with a love story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. A beautiful blend of love, betrayal, and the lure of the City of Lights. It’s based on a real-life love story in an intoxicating place filled with exhilarating freedom, artistic revolution, and sweeping romance. 

The author’s description of Parisian life during the Jazz Age will transport your heart to the city’s intellectual and artistic movements and is so much more than the love story: it’s a love letter to Paris. 

Get captivated by the enchanting charm, the vivacious culture, and the transformative influence among the dazzling highs and heart-wrenching lows of love and loss.

This book will inspire a different sense of wanderlust and just a deep appreciation of complex love – that you may just be yearning for.

Need some real-life inspiration? Check out my recent trip to Antigua, Guatemala!

If you’re planning a romantic trip, these romantic things to do in Key West might give you some ideas.

First time traveler and don’t know where to go? Check this handy guide out!

#6 Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater

Let me start out with, picture this: traveling the subcontinent and capturing the monsoon rains while stumbling into a spellbinding and breathtaking love story. Sounds about right, right? Well, in this novel you can experience the magic of a captivating travelogue and love story as you’re wandering through India chasing awe-inspiring natural phenomenons. 

Anticipate rich descriptions of how the author makes the monsoons into a living force that enchants, revitalizes, and romances the country and its people. His writing evokes a strong sense of longing to see the world and a desire to feel the sensation and smell of rain on your skin and the aroma of freshly soaked soil – or literally just crave that warm summer rain on your skin outside.

Discover new places, cultures, and experiences while falling in love with them in this novel.

#7 Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

How about a love affair on the Italian coast? This love story spans across landscapes and decades. Starting in 1962 in Pasquale Tursi, a man falls in love with an American actress that’s trying to flee the chaos of Hollywood, right into his arms. However, true love persists across oceans, through a span of 50 years that keeps rekindling over decades, showcasing that true love is in fact a marathon and not a sprint. 

Be mesmerized by the exploration of love, dreams, and second chances that withstand time. Just like a trip, life in all its messy glory is a grand adventure of twists and turns, beautiful ruins and restored hopes. 

#8 French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

Three Americans, three French tutors, and one day in Paris equals the perfect recipe for heart-wrenching romance. In the city of love, these people learn more than just the language in this single day of unexpected romances that can blossom when we step out of our comfort zones. 

This book is about more than simply love; it’s also about finding one’s identity in the face of a new culture and a new place. It will make you long for walks along charming alleys and make you reflect on your history and your future. 

You may just find love in the most unexpected place too. 

#9 Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

You’ve heard of discovering love when you least expect it, but what if it comes at a time of pure chaos while traveling? This semi-autobiographical play is set in Mumbai and depicts resilience, revealing beauty, chaos, and contradictions, as well as how love can heal almost anything. 

Deeply moved by its raw and heartfelt portrayal of life and love, will make you not want to put it down but book the next flight to Bombay. 

This book will be your favorite because it explores the human spirit and its capacity for love, resilience, and redemption while demonstrating the transformational power of travel, love, and second chances. 

Down for an adventure that intertwines romance and travel, while taking you into the labyrinth of Bombay’s streets and the human heart?

Pick your favorite here and add it to your cart now!

#10 the japanese lover by isabel allende.

This transcending love story spans continents, from Poland to San Francisco, from WWII to the twenty-first century. This book delves into a profound and enduring love that defies time, cultural boundaries, and personal catastrophes. 

Follow a secret romance between a girl fleeing the war and the son of the family’s Japanese gardener. You’ll follow the couple as they prove the enduring power of love that transcends societal norms, distances, and the passage of time. Prepare to explore your identity, displacements, and the deep connections you establish with people, all while testing your self-awareness. 

This novel is about a story that will not only pique your wanderlust but will also touch your heart with its timeless romance. 

Books about Travel and Finding Yourself

Travel and self-discovery are two components that are tightly linked in literature. Books on travel and self-discovery provide a beautiful combination of both themes, allowing you to embark on a voyage of geographical exploration and internal introspection at the same time.

What Makes Travel Books So Powerful?

For starters, they offer immersive experiences that provide a window into other cultures, landscapes, and peoples from around the world. You can go to different places without even leaving your couch, making it an easy escape. 

Second, it’s much more than just the physical travel. They dive into the characters’ transforming journeys – their self-discovery, personal growth, and the profound insights they receive about life and themselves along the way. These works speak to us on a deeper level, often echoing our own search for meaning and identity.

Third, they capture the essence of travel – the sense of freedom, the delight of finding new places, and the transforming experiences that mold and define us – beautifully. The journeys of the characters remind us of our own capacity for change and progress.

After all, it’s a never-ending search for love, connection, and comprehension. These experiences inspire, stir, and leave a lasting impression, whether it’s finding love in a faraway nation, pursuing the monsoon throughout India, or discovering oneself in the seductive streets of Paris.

Last Few Thoughts 

Ultimately, these books allow us to discover new horizons while also exploring undiscovered territory within ourselves. They encourage us to enjoy life’s journey with all of its twists and turns, reminding us that every trip, no matter how long or short, leads to self-discovery.

Looking for travel necessities? Check here if you have everything you need!

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Anna is a traveler, blogger, and entrepreneur who can’t keep herself still. She’s always on the move, whether working hard on a new passion project or exploring a new city as a part-time digital nomad. Dare to keep up? Check out The Tatted Nomad for everything digital nomad, social media marketing, mental health, and travel (and to see her latest addition, Novah, her service dog and travel companion). As a psychotherapist (to be) she also offers insights about your mental health related questions – anything you see that isn’t covered but you have questions about? Let her know!

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Ohh fun! Great list of books. I want to check out the Rosie Project.

These sound like good books to read if you want to escape reality. I liked Eat.Pray.Love.

Oh yes!! I love Eat.Pray.Love! It’s a classic!! Have you read any of the other ones yet?

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Real Travel Love Stories – Travel the World to find your Soul Mate

Who doesn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned travel love story?! No doubt, there are many, many travelers out there which start off backpacking solo, only to meet their future husband or wife in an awesome hostel. And so, we bring to you a collection of real life travel love stories from our traveler community.

Read all the great stories from around the world. You can instantly share them as well if you enjoy them!

Find all 180+ short travel stories here.

We met at a Hostel in Bruges, 10 years later we are still married

In 2002, after finishing college on opposite ends of the Earth (Florida and Australia), fate threw us together at a Hostel in Bruges during our solo travels. I was assigned the top bunk, and a cute curly haired brunette had been sleeping in the bottom bunk.

A few of us went out for drinks that night, as people do in hostels, and Bell and I just clicked.

We both happened to be traveling to Amsterdam , so we briefly met up again there. Then, we also organized to meet in Rome before going our separate ways to opposite ends of the Earth. But we stayed friends, and two years later we finally planned to reunite again in Thailand .

After booking our plane tickets and the days ticked down, we couldn’t imagine saying goodbye again, so I was able to organize a working holiday visa to move to Melbourne, Australia, to live with her.

We reunited in Thailand after being apart for 2 and ½ years, and 2 weeks later I set foot in Australia for the first time, to live and work random jobs for a year. 8 months later we got married at the Melbourne courthouse, and a few months after that we relocated to Florida for a few years.

When a PhD position came up for Bell in Amsterdam, we moved there for 3 and ½ years. After, we moved to Dublin for 2 and ½ years, now we have spent the last year and a half living in Boston.

We’ve returned to Bruges twice, including this year 2015 for our 10 year wedding anniversary, and have even had dinner and drinks at our hostel’s restaurant and bar.

A couple of months ago, Bell got a Belgian stamp tattoo on her upper back with the date we met on it, January 31 st , 2002.

We fell in love at Marken Gjestehus in Bergen

Well, we met at a hostel in Lisbon . We had a good connection and exchanged Facebook accounts.

Not very much, I kind of put her name on Facebook looking for her, sent the friend request, and she accepted me (does that make me a stalker?)

We kept in touch, talking on Facebook, until I decided to go to Norway for traveling…and to see her.

I was not expecting anything, since I’m a Brazilian guy that lives in Lisbon, and she is a Norwegian living in Bergen.

But then I booked the Marken Gjestehus Hostel and went there with an open heart. If we didn’t connect for real, well, at least I would be visiting an amazing pretty city in Norway, would stay in the best hostel of Norway and would be an amazing experience anyway.

Read : Guide to the 27 best things to do in Bergen , Norway

But, thanks Thor, our connection was real. We went for a walk in the mountains, she got me those super good Norwegian cakes ( Sommerbolle , I think) and our date was perfect, so perfect that after that I changed my booking for a double room instead of a bunk bed. We had an amazing time in the hostel.

The double room has a window with an amazing view to the mountains with those Bergen colorful houses. It was, actually, one of the most romantic moments of my life. And there, in that double room in the hostel, with that breathtaking view, we fell in Love, I guess….sounds cheesy but, cheesy is real sometimes.

After that, we kept traveling to see each other for months until she moved in with me in Lisbon to work in the Norwegian embassy in Lisbon.

Now she has to go back to Norway to study, and we will keep these far distance thing. It is not optimal, but at least it makes us travel more.

Read: Funny Hostel Stories – From Russian Spies to Harpoon Budgeting

I met my Fiancé thanks to Vikings and Bus Hostel Reykjavik

In July 2014 I traveled by myself to Iceland. I arrived at the Bus Hostel Reykjavik in the evening, and the following day I walked around Reykjavik to do some sightseeing. On the back of the map I got from the hostel, there was an ad for a museum about vikings. I decided to go there, and by the end of the tour you had the option of dressing up as a viking. I of course wanted to do this, and I also wanted a photograph of myself in said costume.

So I walked up to a random guy and asked him if he could take a photo of me. He instead suggested we take a photo together. And so we did.

Turns out, he was also a solo traveler staying at the Bus Hostel.

We ended up spending the week together, and now, a year later, we are engaged!

Read: 3 top hostels in Reykjavik here  and best hostels in Iceland with itinerary.

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10 Travel Romance Books To Read Right Now

I personally love travel romance books. Witty banter? Check. Happily ever after? Check. Stunning backdrop? Check. They’re cute. They’re cliche. They’re feel-good. So over the past two months, I’ve binged a lot of travel romance novels. A questionable amount.

But let’s not get into that. Instead, let’s dive into the best travel romance books to read right now.

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Table of Contents

Love With A Chance Of Drowning

Love trumps fear in Torre DeRoche’s heartfelt memoir. After a reader ( thanks Becky ) recommended this as our next book club pick , I knew I had to pick it up immediately. And I fell in love. That’s an understatement. Love With A Chance Of Drowning follows Torre through the South Pacific with her Argentinian boyfriend ( who is adorable to boot ). She’s afraid of the ocean. He wants to sail. It’s one of the most unique travel romance novels ever ( and I have to constantly remind myself that it’s a true story ). It’s about love ( of course ), but it’s also about so much more than love – taking risks, overcoming fear, believing in yourself .

Love & Gelato

Love & Gelato might just be one of the cutest travel romance books I’ve ever read. It’s a young adult novel and I can’t recommend it enough. The descriptions of Italy are so heartfelt and real and humorous and wonderful that I felt like I was right there whilst reading it. Reading any one of Jenna Evans Welch’s books gives me the same feelings as seeing a rainbow, petting a puppy, and eating fresh-baked cookies. Love & Gelato is no different. This book is a warm hug. Lina’s Italian adventure is so sweet, you’ll be laughing and crying and wanting to read it all over again ( or maybe, follow up with the sequel – Love & Luck ).

Eat Pray Love

It’s no secret that Eat Pray Love is one of my favorite memoirs of all time. I’ve talked about Elizabeth Gilbert’s three-country adventure a lot on Passport To Eden: here , here , and here . And I guess, considering I’m mentioning it again, that’s not enough. In Eat Pray Love, you follow Liz ( Groceries, according to Richard ), a fast-paced writer who travels to Italy, India, and Bali in search of herself . It’s raw and honest and emotion-packed.

P.S. The copy I have is the Bloomsbury Modern Classics edition ( it’s a little nicer than the mass market version and the same cost ). I’ll link it here .

The Unhoneymooners

Barring the toucan on the cover ( seriously, why is there a toucan? Toucans aren’t native to Hawaii ), The Unhoneymooners is one of the best travel romance books. Much like Olive and Ethan’s romance, my relationship with The Unhoneymooners was hate-to-love. The travel writer in me wanted Olive and Ethan to explore a bit more than their resort. But at the same time, this book made me want to book a ticket to Hawaii ASAP . The Unhoneymooners is a quick, fun, binge-able read . There are funny moments aplenty (mostly two-line quips and fast-paced banter). And it made me laugh more than I care to admit.

The Tourist Attraction

If you like Luke from Gilmore Girls, you’ll love The Tourist Attraction . It’s a breezy travel romance novel that’s filled with plenty of witty banter and cute moments. It’s also set in Alaska. Do I just like travel romance books set in Alaska? Maybe ( *silently wonders if I have a book type* ). Graham is a gruff local who owns a diner called The Tourist Trap ( a joke. well, it started off as a joke ). Zoe’s the opposite of Graham. She’s a tourist on a two-week Alaska vacation. And the Moose Springs rom-com that ensues is cute and sweet. Sarah Morgenthaler’s debut is one of the most underrated travel romance novels.

The People We Meet On Vacation

I’m saving People We Meet On Vacation for this summer ( side note: this is also one of our Travel Book Club picks – just saying ). It’s the story of Poppy and Alex, two longtime friends with a broken relationship and a plan for a remedy (or at least closure). I’ve tried to steer clear of spoilers for this book (given all the rave reviews on Booktube) but know this: People We Meet On Vacation has been described as a “heartfelt” (Jodi Picoult) “gorgeous slow-burn” (Beth O’Leary) . I can’t wait to finish it this July and update you with all my thoughts!

Happiness For Beginners

One year post-divorce, Helen Carpenter signs up for a wilderness survival course in a remote range of Wyoming’s peaks . The humor and the wit sold me ( if you enjoyed the dialogue in The Unhoneymooners , you might enjoy the dialogue in this ). And much like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild , it’s deep ( but nowhere near Wild-level deep ). There’s a cheesy happily ever after . I knew there was. But for some reason, expecting a surface-level chic-lit threw me for a loop. Because Happiness For Beginners is anything but. It’s packed with life lessons and characters that seem to spring from the pages. And let’s be honest, I absolutely adored Jake.

Outlander will make you want to visit Scotland immediately ( and book that future plane ticket ). It’s a passionate love story woven around a rich historical tapestry – an ode to Scotland. On a random side note, I completely believed Diana Gabaldon lived in Scotland whilst reading this novel ( in the same way I thought Stephanie Meyer lived in Forks, Washington ). Turns out she lives in Scottsdale, Arizona ( I only discovered this after visiting her home bookstore and wondering why in the world there were so many Outlander books on sale )! You’ll be hard-pressed to find a list of travel romance books that doesn’t include Outlander ( or any of the books in the series ) so I’m slipping in a mention as well.

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding

Definitely the raciest of the travel romance books on this list ( odd considering the title ), What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding is also undoubtedly funny. What I remember is this: Kristin Newman, an incredibly confident scriptwriter ( That ’70s Show, How I Met Your Mother ), shares her juiciest hookup stories in this hilarious travel memoir. Vacationship at its finest. It’s far from my favorite novel but I felt the need to mention it because every traveler I know who has read it has absolutely loved it. My issue ( which is nitpicky so maybe I should give it a reread ) was Kristin’s tone. I feel like she put down people who wanted to settle down. Everyone has different goals. It’s okay to want to travel and not settle immediately. But it’s also okay to settle.

Amy And Roger’s Epic Detour

A few years ago, I created a list of 20 YA travel novels that I wanted to read . There were a lot of books that inspired that list. Amy And Roger’s Epic Detour was one of them. It’s the kind of book that kept me up all night, the kind of book that I wanted to read and reread, the kind of book where details layered words . I’m a fan of Morgan Matson so it wasn’t hard to fall in love with this road trip tale. But to be honest, I also fell in love with Amy And Roger’s Epic Detour because in some ways, the story reminded me of my own travels . I got a chance to reflect on the small moments, the bits I thought were trivial but might just have been the most important.

Did you enjoy this list of travel romance books? What are your favorite travel romance books? Let me know in the comments below!

Side note: Why do so many male love interests in travel romance novels have bodybuilder muscles? I mean, most of them have back abs. How many hours do they spend in the gym? Who is their personal trainer? Important life questions right here.

Editor-In-Chief

Anshula grew up with a love of stories and places. Thirty-five states and 100 bookstores later, she's made her hobbit home in Middle Tennessee. Her Tookish side still takes over and leaves her chasing window seats, literary destinations, adventure books, sunrise coffee, and indie bookshops. She's appeared as a travel source on HuffPost, Reader's Digest, and MSN.

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I’m so glad you liked Love With A Chance Of Drowning! It’s one of my favorite books of all time.

Thank you for recommending it! I absolutely loved the book! xx – Anshula

The side note as the end of the post killed me ? I never thought about that. Have you read Under The Tuscan Sun? That’s a good travel romance.

Oh, I read it a long time ago! I’ll have to reread it (I think my initial thoughts were that the movie was more romantic than the book ?) xx – Anshula

You should read The Flatshare! Not a travel romance but a light and fun read.

I’ll look into it! Always on the lookout for a good book. xx – Anshula

Read On The Island by Tracy Garvis Graves. You’ll love it.

Oh, that sounds interesting. Thank you so much for the recommendation. I’ll try it! xx – Anshula

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Best Short Travel Stories: 15+ Bloggers Share Their Favorite Travelling Story

Table of Contents:

Every tourist has at least a few interesting travel stories to share. The more you are exploring the world, the greater the chance that you have experienced something unique. We’ve asked our blogging friends to share their most memorable experiences. Check out these awesome short travel stories and get inspired!

Best Travel Stories Including Romance

Love at first lettuce.

by Juliette from Snorkels To Snow blog

4 years later the hunky builder became my husband.

Adventure With A Stranger In France

by Barbara from Jet Settera blog

After our short meeting, we kept on chatting for about a month on Facebook and then we decided to meet up in Florence in a hotel room and explore Tuscany together.

We agreed on the itinerary and he flew in from Vienna and I arrived from Milano. We rented a Fiat500 and we traveled all around Tuscany for a long weekend.

We visited some of the most romantic cities in Italy , such as Siena, Lucca, Pisa, and Cinque Terre. It was an amazing adventure together.

We had lots of fun on the trip and we went on more trips after that. The conclusion of the story was that sometimes it is good to come out of your comfort zone and take a chance on a stranger, maybe he will be an excellent travel partner.

Scary Travel Stories That Will Give You Chills!

Jumped by an adult puma in the bolivian jungle  .

by Aaron from The Dharma Trails blog

Cheap, Bolivian vodka . That’s what got me there. Isolated, deep in the Bolivian jungle, with an apex predator wrapped around my body (and hot breath on my face).  

Volunteering at a Bolivian animal sanctuary I saw all kinds of monkey bites and scratches. It was common for backpackers to show off their fresh wounds at the end of each day. But no one had a story like this…

The weekly volunteer party got out of hand (the night before). Those with the appropriate big-animal training didn’t wake up or sign in to the morning’s meeting. I was there. Hungover, but there.   So, I agreed to help out with the puma (even though it normally requires months of training and animal integration/familiarity).

After an hour of trekking through the jungle, one of the team members and I reached the puma’s enclosure. The huge cat growled at me with a distinct sense of dislike. But that didn’t stop us from continuing our task.   We entered the caged area, attached two ropes to the puma’s “collar” and begun to walk him through the jungle.   

The puma, completely unpleased with my intrusion, stepped forward hesitantly. After only a couple of minutes, he stopped, looked back at me, and growled directly into my eyes. I watched helplessly as the puma leaped 10ft into the air towards me. In a split-second, his powerful legs wrapped around my waist, arms wrapped around my throat and fangs pressed into my forehead.  

I heard my team member scream. But I couldn’t move. Completely still, I assumed the worst. Yet, somehow it felt completely natural. The circle of life. The scream faded as I began to lose consciousness. Then, all of a sudden, I was released.   The animal let me go and stepped backwards.  

After swearing profusely, my team member yelled “stick your palm out towards him”. For some reason, I did.   The huge cat stepped back towards me and licked it. And, that was it. He knew that I knew, who was king of the jungle. After that we were friends.  

Volunteering with animals is a great way to give back while you  eco travel . Just be sure to pick places with adequate training if you don’t want to have bad travel stories like mine!

Getting Arrested in Gansu, China

by Wendy from the Nomadic Vegan blog

My short story about my travel experience is from Asia. On our first trip to China , one of the destinations my husband and I were most looking forward to, was visiting the Labrang Monastery. Located in remote Gansu province in the west of China , Labrang is a holy site and a place of pilgrimage for Tibetan Buddhists. 

At that time, neither one of us spoke any Chinese, and we were finding it frustratingly difficult to get where we wanted to go. We didn’t understand why all the bus drivers were refusing to let us get on the buses heading towards the transport hub from where all onward transport to Labrang left.

When one of them finally did let us on, he then forced us to get out on the outskirts of town, well before we reached the bus station. Confused, and not knowing what else to do, we started walking in the direction we thought the station was in. We didn’t get far before two police cars skidded to a halt next to us, and we were suddenly surrounded by six cops wearing S.W.A.T. badges on their sleeves.

They brought us to the head of the prefecture, who luckily was a very friendly Tibetan man who spoke enough English to explain what was happening. Unbeknownst to us, the Chinese government had recently made that part of Gansu off-limits to foreign tourists in light of protests by ethnic Tibetans in the area.

After treating us to a tasty lunch of vegetarian Chinese food , the head of the prefecture drove us back across the prefecture border himself and made sure that we got on a bus back to where we had come from.

We never made it to the Labrang Monastery on that trip, but at that point, we were just happy not to be in a Chinese jail. As I write this, we are in Mongolia, planning to cross back into China in a couple of weeks. We have been told that Labrang has reopened for foreigners, so 10 years later we are going to give it another shot. Hopefully, we don’t get arrested this time and we will only have amazing travel stories to share!

Snake Attack In Vietnam

by Lina from Divergent Travelers blog

We were just about to take a final stretch of country road and head onto highway 1 for the next leg when we saw something in the road ahead of us.

It was up ahead of Jon and it was the kind of thing you couldn’t really tell what it was until you were right on top of it. In an instant, we saw Jon whip his legs up as a huge snake lunged at his leg when his scooter sailed next to it. I was mortified as I am very afraid of snakes. The last thing I wanted was to have this thing striking at me as we cruised by.

We pulled over, laughed, and discussed the size of it while noticing a local man running down the road with a long stick. He was hollering at us excitedly and pointing at the road. Apparently, snakes of that size are worth well over 1.2 million dong and the man was bursting with excitement about catching the venomous beast.

Asking where it went, he moved into the grass at the edge of the rice field in pursuit. The movement caused the snake to flee into the rice paddies and the local man immediately gave chase into what became a dance between him and the snake. Each challenged the other until the man lept to the opportunity and seized the snake by the head with his bare hands.

He smiled proudly as he came back to the road, showed off the snake then as swiftly as he appeared, left us standing there while he made his way down the road back to his house. Snake in hand. You don’t see that every day! It was definitely one of these fun travel stories that we will never forget.

Dangerous Night Trip In Peru

by Danielle from the Like Riding Bicycle blog

Not every travel story is fun. I have many scary travel stories to share, including the one from Peru. Many years ago, when I’d just started traveling , I took a bus going through parts of the Amazon… at night. Apparently, this wasn’t the best call. Around 3 am I was alarmed to wake up to the bus stopped, and a man in a black mask with a huge black gun pointed at us all. He yelled in Spanish and everyone’s hands went up into the air, so I flung mine up following suit. Before long the men were marched off the bus, leaving us women, hands still in the air, to wait for what would come next.

I had a moment in which I thought: “What are they about to do with the men? What are they about to do with the women? What are they about to do with me, the only foreigner on the bus?” I was far from rich, but they didn’t know that.

After some time another man came on the bus, this time with a small silver pistol which he pointed at each of us as he robbed us blind. No one was physically harmed, though I knew that people who weren’t as fortunate to be a Westerner like myself lost more than they could afford to replace, which was a hard thing to realize. I couldn’t help, only sit there with my arms in the air.

So go to Peru – it’s amazing! – just don’t take a night bus through the Amazon!

Mutant Bugs Attack

by Nathan from Foodie Flashpacker blog

Although at the time it happened I wouldn’t have called it my best travelling story, now, looking back on it, it’s one of the best/funniest stories of my nearly three years of traveling. This all took place during my visit to Fez , Morocco in 2016.

The time I survived a direct attack to the face by killer mutant bugs from outer space. And then visited a vagina doctor with the world’s oldest x-ray machine to put my face back together again.

Long story short- one day I woke up with a face full of bug bites. The concerned guest house owner sent me to a pharmacist who then sent me to a doctor.

More specifically, I later learned, was that I had been sent to a gynecologist. We established that some large insects had attacked my face and I was in need of multiple medications. And, for reasons still unknown to me, an x-ray. At least I think he x-rayed me.

Being A Suspect In The Disappearance Of Girl In France

By James from The Portugal blog

One of the funny adventure stories that I have is from the time I found a 5-month housesit in the middle of the French countryside. It sounded idyllic, and perfect for me and my girlfriend at the time who had just started out as digital nomads. 

In reality, it wasn’t quite as idyllic as advertised. The biggest issue was the lack of internet; something which was supposed to have been installed by the time we arrived. But, we made do. We bought French sim cards with 3 GB of internet each (the max we could get at the time) and vowed never to look at YouTube or anything that might use lots of data for the entire 5 months.

It was all going perfectly until one day there was a knock at the door and two local French policemen were standing there. They began asking us what we were doing on the property and where the owners were. In the best French, I could manage, I explained the concept of house-sitting but I could see it wasn’t going over. 

Then, they showed us a picture of a girl who was missing. We hadn’t seen her and, in fact, didn’t know anyone in the town. We apologized that we couldn’t be of more help, thinking that was that. 

It wasn’t. One of the policemen then pulled out a printout of a forum conversation between the missing girl and someone who they believed was her biological father. Then in the forum conversation, they showed me a mobile number: my French mobile number. 

I didn’t know how to explain it apart from to say that it must be a typo, but that wasn’t good enough. They asked to see my computer and began looking through the search history. Then, obviously not buying my house sitting story, they asked where the owners were again.  

Unsatisfied, they told me to come into the station that afternoon for more questioning at 2 pm. I didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t enough time to find a lawyer or even a translator as they would probably have had to come from the nearest city. I opened Google Translate and tried to come up with as many useful sentences as I could, but it was hard to concentrate. 

At 2 pm on the dot I walked through the doors of the police station and when the policeman saw my worried face he burst out laughing. “Lucky for you, she showed up,” he said. And that, amazingly, was the end of that. I’ve never heard any more about this again. 

Lifechanging Short Travel Stories

Stepping out of a comfort zone in dubai.

by Michaela from Awe Inclusive blog

In 2014, I was scrolling through a Facebook group when I spotted a post claiming $200 roundtrip tickets to Duba (btw if you want to save on your next trip, check out this trip com coupon ). As is routine in that group, I confirmed the deal, checked my calendar, and booked tickets – no asking friends, no waiting for job approvals, and no overthinking. It would be my first trip alone.

I met Jibri during the layover. She got my attention and started chatting about travel deals and groups. During our small talk, I considered putting my earphones back in or making up a reason to excuse myself. Instead, I decided to embrace a new person and see where it could lead.

Not only did we exchange contact information to meet-up in Dubai, but we joined other travel group members who rented out a yacht for an afternoon cruise along the Persian Gulf.

It was totally outside of my comfort zone and totally what my comfort zone needed – to be stretched out of shape! I met amazing people and forged exciting friendships.

Dubai was life-changing. I learned to trust my abilities and instincts even when I had to improvise. I learned that strangers are just friends who haven’t met you. Most importantly, I learned that my suitcase was much lighter when I didn’t fill it with fear.

This year, I took a solo trip to Thailand and it was the absolute best. More solo trips are in my future as I continue to challenge myself to get uncomfortable and do more than I thought I could.

See also: Best travel stories from Thailand .

Beautiful Travel Friendship

by Viki from Chronic Wanderlust blog

I’ve been in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a few weeks now for my divemaster training. I spent every day in the water with customers and my instructor. I loved it! We shared the boat with another dive shop and I started to notice that they were also training a divemaster to be.

She seamed to be my age and so I started talking to her. Janice is from Canada and also madly in love with the ocean and all things diving. We started to hang out more and more and even became very good friends then.

She left Mexico a few days before I left, but we managed to stay in touch. For almost two years now we talk several times a week, she helped me through many things as a stupid breakup.

Last year I told her I was going back to Mexico for a few weeks and if she wanted to meet me there. She told me that she couldn’t manage with work. I had wanted to see her so badly! And I knew she wanted to be in sunny Mexico with me as well.

I remember the 30th of December when she told me that she had just bought the ticket and will be in Mexico the next day! I was beyond happy, I was going to see my best friend again. I was going to see her for the second time in my life and yet she knows more about me than any other person that I see more often.

I love how friendships can last over distance and time zones. Meeting Janice is definitely one of the best solo travel stories that I have.

Best Adventure Travel Stories

Hawaii adventure.

by Carole from Berkeley and Beyond blog

Even though I have many short stories about traveling the world, I want to share the one from Hawaii. I’ll never forget the time I landed on the remote Hawaiian island of Molokai and was told, “We have a wedding and two funerals on the island, and so we have run out of cars.” It was at about the same time as a popular movie with a similar title was out, so the statement had a humorous overtone.

However, since this was hang-loose Hawaii , I was assured by a mellow employee that all would work out and so there was really nothing I could do but relax into it. The car agency arranged for (and paid for) a cab to deliver us to our condo so we could check-in, and told us that the next morning someone would pick us up and deliver us to the mule ride.

Done, though we did almost miss our morning ride due to confusion regarding the meeting spot, but the point is we didn’t  miss it, and we were told by that driver that our car would be waiting in the parking lot for us after our ride.

And there it was! Pure Molokai magic.

Visiting A Real Quechua Village

by Gabor from Surfing the Planet blog

Although Machu Picchu is simply indescribable, it turned out that a totally improvised adventure left a much stronger mark on us. When we were staying at a Couchsurfer’s place in Cusco, we asked him whether it would be possible to visit a real Quechua village.

He said we could try, although we would have to find it out ourselves since these Quechua communities live quite far in the Andes and there’s no public transport to get there.

In the end, we got very lucky, since looking for transport in Ollantaytambo, we found out that the local doctor and other social workers were going to visit some of these tribes and they let us join them.

We were really happy because we had the chance to stay in a Quechua community, learn about their traditions, see the colorful clothes they wear every day and take part in their daily routine for some time. We often had to use hand gestures to communicate, since most of these people don’t speak Spanish, only Quechua. This is one of our most interesting travel stories and a real heart-warming experience that we will never forget.

Funny Short Travel Stories

Mistaking a brothel for a massage spa in china.

by Talek from Travels With Talek blog

Ah… cultural confusion.  One weekend I was in a part of Beijing I was not familiar with and decided to get a massage.  I remembered what appeared to be a massage spa nearby. The location didn’t look exactly like a typical spa, but I went in anyway.

The inside of the location had all the spa-like features which reassured me.  However, when the hostess approached me, she appeared apprehensive and asked me something in Chinese. I pantomimed a massage.  She disappeared into a dark room behind a beaded curtain. I could hear her and another woman speaking animatedly.

After some uncomfortable moments, the woman returned and lead me to a dimly lit, rectangular room with a massage table in the middle. I positioned myself as I normally would. A different woman came in and gave me a lackadaisical massage for about an hour. I paid and went back to my hotel.

The next day my colleagues and I discussed our weekend. I mentioned my massage at a location next to the Wanda department store. “Oh! That’s a high-end brothel” they said. They’re probably still laughing.

Crazy Travel Stories

Free helicopter ride.

by Kris From Nomad By Trade

My favorite travel story is from a business trip I took to a small town in Kentucky. One morning, my co-worker noticed that there was a helicopter parked out on the hotel’s lawn, which we thought was odd but pretty cool.

That week, we ended up befriending the helicopter’s pilot and his wife and talking to them at breakfast and the evening periods of light snacks.

He somehow offered to take us up for a free ride, so one morning before work, we each took a turn hopping in his helicopter and flying up and over town. He banked, dipped, and shot up to the sky like a rocket during our jaunt through the Kentucky skies.

I still find it funny that I wouldn’t get in a car with a stranger, but I had no qualms about hopping in a helicopter with one. I’ve been traveling on an almost weekly basis for work for six years and that’s still one of the coolest things that I’ve gotten to do on the road.

My Birthday In A Private Castle Near Prague

Crazy Flight With A Hyperactive Child

by Alexis from World Travel Adventurers blog

We’ve had our fair share of unforgettable and funny travel stories as parents traveling with a spirited 2-year-old and 4 years old, but this one still takes the cake. We think every parent who has ever flown with young children can relate.

We were on our way home from Salt Lake City to Baltimore, which is a 5-hour flight, so my husband had the brilliant (or so he thought) idea to sedate our energizer bunny son (whose nicknames include Taz, tornado, hurricane, wrecking ball, the destroyer) to make the long flight easier.

Having a wild toddler restricted to a seat for 5 hours is no fun for anyone, but a sleeping toddler sounded much more appealing.

We had given him Benadryl before when he was sick and it put him right to sleep like a charm, so we thought we were in the clear. It turns out, some kids have the opposite reaction to Benadryl and turn into hell on wheels.

Well, our son turned into that kid. I think everyone on the flight, especially the person sitting in front of him, wanted to kill him or at least put him in a straightjacket and a muzzle. The flight attendant, who used to be a nanny, could tell early on that something was up and had a hunch it was from Benadryl gone wrong.

In the midst of his craziness, I took him to the bathroom at the front of the plane to change his diaper. When we headed back to our seats, he took off running down the aisle full speed ahead. He was so fast and agile (being much smaller than me and able to maneuver through the narrow aisle like a star football player) that I couldn’t catch up to him until he had run the entire length of the plane.

My husband said he saw a flash go by his seat, and then saw me running after yelling my son’s name. He thought it was hilarious. I did not. We can both laugh about it today and will NEVER make that mistake again.

So to all my fellow parents of traveling youngsters, beware and never use Benadryl for a stress-free flight unless you’ve tested it a few times and are sure that your child will not turn into a Tasmanian devil. Unless you want to add something to your funny holiday stories collection, then go for it.

Meeting The President Of Ecuador

by Dane from Holiday From Where blog

My best travel story is from a time I was in a small city called Salinas on the south coast of Ecuador . I was just hanging with a local friend and surfing every day before I started to head north. I kept hearing about this wave that was really good and you couldn’t surf because you had to sneak through an air force base to get to.

One day my friend was telling me it was going to be really good, so, we decided to try and sneak in. In hindsight, it was really stupid. We were crawling on our hands and knees through some bushes on the bad side of a shooting range while they were actively shooting. We made it to the beach got changed and ran for the ocean.

We were in the water for all of 15 minutes when two large me with AK-47s appeared on the beach and started to yell and whistle. We got a few more waves and went in. The men were extremely un-impressed and very angry.

We knew we were doing the wrong thing but obviously played dumb. As we were about to get dragged off a man and his wife came over a small dune and just walked up to us. The man asked us how our day was and if we had a good surf we replied we did and he just smiled at us and walked off.

As he did my friend informed me that it was the President. Everything happened so fast and in no time we were in the back of a military vehicle being taken to a small building. I was out a short time later with a stern warning never to return. 

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Did you enjoy reading this post? Share your best travel story in the comments below!

72 Responses

Love it! Thanks for including our story. Traveling opens you up to so many incredible (sometimes hilarious) experiences so it’s great to hear about other memorable moments from fellow travel addicts!

It’s our pleasure, Alexis! Your story is great, thanks for sharing it :)

Pinoy TV is one of the few international channels that provide high-quality entertainment.

These stories are great. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina! Traveling the world is something I’ve always wanted to do, but have found it hard to make the leap.

Hey Karolina,

Very inspiring travel stories! Makes me want to book a flight now and create an amazing travel story ever told! ;) There is nothing more gratifying than traveling, yes you spend but you learn more. Been to many places and every story is just different and amazing!

These stories are inspiring and it makes me want to travel more. Cheers!

Some amazing stories in there! It’s amazing what opportunities can present themselves when you are travelling abroad.

There’s some incredible stories in there. It’s amazing to see what opportunities can present themselves to you when you are travelling abroad. We’ve got a lot of great memories and stories from our time abroad, can’t wait to get even more!

Getting arrested in China must have been an exciting experience. Luckily, no jail. So happy end.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina!……,! great story

Glad I enjoyed the post! Thanks for sharing this.

You’re welcome!

The only way to achieve happiness is to cherish what you have and forget what you don’t have

I really liked reading your post! Very high quality content and useful information. With such a valuable blog I believe you deserve to be ranking even higher in the search engines.

Thanks for your comment, Maria.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good stuff!

Incredible stories. Frankly, I envy people who travel freely, I hope that I succeed.

Such a kind of knowledge give by this stories.

Much Appreciated! Get your travel and tourism guide of top tourist places, attractions about travelling and exploration of the world.

Hey really Incredible stories.Appreciated your blog.Such interesting travel story.The details are very informative.I also love to travel.This stories inspires me to travel to my dream place.Looking forward to see more from you.

Thanks for your comment!

I’ve got no idea what I’d do if a snake lunged at me while on a scooter! Hopefully, I’d have the commonsense to hit the accelerator and keep going. Even non-poisonous snakes can be dangerous. And I’m guessing that the snake ended up as someone’s dinner or that seems be have been implied :/.

I also love to travel the world. Your story inspires me a lot

Your travel stories are awesome. I love to travel to other countries and experience every culture.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good .

thanks for sharing this info superb

Wow this is very interesting and amazing article for all travellers and I hope they will get lots of information from this article. It will also helpful for all beginners. Thanks for sharing this article to us..

Hey, it’s amazing way for our time . Thanks for sharing.

These short travel stories always teach me something new.

Its really amazing post for me. Thanks for sharing

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers. Thanks for sharing

Amazing stories! Thank you so much for sharing them. As a traveler it is exciting to hear new stories. It certainly makes you want to go out and travel again.

It was nice to be inspired by you, Karolina! Although I have always dreamed about traveling the world, I have struggled to make this step because it seems so risky.

Hey, I think it’s a great way to spend our time these days. That’s great that you shared that with us.

I love your all content keep share with us, keep shared with us.

thanks for sharing this info, superb article

I have been wondering where to travel across Europe. And getting exposed to this amazing stories has energised my travelling plans and the countries to visit. Thanks so much for sharing such a wonder and useful stories. Looking forward for more stories.

I am really happy with the quality and presentation of the article. Thanks a lot for keeping great stuff.

Travelling is one of the best way to create memorable stories.

What a great idea for a post and a wonderful collection of stories!

Thank you for this great sharing!

Thank god! The housesitter did not have to go to a Chinese prison. The whole incident was quite amusing.

Thanks for this site i like it.

Article was very lovely and all stories are great

All stories are lovely and amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling.

Traveling is one of the ways to create and be a part of stories. The travel stories in the blog are all interesting. I have also read stories on how travelers are set up by placing drugs in their luggage at airports.

Yeah however I am not sure if it’s true.

Thanks! i loved this site thanks for recommending.

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers.

Unforgettable

Such a great post thanks for sharing this with us and keep posting these are soo amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling. :)

thank you so much

Thank you. you have explained almost everything.

Great post.Thanks for sharing. You have explained almost everything.

all the stories shared are good and well explained.

Thanks for sharing this article it was quite insightful.

Thanks for sharing such information. I appreciate your hard work

Great post, Thanks for the information provided! Your post is so awesome. Keep it work and share your amazing post with us. Thanks again!

Thanks a lot for sharing this post. Your travel story is so amazing.

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!

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We are Karolina, Patryk, and Mia, the lazy traveling family. After spending 5 years as digital nomads, and living in many countries in the world, we decided to make Poland our base.

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Best Couple Travel Bloggers To Read and Follow

Published June 2, 2023

Written by:

Ben Beck is the director of marketing at Tortuga Backpacks. He is a recovering full-time RVer who traveled all around...

Jeremy Michael Cohen

Jeremy Michael Cohen is a co-founder of Tortuga. He also works as a screenwriter and director. Aside from travel and...

The Tortuga Promise

At Tortuga, our mission is to make travel easier. Our advice and recommendations are based on years of travel experience. We only recommend products that we use on our own travels.

Table of Contents

You’ve found a partner who shares your wanderlust. They’re even willing to hit the road with you for months or years at a time.

But how are you supposed to agree where to go, share one banking account, and stay a happy couple on the road?

The good news is that other couples have traveled together—successfully— and shared their answers to these kinds of questions. Get ready to dive into a world of wanderlust and relationship goals with this curated list of the 25 best couple travel bloggers to check out and follow. These travel duos have been exploring the globe hand-in-hand, sharing their stories, insights, and practical tips for couples who want to create unforgettable memories together .

From discovering firsthand accounts of their experiences to uncovering the most romantic destinations, these couples offer a fresh perspective on the joys and challenges of traveling together. 

Whether you’re seeking destination inspiration or looking for tips on maintaining a healthy relationship on the road, this collection of couple travel bloggers will be your ultimate guide. So grab a cup of tea, snuggle up with your partner, and give these blogs a try! If you’re searching for the perfect travel gear to accompany you and your partner on your next adventure, check out our Tortuga Travel Backpack .

TwoScotsAbroad.com

Gemma and Craig, two travel-enthusiastic Scots, started their award-winning travel site as an ultimate resource providing valuable guides and comprehensive packing lists. Their team works to bring you affordable staycation ideas and immersive global adventures. 

Fun Fact: The couple has hiked and boarded down an active volcano at Cerro Negro, Nicaragua.

DivergentTravelers.com

Divergent Travelers was started by Lina and David, a couple whose journey started with the simple desire to document their full-time travel adventures before transforming into an online resource for fellow wanderers. With 13 years of travel experience, their wealth of knowledge and stunning photography will inspire and guide you on your own epic explorations. 

Fun Fact: The couple had their honeymoon in Southeast Asia where they backpacked for three weeks through Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. 

FlyingTheNest.tv

Witness the incredible journey of Stephen, Jess, and their adorable daughter, Hunter, as they ignite their passion for travel and adventure. With over 2 million followers, they share their action-packed experiences on their blog and popular YouTube channel, Flying the Nest. 

Fun Fact: Stephen and Jess have explored over 80 countries, visiting iconic wonders like Machu Picchu and the Great Pyramids of Giza. 

GoatsOnTheRoad.com

In 2008, Nick and Dariece bid farewell to their life in Canada and started their quest to unlock the secrets of sustainable travel and living abroad. They provide guidance on making money online, empowering you to become your own boss while embracing a sustainable travel-fuelled lifestyle.

Fun Fact: Both Nick and Dariece taught at the Shane English School in Yangzhou, China, for a year.

ThePlanetD.com

Dave and Deb launched their award-winning travel blog in 2007 and have been inspiring and empowering travelers since. Through their detailed city guides, personal travel tips, and inspiring stories, Dave and Deb provide a wealth of information to help couples create extraordinary memories together.

Fun Fact : Dave and Deb cycled the Tour d’Afrique, the world’s longest cycling race, in 2008. Deb became the women ‘s champion of the race, while Dave achieved the remarkable feat of cycling every inch of Africa, from Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa.

MyTanFeet.com

Yeison and Samantha are a married couple based in Costa Rica, offering unique guidance on exploring Costa Rica as both a local and a foreigner. They share insider knowledge with over 20 years of experience, allowing you to discover Costa Rica like a true local.

Fun Fact: The most recent member of their team is Patacon, a puppy they rescued in 2018. 

GettingStamped.com

Getting Stamped is an authentic travel blog brought to life by Hannah and Adam. In it, they document their humble beginnings and various trips, as well as sharing family travel guides, tips, and reviews.

Fun Fact: They have a son and daughter named Atlas and Isla (born in 2019 and 2021 respectively) who they travel with as a family of four.

NeverEndingVoyage.com

Simon Fairbairn and Erin McNeaney are the fearless digital nomad couple who left behind their life in the UK in 2010 to explore the world. Their site features in-depth travel guides focused on uncovering hidden gems and popular destinations alike.

Fun Fact: Simon is the proud creator of Voyage Travel Apps . 

HoneymoonAlways.com

Dan and Michelle turned their love affair with travel into an exhilarating journey for others. As digital strategists turned globetrotters, they combine their expertise to curate breathtaking destinations, inspiring wanderlust among adventurers worldwide. 

Fun Fact: Dan and Michelle visited every resort in Sandals Jamaica to find the best ones for honeymooners.

AWorldToTravel.com

Since its inception in 2012, this award-winning travel and lifestyle blog by Inma and Jose has been a beacon of inspiration. Immerse yourself in their sustainable travel guides, uncover conscious living tips, and valuable resources for remote work. 

Fun Fact: Inma has traveled to over 60 countries whereas Jose is the blog’s official photographer. 

Backpack Me

Hailing from India and Portugal, Ashray and Zara’s travel adventures began when they left behind their lives in Dubai to explore the world. Their blog documents their travels, inspiring readers to break the status quo and travel freely around the planet.

Fun Fact : The couple has traveled to more than 50 countries around Latin America, Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and the Middle East.

PlacesOfJuma.com

Austrian travel bloggers Jürgen and Martina co-created their travel blog focusing on destinations across Europe and South-East Asia. They provide tips on the best road trip routes, accommodation suggestions, the best photo spots, and more.  

Fun Fact: Most recently, the couple visited Sofia, Bulgaria . 

TheWorldPursuit.com

Cameron Seagle and Natasha Alden are the travel-loving duo behind The World Pursuit. With an impressive tally of over 90 countries and counting, their travel blog is a treasure trove of captivating experiences, breathtaking photography, and invaluable travel guides. 

Fun Fact: The couple’s travel adventures have been featured in many popular publications, including Forbes and Business Insider . 

OurEscapeClause.com

Leaving their suburban life in the USA behind in 2016, they embarked on a thrilling journey of full-time travel and adventure. Through their well-researched articles, detailed itineraries, and personal stories, Jeremy and Kate strive to inspire others to discover the wonders of the world. 

Fun Fact: They have a pet dog, Ranger, who joins them in their travels. 

Nomadasaurus.com

The dynamic Australian couple, Alesha and Jarryd, fondly known as Lesh and Jazza, have been traveling since 2008. Their travel blog is a popular hub for couples seeking off-the-beaten-path travel guides, featuring a unique blend of journalistic storytelling and beautiful photography. 

Fun Fact: Alesha and Jarryd are both professional photographers. 

TravelAddicts.net

Laura and Lance—an adventurous traveling couple—invite readers to their travel blog, where they uncover interesting and unforgettable destinations, and share their expertise on how to maximize limited vacation time while infusing trips with convenience and excitement. 

Fun Fact: Since 2008, they have embarked on incredible expeditions across 45 countries, spanning five continents, including encountering Galapagos’ unique wildlife to indulging in Tuscany’s rejuvenating hot springs!

TwoDrifters.us

TwoDrifters is a blog dedicated to romantic travel and relationships by married couple Amy and Nathan. With their infectious passion and irresistible chemistry, they inspire couples worldwide to forge profound connections and infuse their lives with endless romance and thrilling escapades. 

Fun Fact: They once had the adventure of driving across Australia while living out of a campervan.

WeDreamOfTravel.com

Join Adam Marland and Sophie Clapton, the creators of We Dream of Travel, where they weave together captivating travel guides complete with awe-inspiring photography. They aim to encourage responsible tourism while igniting wanderlust through their enchanting imagery and invaluable tips. 

Fun Fact: Adam and Sophie are photographers who even create and sell picturesque yearly calendars featuring landscape shots from their travels. 

JustinPlusLauren.com

Justin and Lauren are a Canadian globetrotting duo hailing from Toronto. Their passion for exploration and outdoor adventures take center stage on their blog, where they share eco-friendly travel tips and capture the wonders of sustainable travel. 

Fun Fact: Theirs is one of the first vegan travel blogs created. 

TaleOf2Backpackers.com

Agni and Amrita are a married backpacker duo who traverse off the beaten path, unearthing hidden stories and extraordinary experiences across India. Visit their blog to unravel the secrets of India, including its vibrant festivals, ancient heritage, and invaluable tips to travel smart and sustainably.

Fun Fact: The couple’s trek in Amarnath is what served as their calling and catalyst for their love of travel.

FollowMeAway.com

Victoria and Terrence share their unwavering passion for travel on their blog, offering breathtaking inspiration and invaluable insights. Discover detailed itineraries, hidden gems, and expert advice tailored to create the ultimate travel experience. 

Fun Fact: The couple also dabble in fine-art travel photography which they showcase on their Instagram page. 

BoboAndChichi.com

Scott and Megan (aka Bobo and Chichi) took a leap of faith, leaving behind traditional careers to venture to Seoul where their travel chronicles first took flight. What began as a humble blog to keep loved ones informed soon blossomed into an indispensable resource for fellow expats and globetrotters seeking immersive experiences and expert guidance. 

Fun Fact: Bobo and Chichi won the Innovation Award for their film Budapest In Motion at the Traverse Creator Awards in 2019. 

LuxeAdventureTraveler.com

Jennifer and Tim are professional travel writers documenting their adrenaline-fueled escapades. On their blog, they weave tales of awe-inspiring adventures and share tips on long-term travel around the world, including accommodations recommendations and more. 

Fun Fact: They’ve visited 60+ countries on 4 continents and have lived in multiple cities in the U.S.

IvanKhrisTravels.com

Ivan, the Filipino blogger behind Dad On The Move, shares captivating tales of family travel, delectable culinary experiences, and the joys of involved fatherhood. Co-created with his wife, Khris, the blog aims to uplift and inspire, spreading happiness through one travel story at a time. 

Fun Fact: Ivan and Khris like to spend their weekends in in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. 

SandeepaChetan.com

What began as a year-long voyage turned into a lifelong pursuit of exploration and self-discovery for Sandeepa and Chetan. Their blog inspires visitors to evolve into conscientious global travelers while unraveling the secrets of diverse cultures, untamed landscapes, and the essence of humanity.

Fun Fact: The two participated in a TED Talk about making travel your teacher. 

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Ben Beck is the director of marketing at Tortuga Backpacks. He is a recovering full-time RVer who traveled all around the USA and now lives in Texas.   He also enjoys exploring National Parks, eating tacos, and traveling with the family.

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45 Funny, Heartfelt, Unforgettable Travel Stories

Adventurous Kate contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

I tell travel stories for a living. I do this because I can’t NOT tell travel stories — every experience I have is shaped in the moment and waits in anticipation to shoot out of my fingertips.

And I live to share those stories with an audience. As humans, we’re hard-wired to be influenced by storytelling, and I feel like stories are what inspire people to actually book a trip.

To be honest, though, compelling stories are what’s missing from most travel blogs today, where SEO-driven travel planning posts make up the majority of the content.

We have SO many great travel stories to tell. But we’re not telling them as often as we should. So I decided to share some of the best stories in one place.

I reached out to my travel blogger friends to share their most entertaining posts of all time. Nothing travel planning-oriented, nothing keyword- or affiliate-stuffed — just fun, entertaining stories that would make a stranger smile or laugh. And did they EVER pay off!

Each of these stories is a treasure. I hope you enjoy them.

Note: Due to COVID-19 and a dwindled demand for travel worldwide, travel bloggers have lost significant portions of their incomes. Between people not researching or booking travel and advertisers reducing their spend, many travel bloggers will be making a small fraction of their usual income for months.

The best thing you can do right now is find a story you like on this list and visit several pages on their blog. It costs you nothing, but your eyes on their display ads (no clicks necessary, we get paid by views!) will earn them some much-needed cash in a difficult time.

Want to help out even more? If you love one of these blog posts, sign up for their email newsletter. You can find mine here.

Table of Contents

Funny Travel Mishaps

Are you looking to read about crazy mishaps that happened on the road? Here are some good ones!

Possibly My Favorite Travel Poop Story Ever

Nomadasaurus

OMG. I had never read this one before but this is one of the funniest travel stories I’ve ever read!

Jared tells the story of when diarrhea hit at the worst time ever — on a Chinese bus — and where he ultimately ended up pooping!

Embarrassing Stories From My Travels

Legal Nomads

Jodi is well-known for being pooped on while traveling — 14 birds and one bat so far — but this post shared plenty more of those stories.

If you’ve ever wanted to know the most embarrassing way to ask where to catch the bus in Argentina, here it is.

Hooked on the Cook Islands: My Giant Wedgie

Neverending Footsteps

Lauren is well-known for her extensive list of disastrous “travel incidents” around the world.

This one involves a snorkeling trip where she accidentally flashed her vag to an entire boat of people, including a family with young kids.

I Have a Confession to Make

Journalist on the Run

Imagine being a travel writer who gets paid to stay in a luxurious resort in the Maldives. Dream job, huh?

Now imagine that you get hit by the worst diarrhea of your life while pretending that everything is normal as the staff gives you a tour! Janet lays out her experience in excruciating detail.

When a City Girl Goes Camping

Suitcase and Heels

I may be a city girl who took her first steps in a tent — but not all city girls take to camping so easily.

Melissa shares a camping adventure in Newfoundland that did not go as planned! (NEVER forget the bottle opener!)

An Ode to Señor Frog, The Worst Car in Cozumel

Emily Luxton Travels

What happens when you rent a weird pea-green car that looks like an emaciated Volkswagen Beetle? Well, you definitely get an adventure out of it, Emily shares.

Know this before you rent a tiny car on a Mexican island!

How to Have the Worst Day Ever in Phuket (and How to Turn It Around)

Why Wait to See the World

Sometimes you have a travel day when you hit disaster after disaster after disaster — and sometimes it’s when you’re on your first full travel day with your boyfriend, ever.

That happened to Steph in Phuket, but soon she found a way to turn it around.

The Time I Got Pissed On in Manila

Aussie on the Road

Continuing the bodily fluids theme, Chris shares a rather disgusting late-night incident in a hostel dorm.

This proves that sometimes fellow backpackers are the most horrifying thing you could run into on the road!

Terrible Travel Tales: Mishaps, Setbacks, and Comical Foibles of Globe Trotting

Year of the Monkey

From missing a flight at the last minute due to a nosebleed to getting mistaken for a child at the age of 32, this is a big list of stories.

Paroma shares her favorite travel mishaps she’s collected over the years, all in excruciating detail.

That Time We Got Held Hostage by Monkeys in Ubud

Bridges and Balloons

And I thought I was terrified in the Monkey Forest in Ubud — Victoria and Steve got TRAPPED in a house surrounded by monkeys and couldn’t escape!

One of my worst nightmares. They seemed to handle it well.

My Embarrassing Driving Experience in Ourzazate

Norbert had never driven stick before in his life — so when the car he rented in Morocco turned out to have a manual transmission, he figured he could just wing it and learn to drive stick that day. NOT SO MUCH!

As a fellow driver who has never driven stick, I felt this one.

Ayurvedic Massage, Not for the Modest

Jessie on a Journey

If you had the chance to get a massage for just $16 in the heart of Kerala, India, you would go for it, wouldn’t you?

Then Jessie found out that this massage was done naked. COMPLETELY naked. With lots of oil and boob massage.

Scary Travel Mishaps

Sometimes mishaps can be on the dark side — though often you’ll find aspects of them humorous in retrospect. Either way, you won’t want to miss these posts.

Disaster Strikes

Escape Artistes

When horseback riding in rural Mongolia, Theodora’s son fell and severely broke his arm…in the middle of absolute nowhere.

This kicked off a breathless emergency of trying to find healthcare in one of the most remote places on Earth. It’s a gripping read.

When Traveling Sucks: A Hospital Visit in Fez, Morocco

Foodie Flashpacker

What’s worse than getting bitten by a bunch of bugs in the night? Getting bitten by giant mutant insects whose bites swell up enormously…right in the middle of your forehead.

Nathan details the story of his medical incident in Morocco and a doctor’s office that looks straight out of Chernobyl.

When a Man Comes Knocking

Borderline Crazy Bloggers

One of the scariest things while traveling is when a man has fixated on you — and because the culture is so different, you’re not sure whether you should be afraid or not.

In this story, Marieke shares the story of an Indian man who showed up at her door and kept refusing to leave.

Tales of Romance and Love

Do you love stories about love? I bet you do!! Here are three stories that will make you believe in finding love on the road.

The Last Time I Saw You (Part Five)

This Battered Suitcase

This is an ongoing series on Brenna’s blog where she tells the stories of the loves she’s met while traveling.

This is a short story that feels like it’s much longer — an incredibly romantic dalliance with a French man on a tropical island, then how it all crashes down once returning to real life.

10 Love Stories From My Travels

Adventurous Kate

It’s been years, but this is still one of my favorite posts I’ve ever written. I share ten different love stories from my travels, and tell you the ten locations where they took place — but you have to use logic and deduction to figure out which location matches with each story.

Nobody has ever guessed all 10 correctly. Maybe you will.

Nacpan and Calitang Beach: One of the Last Starry-Eyed, Lovestruck Journeys of the Previous Chapter

Nomadic Experiences

Looking back to days on one of the most beautiful beaches near El Nido in the Philippines, Marky tells the story of a special girl and the sweet moments they shared on one of the most idyllic islands in the world.

They’ve long since broken up, but he gently holds the experience in his hand, frozen in time.

Unforgettable Travel Experiences

These are the moments that got us out of our comfort zone, introduced us to memorable characters, and turned us into better travelers — and people.

How I Met Gunther, The Best Taxi Driver in Vienna

Budget Traveller

Every now and then, you meet someone who restores your faith in humanity. Gunther the taxi driver was one of those people.

Not only did he defy the odds to get Kash to his bus on time, he was unbelievably kind about the dilemma that happened next.

The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done: Two Weeks Hiking Japan’s Kumano Kodo Iseji

Adventures Around Asia

The Kumano Kodo hike in Japan is one of the most famous spiritual pilgrimages in the world. Richelle was excited to get out of her comfort zone — then ended up doing the hike in convenience store waterproof pants.

Despite a very tough start, it turned out to be a fantastic experience.

Hiking in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Inside the Travel Lab

Sometimes the most magical travel experiences take place in the most remote areas.

Abi extols the romance and beauty and culture of these isolated villages of Morocco, yet wonders if bringing more travelers here would be a good thing.

What I Learned From Giving Up Meat, Alcohol, and Complaining in India

Ashley Abroad

When Ashley went to Rishikesh, India, for yoga teacher training, she went out of her comfort zone by staying sober, sticking to a vegetarian diet, and giving up complaining.

Did it work? In some ways, yes, and she learned a lot about herself from the experience.

The Thrilling Adventures of Super Boyfriend

No Place to Be

So your girlfriend has dropped her camera in the Nam Song river in Laos. Surely a lost cause, isn’t it?

Not for Poi — a.k.a. Super Boyfriend — who leaped to the rescue, underwater among the sharp rocks.

Alaska Road Trip: Our Top 12 Adventures

Alaska is a destination that so many travelers dream of — but the reality ends up looking different from what you pictured.

Mike and Anne share gorgeous photos and stories from their multi-year honeymoon.

Controversial Takes

A lot of bloggers swear that controversial posts are the way to get traffic. I agree, as long as you go about it the right way. By that, I mean make a point, be fair, and defend it well. And PLEASE don’t trash the Philippines just to get crazy traffic.

5 Reasons to Stop Hating on “The Instagram Girl”

Follow Me Away

It seems so fashionable to hate the “Instagram girl” with the popular travel account — after all, who really wears a ball gown on top of a mountain?

But in this post, Victoria points out why the hate is misguided and the reasons why we should be supporting women with unconventional careers.

8 Reasons Why You Should Never Go to Wales

A Dangerous Business

Sure, Wales is beautiful and fun and interesting to explore, Amanda writes — but do they REALLY need all those castles and myths? Come on, now.

(Let’s say some people didn’t quite get the sarcasm.)

5 Reasons Travel Just Totally Isn’t Worth It

travelingmitch

I’m sorry, why are we even traveling, anyway? It’s so annoying, Mitch says!

What if people don’t speak English? What if you’re forced to challenge your preciously held views? WHAT IF YOU GET LOST AND CAN’T GET UN-LOST?! Better stay at home.

Is a Backpack Just Another Word for “Female Mid-life Crisis”?

GrrrlTraveler

Turning 40 and continuing to backpack around the world as a single woman with no kids. It’s what Christine enjoys — but is this what she really should be doing at this age?

For her, the answer is yes — and this post really shows how deep our cultural norms can set.

8 Reasons Hiking Sucks

Food Fun Travel

When people love food and wine and music as much as Tommo and Megsy, it’s not surprising that they’re equally passionate about what they hate: hiking.

Who needs to go back to nature? Who likes going somewhere without pubs? Is it a bonding experience? Bonding in misery, maybe!

How-To Guides You Never Thought You’d Need

Travel blogs are a great place to learn something new! And often it’s something you NEVER thought you needed to know…

How to Throw Out Your Garbage in Germany

Ali’s Adventures

Who knew just the act of throwing out your trash was so ridiculous and complicated in Germany?!

Ali shares what she’s learned as an expat in Berlin. Also, the comments are a gold mine.

How to Use the Toilet in India

BreatheDreamGo

Worrying about stocking up on toilet paper? Indians don’t use toilet paper at all!

India expert Mariellen shares all the tips for using the toilet in an unconventional (better?) way, and shares a hilarious video from Wilbur Sargunaraj.

How to Survive a Power Outage like a Puerto Rican

Indecisive Traveler

Reese spent years living in Puerto Rico, and during that time she went through quite a few power outages, including a four-day outage in 2016.

Step one? Immediately buy all the cold beer you can and take it home!

Big on Bidets: How Do You Use a Bidet and What is a Bidet For?

LL World Tour

Have you ever stopped in your tracks at the sight of a bidet in a bathroom in Italy or France and not known exactly how to use it?

Lisa shows you what you need to know. Because there’s nothing better than a clean anus!

Quirky Stories from the Road

All of us love to travel for the unusual things we discover on the road. Here are some of the best stories of unusual discoveries while traveling.

The Peens of Pompeii

Domestiphobia

Did you know that the ancient ruins of Pompeii are filled with penises? WELL, YOU DO NOW!

Katie visited the ruins for a day and was struck by how you can find a peen outline just about everywhere you look.

The Funniest Farm Market Sign in Southwest PA

Around the World L

Proof that there’s lots to be loved here in lesser-known parts of the US.

I love this sign that Lillie shared from a farmer with a side of sass!

Pictures of Cats and Dogs in Naples, Italy

2 Food Trippers

Naples is one of the greatest food cities in Italy — if not all of Europe — so it’s no surprise that the felines and canines of this city are as plump as they are adorable!

A cute post from Daryl and Mindi.

Sheep Driving Distractions in the Lake District

Raulerson Girl Travels

The Lake District of England is a wonderful place for a scenic drive…if it weren’t for the kamikaze sheep who leap right in front of your car!

I didn’t believe how fearless the sheep were until I saw Heather’s crazy photos.

How Creepy is the Ringling Brothers Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida?

My Wanderlusty Life

You don’t have to be afraid of clowns to be creeped out by this weird museum, Ashley opines.

If you’re a hardcore circus fan, sure, knock yourself out! Other people? You don’t know what you’re getting into…

Lady Fails at Grocery Shopping

A Lady in London

Who knew it was so hard to grocery shop in the UK as an American? (Me. Boy, do I know that.)

Turns out none of the items are the same as what you would look for in the US (no tomato sauce ANYWHERE!) and Julie struggles to find normal items she just wants to cook.

Transportation in India: What the Tuk-Tuk?!

Traveling Canucks

Tuk-tuks are one of the most common forms of transportation in India — and they can be TERRIFYING.

Nicole and Cam vividly share every detail of a typical tuk-tuk ride, from near-accidents to carefully maneuvering around cows, and you’ll be white-knuckling it along with them.

That Time Angie Made Us Stay in a Sex Motel

Living the Dream RTW

When Jeremy and Angie had to spend the night in a Colombian border town, Angie chose a nondescript hotel.

Well. Turns out it was filled with a wide cadre of “hourly” guests all night long — and the walls were paper-thin.

You know…these funny posts don’t fit anywhere else, so here they are.

50 Amazingly Achievable Things to Do Before You Die

Fevered Mutterings

Forget those usual bucket list items — go skydiving! See Machu Picchu! — and focus on things that you CAN do. Trip on a shoelace. Use a leaf as a bookmark. Walk into plate glass.

Mike makes sure you’ll finish this post with a smile on your face.

8 Places to Travel in Case of a Zombie Apocalypse

Amateur Traveler

So once the zombie apocalypse actually hits, where should people be going? Chris shares his favorite spots, including Louisville, home to the famous baseball bat.

I have to admit, the isolated Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha is an inspired choice.

8 Funny Facts About Traveling With Your Twin

Slow Spirit

Guilherme and his twin brother Gregório are identical twins who travel together — and they are VERY distinctive-looking. They get photographed nonstop, people who meet them individually refuse to believe there are two of them, and yes, they play a lot of pranks.

I laughed out loud at their hostel prank!

Thanks for reading! We loved sharing these posts with you.

Which one of these stories was your favorite? Share away!

15 Fantastical Time Travel Romance Books

Last Updated on November 29, 2023 by Louisa

Time travel has always been something that’s both fascinated me and intrigued me. Paired with romance, and you’re on to a winning romance trope!

Time travel love stories can be truly enthralling as love is explored between characters across different periods and places. 

As readers, we have often been whisked away to faraway moments in history beyond our imagination and knowledge, whether in the past to 17th-century Scotland or the future when Martians have conquered the earth.

And this makes time travel romance books so gripping for me; it’s not just the romance story but what I learn about history and cultures in a time beyond the one I know.

If you’re looking for a special time travel romance book that combines creative imagination, history, and love, then you’re going to love these 15 books… 

Affiliate Disclosure : This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through any of these links. 

What To Expect From Time Travel Romance Books?

Time travel romance books are known to combine elements of science fiction, adventure, and romance.

What I love about this genre is there are no limits. You can soar into a dystopian future, or back in time to a regency period.

Wherever your time travel plot takes you, you can expect to be taken on an imaginative journey where love transcends time and space.

These books often feature strong-willed characters from different eras or dimensions, who find themselves drawn to each other even though they are separated by time or circumstance.

Being from different generations and time periods, there are often cultural clashes, and different opinions on values, morals, or ways of courtship.

The character dynamics are one of the biggest reasons to read a time travel romance book, and they will be sure to have you questioning your own values and morals in today’s world.

Best Time Travel Romance Books

Now you know a little bit about the main features of the genre, it’s time to show you my favorite fantastic time travel romance books to leave you wishing time travel was real. 

1. A Highlander For Hannah – Mary Warren 

A Highlander for Hannah is a warm and easy-going, time-travel book with a slow burn romance story.

As the title suggests, the story is about the heroine Hannah and her budding relationship with Graham. Graham is a Highlander from the 1700s. 

Hannah summons Graham with a love spell purchased at a Renaissance Fair. Eventually, Hannah has to listen to her heart and decide if she wants to send Graham back to his own time at the next equinox.

Many readers describe this book as charming. Where many time travel stories can be action-packed, this story is more light-hearted and a book to cozy up with. 

View it on:

2. The River of No Return – Bee Ridgway

The River of No Return is an action-packed read. The story tells of Nick Devanant, who was set to die during the Napoleonic Wars but finds himself in London in 2003.

He eventually settles down as a farmer in Vermont. 

Nick is also a part of a time-traveling organization that is involved in intrigue and spying across different eras.

Previously a Lord, Nick navigates his new life while shadowed by The Guild (a guild of time lords), who want him on an assignment in the past. 

Nick also meets Julia, a woman from a neighboring estate.

Their romance is explored through all the action and mystery of Nick’s life as a spy and time traveler for the Guild. The mystery and romance are sure to leave you curious. 

3. The Winter Sea – Susanna Kearsley 

The Winter Sea tells the story of Scottish author Carrie, who treads the fine line between fiction and reality.

As a writer, Carrie starts recounting memories of her characters’ lives. A more imaginative way to explore time travel, this book transports you back to 17th-century Scotland. 

The time travel is done as Carrie recollects vivid memories of her book’s fictional characters. However, the reader is left curious as to what memory is, what imagination is, and what reality is.

The book also explores a secretive and tense romance between Carrie and her landlord’s son, Graham.

A more unconventional way to explore time travel, this story jumps back and forth through the visions of the heroine. A book that will spark your curiosity and leave you guessing til the end. 

4. Beautiful Wreck – Larissa Brown

Beautiful Wreck is about a girl who travels back in time and falls in love. Though it’s not anything new in terms of plot, it has been well written and the world-building is excellent.

Ginn is a virtual reality designer who surprisingly finds herself in 10th-century Iceland. Ginn’s current reality is dull as she exists in a future that is desolate and void of the romance she is craving. 

The book tells the story of how Ginn surprisingly finds herself in Viking Iceland!

She starts to enjoy the simple and homely life of the village she finds herself in and meets and falls in love with a native Icelandic Viking named Heirik. 

Although she finally finds the romance she has always wanted, she learns that love is much more complicated than expected. Henrik is reserved and tormented by what he believes is a curse. 

Penetrating his heart and also fighting against forces that try to tear them apart, this time travel romance lives up to the name of its title, a beautiful wreck.

5. A Knight in Shining Armour – Jude Devereux

A Knight in Shining Armour is a classic time travel romance book by author Jude Devereux .

It tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with a real knight from the Elizabethan age in England.

The book unpacks the love between the heroine Douglass, a young teacher, and a medieval knight, Nicholas.

Douglass is in a dating relationship with a doctor who treats her poorly, and only when meeting Nicholas can she experience true love. 

Although the book is about finding true love, it also shows that love between people from different decades can be challenging. Nicholas and Douglass are tested when they are separated from each other to go back to their times. 

This book will captivate your heart as you become invested in the fight for love between the two main characters.

They fight to discover why Nicholas has come to the current day and how to save his life in the past. 

This is a must-read for fans of time travel, romance and adventure genres, as it combines all three in an unforgettable story.

6. What the Wind Knows – Amy Harmon

What the Wind Knows follows the protagonist Anne as she surprisingly finds herself in Ireland in 1921.

The context is war, and we also glimpse Anne’s inner turmoil as she struggles with hurt and navigates the past.

You are introduced to the history of The Irish Revolution in the 1920s and also to a mysterious doctor named Thomas Smith.

The book explores Anne’s struggles as she begins to fall in love with a man who becomes involved in the war.

Readers are mesmerized by Amy Harmon’s poetic writing and ability to capture the love and heartbreak between Anne and Thomas. 

What the Wind Knows brilliantly weaves history, love, and social commentary into one book.

7. In A Holidaze – Christina Lauren

In A Holidaze is a different take on time travel where the main character Maelyn (Mae) is stuck in a time loop.

She travels back in time, but again and again. She is given a chance to re-live the past as she sees fit.

The book’s romance is not too heavy as it’s about Mae’s budding crush on her friend Andrew. Reliving the past gives her the courage to express how she feels about him finally. 

Set during the Christmas season, it is also festive. This is a friends to lovers romance book with a story that is great for a casual, fun, and upbeat read.

8. Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This is a charming story about a coffee house in Tokyo that allows people to travel back in time.

It follows the story of four people who want to travel back in time.

Examining the reasons we love Before the Coffee Gets Cold provides insight into the motives behind love.

One story follows a wife as she travels to the past to meet her husband again and explores love with sincerity and honesty. 

Time travel in this book is not without its rules. Time travelers must return to the present in a stipulated time, and their journeys prove interesting. 

A moving and emotional read, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s novel is for those who want to dive deeper into time travel and deeper into love. 

9. Time and Again – Jack Finney

Time and Again is not only a love story between the main character Simon and Julia but a love story about New York…

The story tells of a 1970s man Simon traveling back to 1882 to solve a mystery plaguing his heart. 

This is one of the historical time travel love stories that is also an ode to the city in which it is set. New York is the third love in this book, with the author Jack Kinney capturing the city in its early years. 

His writing is gripping and makes it feel like you have been transported back to New York.

The romance is also a tale of choosing to follow the head or the heart, as Simon is torn between the present and the past.

10. Ruby Red – Kerstin Gier 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is a witty and lively story of young Gwen who lives in London but soon learns that she can time travel.

A time travel gene runs through her family, although she does not expect to be someone who can time travel.

Soon she is catapulted into time travel suddenly and an unexpected romance. To tell you who the romance is with would spoil the book. You would have to find out by yourself. 

The book is fun and an excellent read for younger readers.

The heroine is 16 years old, and we see the world through her eyes. Described as a clever story, Ruby Red is the easy-going read for your next pick-me-up book.

11. In Five Years – Rebecca Serle

In Five Years is a time-travel romance that fast-forwards to the future!

The main character Dannie finds herself 5 years in the future (through a vision, or is it a reality?), living a life she did not anticipate. She is living with a random man who is not her current fiance.

The book follows Dannie as she unpacks her life 5 years in the future.

A future she is not familiar with but one with desirable possibilities. In this book, time travel is a tool that helps her to ask, what does she want?

It leaves the reader also wondering, what if I could get a picture of my future? Would I change anything?

The author’s writing style is poetic and evocative, with descriptions that transport you to different times and dimensions.

12. Somewhere in Time – Richard Matheson

Somewhere in Time is a beautiful story of love that lasts the test of time and different periods.

It explores the complications that exist for a modern man as he falls in love with a famous actress in San Francisco in 1896.

The author, Richard Matheson, writes this book intricately and can describe the love between the two characters with warmth.

We learn about love at first sight and are taken away by the chemistry between the two main characters. 

The time travel aspect is a unique and interesting vehicle that drives the plot, but at its core the story is about love, sacrifice, and second chances.

This book is also excellent for anyone who loves reading books about historical America and San Francisco. 

13. More of Us to The West – Trinity Dunn

More of Us to The West tells of heroine Alaina’s budding romance with Jack as they are both stranded on an island after their plane crashes.

The only problem is that Alaina is already married to Chris. 

She struggles to make sense of her new romance and how Jack and she ended up stranded on an island, along with 11 other strangers.

The reader is torn between the past and the future as Alaina tries to make sense of her heart as she is torn between Chris and Jack. 

The book also lures you with a mystery you will be dying to solve, making it hard to put it down.  

14. Return Once More – Trisha Leigh

Return Once More tells of 16-year-old Kaia, part of a time-traveling group known as the Historians.

Set in the future where humans live on other planets, Kaia grows up quickly as she is taught to be a Historian.

She is tasked with going back in time to witness important events. 

Young and brave, Kaia is lucky enough to be told who her “True One” is. Learning that her true one is her soulmate, she is eager to meet him. 

This story explores Kaia’s relationship with her “True One,” Caesarion. Caesarion happens to be Cleopatra and Caesar’s son from the past! 

Expect nothing less than a creative and original narrative set in the future but also an exotic past.

This book does a great job of depicting a romance across two different cultures and timelines.

15. A Thousand Pieces of You – Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces of You joins heroine Marguerite as she travels through time and a different universe. Marguerite is on the hunt to solve a mystery close to her heart. 

Marguerite’s parents are the inventors of the Firebird, the machine that allows her to jump from one exciting universe to another.

While focused on her mission, she finds love along the way in the most unexpected places!

This book does a great job of exploring the heart of a young girl keen on an adventure but also open to love.

Part mystery, part romance, this book is a fast-paced and action-packed book that is great for younger readers. 

Like this post? Don’t forget to save it on Pinterest!

Final Word on Time Travel Romance Books

So there you have it, those are the best time travel romance books. As you can see, there are a lot of great novels to choose from!

I hope you found something on this list that sparks your interest. If you have any more suggestions, let me know in the comments.

About Louisa Smith

Editor/Founder - Epic Book Society

Louisa is the Founder, Editor, and Head Honcho of Epic Book Society. She was born and raised in the United Kingdom and graduated from the University for the Creative Arts with a degree in Journalism. Louisa began her writing career at the age of 7 when her poetry was published in an anthology of poems to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Upon graduating university, she spent several years working as a journalist writing about books before transitioning to become a Primary School Teacher. Louisa loves all genres of books, but her favorites are Sci-Fi, Romance, Fantasy, and Young Adult Fiction. Read more Louisa's story here .

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“ life in the woods with my microwave ” by robert egan.

In 1845, a journeyman by the name of Henry David Thoreau set out to tame nature. In his head were plans for a steam-powered chainsaw. His goal? To prove that one man alone could level an entire forest and remake it in his own image. Within two year's time, Thoreau had toppled every tree for miles around and built a boardwalk empire that spanned Walden Pond, a place of power where cheerful clouds of smoke replaced woodland canopy and sounds of industry blighted out birdsong. So began the Age of Mechanicism as America freed itself from romanti...

“ The Joyriders Club ” by Howard Halsall

Chewing Juicy Fruit during a Border Enforcement interrogation isn’t a great idea.   “Lose the gum, kiddo!” Officer McNally said, reaching for his waste basket.    “Who says so?”   “You’re on the Moon now,” he said, proffering the bin. “That’s our rule here.”    I had one last chomp on the gum, plucked it from my mouth in a pincer movement and flicked it into the hovering receptacle.   “Thank you, Erika,” McNally said, passing the bin to his fellow officer, w...

“ The Eternal Occupant ” by Kirti Rajwekar

The worst part about being built to last, is lasting when nothing else does. Through floods, droughts, and fires, reigns, conquests, and revolutions. Nothing remains, not the roses bordering my walls, nor the vines anchored to my stone. They wither and decay, giving way to quivering buds and tendrils to reign over the arches and notches that were once home to their ancestors. This is also a habit of the occupants within my walls. For a precious few decades, they call me home, then they grey and wither, leaving me to the fresher-faced, who gr...

“ Everything, in Time ” by Cassie P.

Ariana sat at her computer, squinting at the screen through a pair of glasses. Hot rod red frames were paired with iridescent black lenses. It was the only indicator of their true value. Her fingers caught on the frames as she ran a hand through her hair, a childhood habit survived to adulthood. Set into the ceiling, the fluorescent lights hummed. They had been her bosses' attempt to hasten the work day; something to allow 9-5 to pass in the span of four hours, rather than eight. The other employees had certainly appreciated it, citing varia...

“ Fifteen Seconds ” by Rachel Hudson

Fifteen.Elsie’s eyes fluttered open, peppering the darkness with distant stars. Shards of metal and plastic streamed before her, and her outstretched hands bore the marks they left behind. Long, blonde hair floated before her eyes, threatening to obscure the space station from her vision entirely.Fourteen.The side of the space station gaped open. A fiery tongue twitched out and dissolved as it licked the hollow air, trailing smoke through aimless splinters. As the pieces silently crumbled before her, one word forced its way to the front of E...

“ The Shadow of Time ” by Maya Fremon

He told me something that I barely believed, he told me “to live in the presence of love is to live in the sun as a sunflower”.He said it fuels us. He said we lean towards it all the time, even when it’s hot enough to burn us.When we locked eyes, I felt the pull. My love was the sun.I had never been brave enough to freeze, even when I felt so happy I would rather live in one place forever than feel anything different. I never felt like I could freeze, even when what to say was on the tip of my tongue; when holding a moment in my ha...

“ DEJA VU ” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Five bone dice crumbled to dust before their eyes.“What was that?” Thom’s mouth gaped.Silence descended. No insect or bird sounds. Then it started; the earth beneath them vibrated, then shook perceptibly. The three looked at each other.“I don’t like this,” said Victoria.“I think you should both leave the Island. Who knows what will happen? I’ll have to stay,” said Marcus.“What about the others?” she said.“They’ll fend for themselves,” said Thom. “There is the boat and a plane if they decide to go. This dilemma will distract them. What will y...

“ The Perfect Moment ” by Scott Taylor

In the year 2027, the fabric of time frayed. It began gently, like a whisper in the wind, but soon, the world felt its tremors. The study of Wandering Black Holes was primarily focused on by celestial physicists and science fiction writers. The cessation of communication from probes sent to the solar system’s outer regions prompted swift action from NASA and the military complex. Using their state-of-the-art space-based telescope, Ginger Johnson, a NASA expert in celestial mechanics, studied a recent phenomenon that appeared in the night s...

“ Andyne ” by Angela Hepworth

Andyneby Angela Hepworth Laryians and humans alike shrink back when Andyne rips through the main floor of the castle. The sound of her iron boots hitting the floor, clanking and clattering along with her long, powerful strides, sends the loud, ravenous hall of Freepallian soldiers into silence every time without fail. Queen Sylvia’s first in command, a warrior fiercer than any other, Laryian or human, male or female—Andyne was nearly a queen in her own right, commanding respect with her mere presence alone. Today, certainly, was no excepti...

“ The Dancer in the Box ” by Erin Doherty

There I sat displayed proudly in the shop window. It was said that I was the most beautiful and treasured possession of the jeweller and that he would sell me to only the noblest of men and ladies. Let’s face it, I am worth a fortune. There I stood elegantly on my tip toes wearing the finest silk that was blush pink. My hair tied neatly in a bun. My ballet slippers in the same matching pink satin.Behind me was a gleaming mirror, that I could gaze upon myself with every graceful turn as I danced to the gentle sweet music that played. Only at ...

“ Time After Time ” by Jim Gray

MondayI love to watch you sleep on a while each morning. When you finally awake, you stretch like a god cat, before wiping the sleep from your eye. This is my favourite part of the day. A moment of peace before we rise and join the others on the hunt. Through our tent door, the last cool of the night slinks away, and the warm of Ra’s beauty knocks loud, insistently calling us both to the service of our Pharaoh, Ramses.This has been our happy life these last seventeen years. Years that I wouldn’t change for all the gold in the great pyramid. ...

“ Love in 4D ” by Kenton Ward

Love in 4Dby Kenton E.H. Ward I loved you before. I love you now. And I’ll love you again. I can’t save you. Can’t warn you of what’s coming. It’s October 2023, and I’m with you in the bathroom, checking your back for a bruise. It hurts so badly you swear there has to be one. “Did you sleep on it wrong?” I ask, even though I’ve already seen what’s waiting in our future. I’m with you in our favorite restaurant. It’s July 2008, and it’s raining hard. You can’t look at me. I’m angry, too—furious that I can’t understand you or make you understa...

“ Lost and Found ” by Brian Haddad

I was trembling like a vibrating massage tool. It wasn't possible. I didn't want to look. My landlord's words haunted my memories. "Just don't, for any reason, go into the attic." At the time I had shrugged it off. The rent was affordable and the location convenient. Everything was perfect, so why worry about the attic?I let my eyes drift back to the attic access hatch in the ceiling and I realized my heart was pounding furiously. I could hear the blood coursing through my constricted, tense blood vessels. I watched, hardly breathing, as the...

“ A Pandemic Memoir ” by Alexandra Gheorghe

Day 600 "People have forgotten how to be human... They are losing themselves one by one and are bored by the abundance of life passing through their hands. Steps feel lost on the stairs of buildings that rise higher each day as if they aspire to rebuild the Tower of Babel. Researchers nowadays see themselves as minor gods and race towards vanity, losing sight of the fact that every particle within them defies immortality, being mere mortals after all. Our perfect ambitions have made us forget to look back at the earth that holds our roots. W...

The Best New Romance Short Stories

Romance is having its moment. And it’s no surprise: readers have always loved the intrigue, intimacy, and basic human drama that all good love stories promise. However, while this ‘shameful’ genre was once read behind locked doors (are you team Edward or team Jacob?), our desire for a little romance in almost every story we read is no longer a badly-kept secret. Fuse that with the form of a short story, and you get something that is even more exciting, sexy, and compulsively readable. 

Be it a sweeping romantic adventure, or a cute love story about meeting your true love on a blind date, we are absolutely here for it! And sometimes, rather than capture a single moment in the lives of two lovers, short love stories manage to tell a whole turbulent love story — from meet cute to the end. Are these perhaps the most gut-wrenching of all? 

Looking to indulge in some romance short stories?

This page is home to all the romantic short stories submitted to Reedsy’s weekly writing contest. Penned by authors of all ages, from all over the world, there’s a short love story for everyone in this free collection. Whether you’re looking for star-crossed lovers, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, or LGBTQ+ lovers, our Reedsy Prompts authors will not let you down. And if you take a look through the stories at the top of the page, you’ll find all those that have been shortlisted by our panel of judges (and maybe even a couple of prize-winners!), so you’re sure to stumble across some of the best writing on the web. If you do, don’t forget to “follow” the author so you’ll be notified whenever they submit new romance short stories. 

Have you got any short love stories hidden up your sleeve? Then why not join in our weekly writing contest — and you might even get your hands on our cash prize (plus a shot at publication in Prompted , our new literary magazine )!

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Historical ties between Indonesia and Australia's top-end illuminated after photo discovery unravels a family mystery

A young man stands on a beach, watching the water.

Behind him is everything he's ever known – his country, his family, the rhythms of life on a small, isolated island.

Ahead? A hazy horizon, and a foreign boat crew about to sail beyond it.

As the tide begins to turn, he has a big decision to make.

Soon he is on the boat, wind whipping his curly dark hair, on a historic, international voyage that's being pieced together for the first time in more than 150 years.

This is a personal story of heartache, lost love, and splintered families.

But it is also sweeping in scale, illuminating a little-known era in the history of the Australian continent, when the first waves of international travel created a web of cross-cultural romance and relations.

"The man in the photos is Dirrikaya, and he was my great-grandfather," says Sylvia Tkac.

"He went overseas and had a family we've never met — and he wasn't the only one.

"So it's like a love story — and it's wild."

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this article contains images of people who have died.

A photo mystery

The identification of Dirrikaya brings full circle a history mystery triggered by the discovery of a trove of black and white photos in a dusty Italian museum collection in 2011. 

The portraits were taken in the Indonesian port city of Makassar in the 1870s and show a group of Indigenous people from Australia — including a young child.

The photos raised many questions.

Who were the young men, how did they get to South-East Asia, and how many other First Nations people moved overseas prior to contact with British colonisers?

Ms Tkac was at her home at Groote Eylandt on Australia's remote north coast when she first saw the photos broadcast on ABC News in early 2023.

"My cousin Amos rang me and goes, 'Guess what, those photos on ABC are our great-grandfather Dirrikaya.'

"I was so shocked!" she exclaims.

"And he started telling me about how our ancestors had sailed away to Indonesia with the visiting fishermen."

It is impossible to prove beyond doubt that the man in the photos is Dirrikaya. 

But local families say the body markings, physical resemblance and oral history make for a compelling case.

Who was Dirrikaya?

According to family lore, Dirrikaya was a slender teenager when he made the fateful decision to sail overseas.

He was an Anindilyakwa man, who bore scars etched in flesh during coming-of-age ceremonies.

"That scarification, only the men have that, not the women," explains great-grandson Amos Wurramarrba.

"He would have been a strong cultural man."

Dirrikaya's ancestors are believed to have lived on their island archipelago for thousands of years before the Makassans arrived.

Anindilyakwa country covers several islands on the eastern edge of Arnhem Land, a mere 600 kilometres from the Indonesian archipelago.

In the 1600s and 1700s, as the trading of spices and seafood escalated across the Asia-Pacific region, things began to change for tribes across the northern coast.

Waves of Asian fishing crews from Makassar —   the Dutch-run port of the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi — began to arrive. Sailing south with the trade winds, they set up camps on local beaches for months to harvest sea cucumber on an industrial scale.

It appears they were cautiously welcomed by local Aboriginal tribes who recognised a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"We gave the Makassans permission to get pearls and trepang [sea cucumber] and in return, they traded cloth and rice and knives and hooks," Ms Tkac explains. 

Over the decades the visits became more regular.

Indonesian words were incorporated into local dialects, and the arrival of the Makassan boats woven into ceremonial dance and rock art still scattered in caves and cliffs.

Romances formed between the visiting fishermen and local women, resulting in babies and complex, cross-cultural family trees.

And, at some point, Aboriginal people started moving overseas with the visiting fishermen.

Among them was Dirrikaya.

'He wanted adventure'

It's thought the men and women who boarded the boats did so voluntarily.

"Think about it – you're on this isolated island, and you're offered the chance to sail away – I think he wanted to go," Ms Tkac says.

"I think Dirrikaya wanted adventure."

Mr Wurramarrba agrees.

"It feels good to be here, in my great-grandfather's footprints," he says, gazing out across the wind-rippled bay from where Dirrikaya departed.

"I think he and the other men that left with him wanted excitement and they wanted to travel.

"But the problem was Dirrikaya didn't tell his family where he was going, so they thought he must have died and were wailing for him."

According to oral history, a total of four Anindilyakwa men set sail with the foreign crew. 

Not long after, the boat docked in the bustling port city of Makassar.

Clues buried in historic documents

Little is known about Dirrikaya's years in Indonesia.

But there's growing evidence that a significant number of Aboriginal people were living there at the time.

In 1824 the Dutch governor-general wrote in his journal of seeing Aboriginal people from Australia walking the streets.

"They are very black, tall in stature, with curly hair, long thin legs, and, in general, are quite well built."

But the black and white photos are the only visual evidence that has surfaced of their presence during   this period.

The studio portraits were taken in Makassar in 1873 by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari.

At the time he was travelling through South-East Asia, documenting the mix of people and cultures he encountered.

The same year he took the photos, Mr Beccari wrote in his journal:

"To Makassar come some [boats] every year from northern Australia … and Indigenous Australians are not uncommon in Makassar where you see them moving about in the streets."

His photographs remained buried in the archives of the Pigorini Museum in Rome until 2011 , when they were unearthed by University of Western Australia Professor Jane Lydon.

They're an invaluable piece of historical evidence, according to Monash University Professor Lynette Russell.

She's heading an international research project called  Global Encounters, which is investigating early contacts on the Australian continent .

"This is a story that most people have no idea about, but there is no doubt that Aboriginal people came to Makassar and stayed and had families," she says.

"Some voyaged back to Australia, but others did not.

"I suspect the scale of the movement is probably larger than what we first thought." 

The scenario challenges Australia's national origin story of a continent of landlocked people living in isolation for tens of thousands of years.

Professor Russell — who has Wotjobaluk heritage herself — says the migration north   shows more than a sense of adventure.

"I think the Aboriginal people who decided to join the Makassan fleets showed extraordinary agency and entrepreneurship," she reflects.

"There was obviously also a network of friendships and relationships that developed.

"I think it's extremely likely that there are descendants of Aboriginal people here in Makassar, and descendants of Makassan sailors in Australia."

Family connection lost

According to family history, Dirrikaya lived in Indonesia for several years and had a wife and children.

But the pull of home proved too strong.

"He decided he needed to come home to see his country again and his parents … so he sailed back to Australia," explains Ms Tkac.

It was a tearful reunion. Dirrikaya was back from the dead, and telling strange stories about a land far, far away.

But one thing had changed.

"He had two gold teeth!" reveals Ms Tkac.

"They sparkled in the sun. The family couldn't believe it."

But for Dirrikaya, amid the elation, there was grief.

He had left his wife and children across the ocean.

"He was hoping they would come to see him on the Makassan boats," Ms Tkac explains.

"But he watched the horizon every year when they came, and his wife and children were never there ... he cried for them."

A few years later came a decision that shut down any chance of contact.

As British settlements expanded across northern Australia, resistance to foreign visitors grew, and Australian authorities shut down the Asian trepang trade in 1907 .

"It was very sad for our old people," says Mr Wurramarrba.

"They didn't understand what was going on, and why the Indonesians stopped coming."

"Lots of families were torn apart."

Dirrikaya went on to have a wife and children back at his home on Groote Eylandt, but he never forgot his family in Makassar.

The Wurramarrba family is now on a mission to try to locate Dirrikaya's descendants in Indonesia.

"They're our family," Ms Tkac reflects.

"Who are they, where are they — I want to meet them."

And they are not alone.

Across the ocean, another family searching

The historic port precinct of Makassar is as viscerally different from Groote Eylandt as can be imagined.

A mosque looms over the glistening water.

In the bustling backstreets of Losari Beach vendors crowd the pavement, hustling to sell smokes and sweet biscuits. 

Here, the Aboriginal families from the vast southern land would have stepped off fishing boats and surveyed the scene.

Professor Russell is wandering the laneways tucked behind the waterfront.

"What an overwhelming experience it must have been for them," she marvels.

"To be in this new place, full of different languages and food and smells – I think it's a universal feeling, that desire for adventure and to be outside of your comfort zone."

There are accounts of Aboriginal men living in homes in the area as trusted employees of well-to-do fishing captains.

And buried in the busy streets is a family with their own extraordinary personal story to tell.

Kaharuddin Lewa, who is known as Pak Kahar, and his family are also searching for long-lost relatives.

His great-grandfather was a Makassan fishing captain named Using Daeng Rangka, who had an Aboriginal wife and children during his decades sailing to Australia.

"He liked and respected the Aboriginal people," Pak Kahar explains.

"He wanted to help them, and share with them his Islamic religion."

The family knows that Captain Rangka, an experienced trepang fisherman of the era, had journeyed to Australia dozens of times between 1855 and 1907.

And there's evidence he   partnered with a Yolngu woman in Arnhem Land and had several children.

Pak Kahar unfurls a carefully drawn genealogical map on the living room table, as his cigarette smoulders in a silver ashtray nearby.

"We think   that they had four children in Australia – two boys and two girls ," he says.

But contact was lost in the early 1900s when the fishery wound up.

Now the family wants to find their relatives in Australia and meet them.

"I really want to meet them, to complete the family tree with my Aboriginal family," Pak Kahar says.

"I will welcome them with joy and happiness, and gather everyone together.

"I want to get to know them closely, so our family ties grow stronger through the generations."

Their situation is a mirror image of the Wurramarrba family in remote northern Australia.

Two families, with lineage cut off by ocean and history, anxious to reconnect with relatives before the knowledge of what occurred on those remote northern beaches is lost forever.

The physical links to the era are fragile and vanishing.

Every year, the graves of Makassan trepang ship captains weather and crumble, while one historic ship captain's house — rumoured to be made from Australian timber — was recently demolished.

A rare recording revealed

There are no written records of Dirrikaya's departure and eventual return — the story has been passed down four generations of the Wurramarrba family by word of mouth.

But recently a rare audio recording from more than half a century ago was found.

It contains Dirrikaya's story as told by his eldest son Charlie Galiawa Wurramarrba .

Ms Tkac plays the tape for her 78-year-old mother Margaret, who is Charlie's daughter.

Unmute to watch the emotional moment when the Anindilyakwa matriarch hears her father's voice for the first time since he died in 1978.

Charlie's voice is melodic and calm; a fragile wire connecting two eras.

"Long ago my father told me his story," the old man tells the interviewer. "He went away when he was young, while he was single, before he grew up. "Wanabadi the Makassan took him, took him away, and he went to their country. "My father was away for four years."

The recording is significant as it helps verify the accuracy of the narrative handed down over several generations.

Search for traces of Dirrikaya

Mr Wurramarrba has taken the family to a remote beach on an unusual quest — they're trying to locate Dirrikaya's remains.

After returning from his overseas adventure, Dirrikaya married a local woman and had several children.

He died an old man and was laid to rest at a beach along the western edge of Groote Eylandt.

Crucially, the family believes the gold teeth he had implanted in Makassar were buried with him.

Could they be the final and only physical evidence of his trip?

"When he died, his remains would have been put up in a tree and dried out," Mr Wurramarrba explains.

"Then the bones were wrapped in paperbark and tucked away where they were safe."

But the exact site is hard to find. Over the decades the landscape has changed and memories have faded.

But as she walks along the beach, Dirrikaya's closest living relative — Margaret Wurramarrba – has a flashback.

The frail matriarch becomes animated as she describes a memory from adolescence.

"I was here at the beach collecting berries, and I suddenly saw the gold teeth!" she exclaims.

"They were in a bower-bird's nest. The bird had found the gold teeth.

"I told my father and he told me to return them to where my grandfather was buried, under a big tree."

It's a tantalising lead, but after several hours of surveying the coastline, the search is called off.

The sun is starting to set, and the location of Dirrikaya's gold teeth — for now — must remain a mystery.

The family is determined not to give up.

DNA testing remains a possibility to prove a connection to relatives in Makassar.

But first, the search would need to be narrowed to a family group or community linked to Dirrikaya in a city of more than 2 million people.

"Seeing Dirrikaya's face for the first time lit something up inside me," Ms Tkac reflects.

"I want to know more now. What happened to our family in Indonesia, and can I meet them?

"His story has been passed down, it is our family's story, and we need to do our bit to keep it alive."

• Images and video by Paul Bell, Mitchell Woolnough and Erin Parke
• Graphics by Shakira Wilson and Gabrielle Flood
• Production by Fran Rimrod and Kit Mochan

Editorial note: Images of deceased people have been published with permission.

Watch more of The Lost Families in the latest episode of Compass on Sunday, March 31 at 6:30pm on ABC TV or stream any time on  ABC iview.

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5 of the Best Romantic Time Travel Novels

Shireen Hakim

Shireen Hakim is the author of the award-winning refugee story "Rabbi the Rabbit" in the anthology OUT OF MANY, ONE: CELEBRATING DIVERSITY. She is a Contributing Writer for We Need Diverse Books. She has written for HelloGiggles and NaNoWriMo blog. Shireen has a writing certificate from Stanford University Online.

View All posts by Shireen Hakim

This list of time travel and romance books is sponsored by Flatiron Books, publisher of Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore.

We all think back to a potential meet-cute, and say to ourselves what if? But what if you are already in a relationship with the person and wonder if it went differently?

For instance, there are so many potential (romantic) story lines in the many multiverses Marvel superheroes travel to. I am familiar with them because I have read plenty of different versions of Gwen Stacy AKA Spider-Gwen’s love life because I read so many of her comics: she dates Harry Osborn AKA Green Goblin in one version, and slowly but surely falls for Miles Morales AKA Spider-Man in another. So that is how I relate to these time traveler romance novels, and maybe you will, too.

Here are five upcoming 2020 time travel and romance novels that explore the ways timing plays into romantic relationships, rather than just “fate.”

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

In Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know , the reader time travels instead of the protagonist or their love interest. Who would have thought, especially back in the 19th century, that the art—and lives—of Western cultural icons could have been influenced by Africans and Arabs, and even Muslims?! Yet Samira Ahmed spins two mysterious and thrilling tales dating back from the 19th century all the way to present day 21st century, that include French, Arab, and American cultures. If you grew up in the West, you learned about European creative geniuses like Alexandre Dumas and Lord Byron. Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is an art history meets romance YA fiction novel. Once again, the New York Times bestselling author of Love, Hate and Other Filters shows the similarities and overlaps of cultures and religions that we would never think to link together. Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is available for pre-order.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

In this Freaky Friday meets Groundhog’s Day meets Beaches story, the dramatic plot twist makes this romance a page-turner, and almost a thriller! Heads up, this book is a tearjerker. I don’t usually read romance sagas, but I’m so glad I read this one. In Five Years is available for pre-order.

All About Us by Tom Ellen

The yearning of the main character Ben in All About Us tugged at my heartstrings. It’s rare that I come across a contemporary book about pining for a lover told from a man’s perspective, so this fiction romance caught my eye. Although it takes place around Christmastime, All About Us can be read by any adult at any time of the year.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird: A Novel by Josie Silver

#1 New York Times bestselling author Josie Silver writes about the guilt one feels after losing a loved one. It often causes them to think about that person constantly, even if they’ve found someone new. But what if that remorse is so strong it transports them to another reality with the one they lost?

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Legendary Chilean American New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende takes us back in time to the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Although the events of the book are based on the past, they will seem startlingly current—refugees fleeing fascism rejected by the country they escape to, women protecting one another from sexual assault, and adjusting to immigrant life. A Long Petal of the Sea is an Amazon #1 New Release in Historical Romance, and the Goodreads reviews are as tantalizing as the book description.

After reading these books about time travel and romance, I realized we all get opportunities to time travel in our own lives. We come across people that are living a life we hope for, and through meeting them we catch a glimpse of what our lives will be.

Last week, I visited The Staples Center to pay my respects to Kobe Bryant and the city of Los Angeles, and I ran into a Muslim lady. What are the odds I would find her out of the hundreds of mourning fans, in a city of millions? She was a lone traveler, a frequent traveler, like me. She was married but her husband lived in a different city so they saw each other a couple times a month. That sounds ideal to me, since I’m an introvert and need my alone time to recharge. I felt like I was looking at my future self. She joined me and my good friend, who lives with her husband and a few cats in lieu of kids. That is definitely my ideal. So she is nearer future me.

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The 16 Most Romantic Travel Destinations in the World

Posted: January 27, 2024 | Last updated: January 27, 2024

They say novelty breeds romance, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at some of the most romantic destinations in the world.

New places, unfamiliar corners of the globe, and jet-setting vacations can take you to idyllic places that reignite the spark for your partner.

So, step up your travel game and let the sparks fly at these 15 romantic destinations.

Earn Points and Miles: Find the best travel credit card for nearly free travel

Charleston, South Carolina

Food, water, and charming streets create a recipe for romance in Charleston, South Carolina.

Pastel-colored homes dot the historic district, where you can stroll hand-in-hand down sidewalks centuries of lovers have walked before.

Stay at one of the historic inns downtown and spend your evenings hopping from one candlelit restaurant to the next.

Avoid costly repairs: Unexpected appliance breakdowns can cost $1,000s of dollars to fix.

Is it the City of Love or the City of Lights? It could be both, as you and your partner spend a romantic day sipping wine in a classic cafe before ending your evening at the sparkling Eiffel Tower.

There is no city more known for romance in the entire world.

Tulum, Mexico

Tulum’s beaches are known for being among the most luxurious and romantic in the world.

The city is filled with artist studios and yoga on the beach. That makes it the perfect place to decompress and relax on a serene weekend with your partner.

Grow Your $$: 11 brilliant ways to build wealth after 40

Quebec City, Quebec

Find “old world” European charm and romance in North America when you visit quaint Quebec City.

This French-Canadian destination feels as if it’s straight out of a storybook. If you stay at the iconic Château Frontenac, you’ll feel as if you’re royalty for a weekend. Dine on steak frites and get lost walking down historic streets.

Kyoto, Japan

Japan’s incredible minimalist, calming architecture is on full display in the city of Kyoto, which feels a world away from the buzz of Tokyo.

Spend time with your partner, immersing yourself in the relaxation of the teahouse experience, walking through pristine gardens, and finding serenity in the scenery.

Ask anyone who has been to Hawaii to describe the state, and they’ll tell you it is paradise.

There is a reason the islands are perennially popular with honeymooners — there’s nothing more romantic than relaxing on pristine beaches with mountains and lush greenery in the background.

Honolulu is the biggest city, but if you are looking for a more sedate experience, consider Kauai or one of the quieter parts of the other islands.

Retire Sooner: Take this quiz to see if you can retire early

There is nowhere you’ll feel more completely surrounded by sea than in the Maldives, where there are deep turquoise oceans, vast skies, and incredible fiery sunsets as far as the eye can see.

Stay in one of the over-the-water bungalows for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is sure to spark romance.

Big Sur, California

If you prefer to find romance in the great outdoors, head to Big Sur. You’ll marvel at the scale of the redwood forest and stand in awe of the power of the Pacific Ocean and its rocky coast. 

You could hike for miles without seeing anyone else, feeling like you and your partner are the only two people in the world.

Want a romantic meal? Scoot over to nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea, a charming and romantic town.

Bali, Indonesia

People go to Bali for a deeper, more spiritual experience. Is there any better way to connect with your partner?

You will find stunning beaches that haven’t yet been touched by resorts, lush forests, and remote places to stay and find romance.

9 nearly secret things to do if you fly Southwest

Venice, Italy

Everybody can conjure up the iconic image of two lovers floating down the canals in Venice with a gondola captain crooning ballads. It’s one of the most romantic scenes in history.

Anyone who’s been to Venice would agree that the reality often lives up to that dreamy vision. Spend your days exploring historic streets, drinking Italian wine, and indulging in delicious pasta dishes.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

South America’s night scene is known for being sultry, and Buenos Aires lives up to that reputation.

People here love to get dressed up and enjoy the finer things in life. Dance the night away with your partner to tango beats, or settle in for an indulgent evening of red wine and mouth-watering Argentinian steak.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The cobblestone streets, vibrant buildings, and historic architecture of San Miguel de Allende make it one of the most romantic cities in Mexico — and a far cry from the coastal resorts that many are used to.

This mountain town is known for its vibrant art and incredible culture. It’s the perfect romantic balance between exploration and relaxation.

St. Barts, Caribbean

While nearly all Caribbean islands offer romance for those who love to relax on the beach with their sweetheart, St. Barts is a favorite of honeymooners.

This Caribbean island has a European flair. Its white-sand beaches and reputation as a celebrity favorite also give it a romantic allure.

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah’s Spanish moss-covered squares offer a lush respite in this steamy Southern city, a favorite of those looking for a romantic getaway.

There’s history, incredible food, art, and literature, all within a walkable downtown. Stroll along the port city’s streets with your forever crush.

Marrakech, Morocco

Sometimes, romance-seekers look for relaxation. Other times, they want the sights, sounds, and smells of the big city.

Marrakech is a vibrant collage of color, music, and incredible food, where you can spend days experiencing the stories of a city with a storied history. There are also incredible hotels that offer a relaxing retreat at the end of a busy day.

Côte d’Azur, France

The glittering turquoise waters of the Côte d’Azur have inspired writers and artists for generations, and they also draw in couples looking to discover the same magic and romance today.

From historic cities set along stunning cliffs to seaside restaurants where you can watch the sunset, this is one of the most idyllic destinations on the globe.

Whether you book a trip to Côte d’Azur or any other spot on this list, trim some of your costs by paying for the trip with one of the best cashback credit cards .

Bottom line

Remember, romance isn't confined to exotic locales. It thrives in the shared spaces of exploration and discovery, even within your own backyard.

So, grab your best travel credit cards , pack your bags, and let the magic of new experiences reignite the spark, no matter the destination.

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Valerie Bertinelli Is in Love! How the Romance with Her New Man Started Online: ‘My Belly Is Flip-Flopping’ (Exclusive)

The TV star and cookbook author fell in love when she least expected it: "This was not supposed to happen," she tells PEOPLE

Liz McNeil is an Editor at Large at PEOPLE, where she's worked for over 30 years.

A lot has happened to Valerie Bertinelli in the last two years. The TV star ended her marriage to her second husband , worked hard to find self acceptance, returned to the kitchen, wrote a new cookbook , Indulge — and she found love again. 

“I’m in love,” Bertinelli, 63, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again."

"I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog,” she adds with a laugh, “and very happily live the rest of my years alone — I'm good alone.”

The former Food Network host is not ready to publicly name her new guy but happily shares, “My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen."

Before she could let love in, she had to learn to love herself.

“I want to be clear that this process has taken a long time,” Bertinelli says of the years following her 2022 divorce and the death of her first husband Eddie Van Halen , who died of throat cancer in 2020.

“I got more intentional about my healing,” she says. “That meant a lot of walks with [my dog] Luna, a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good.”

“The cookbook was an offshoot of the emotional and mental healing I‘ve been doing,” she explains of Indulge . “First came the work. Why I thought I didn't deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to numb my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t dealt with — with Ed and my last marriage.”

She tells the story through her favorite recipes and intimate vignettes in Indulge. ”I know we’re talking about a cookbook but this cookbook got me through all of it,” she says with a smile.

As she writes in the book, “The more I let myself cry, the better I felt. I wasn’t trying to be happy or sad or thin. I wasn’t trying to be anything other than who I was.” 

And then came a sweet surprise. She first became friendly with her new guy, an East Coast writer, on Instagram a few years ago. “It was strictly platonic but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar,” she says.

They began chatting on the phone earlier this year and only recently did the relationship become romantic. “It’s crazy the comfort level,” she says. 

As new and unexpected as it all is, she says, “it feels incredibly right.”

It’s been a long road for Bertinelli to able to listen to heart, and find what truly nourished her.  “I found joy first," she says, "and then a man entered my life."

For more on Valerie Bertinelli, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

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LJ Reyes, husband Philip Evangelista go on romantic getaway in Italy

LJ Reyes and her husband Philip Evangelista look so in love as they travel around Italy!

On Instagram, the actress shared romantic photos from their vacation as they explored the Piazzale Michelangelo in Firenze. The place is known for its panoramic view of Florence, and LJ and Philip posed with the scene in the background. More photos showed them kissing, hugging, and unable to hide their big smiles. “Exploring the world and life has never been this good! Thank you for this beautiful ever-after with you [Philip]!” LJ said in her caption. “La Bella, Firenze! La Bella, Italia!” she added.  

LJ announced her engagement to Filipino businessman Philip in May 2023. They tied the knot in October.

After the wedding, LJ said , “I can't wait for what this new beginning holds for all of us!”

LJ described her 2023 as the “ fulfillment of God's promises .” She has two kids from her previous relationships: Aki with Paulo Avelino and Summer with Paolo Contis . Following her difficult split with Contis, LJ and her kids relocated to New York . —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News

How Hallmark Turned ‘The Way Home’ Into TV’s Biggest Time-Travel Drama

THE WAY TO A HIT

The sci-fi leaning “The Way Home” was a big swing for the Christmas-and-romance network. It’s now one of its biggest—and most unlikely—successes. Here’s how Hallmark did it.

The best time travel TV show right now is on Hallmark. That may sound shocking to everyone who only associates the Crown Media network with schmaltzy Christmas movies and the romantic adventures of small-town amateur detectives. However, The Way Home is breaking the Hallmark mold and bringing in new viewers at the same time.

The series centers on the women of the Landry family. The first season begins with Kat Landry (Chyler Leigh), newly separated from her husband, taking her disobedient teen daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) home to her family farm in Port Haven, Canada. It’s a chance for the duo to reset and for Kat to mend fences with her estranged mother, Del ( Andie MacDowell ), to whom she has barely spoken in 20 years.

Viewers are quickly informed that the Landrys were struck by tragedy in 1999 when Kat’s younger brother Jacob (Remy Smith) went missing and her father Colton (Jefferson) died three months later. The details of Jacob’s disappearance and Colton’s death are slowly revealed throughout the season after Alice discovers a mysterious pond on the Landry property with the power to transport her back in time to the months leading up to the fateful events.

The Way Home seamlessly combines family drama with mystery intrigue and, of course, the sci-fi element of the sentient pond that takes select swimmers to the time period it wants them to see. It’s addictive and heartwarming, and has become a key part of Hallmark’s expanding brand.

“This show is a breakout hit. It’s a marquee show for us,” Hallmark’s Senior Vice President of Development Laurie Ferneau told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed during the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in February. “We’re excited that the audience has really embraced it the way that they have because it was a bit of a risk. They are going on this journey with us.”

That journey began in an unexpected place and is taking the show, viewers, and Hallmark into new territory. The series is now a cable-topping and brand-renovating hit. On the occasion of Sunday night’s Season 2 finale, we spoke with the show’s creative team and Hallmark’s programming executive about the time-travel risk—and major reward.

The Way From Netflix

The Way Home was originally developed at Netflix with content executive Lisa Hamilton Daly before she became executive vice president of programming at Hallmark in 2021. She brought the Canadian series with her when she made the move from the streamer, and her new staff instantly fell in love with how the show embodied Hallmark’s energy in a way they hadn’t seen before.

“We read it. We loved it. It was so original, unique. It was based on a multi-generational family of women. It was so female-centric, and that really spoke to Hallmark and our brand,” Fernau said. “It’s emotional and there’s a lot of trauma—it’s all about healing the generational trauma—and that kind of stuff. We go through those highs and lows of tragic events. It gets that kind feel-good place in the end, which feels very Hallmark as a brand. We were very excited.”

The creatives behind The Way Home were also excited to make the move to Hallmark, instantly falling in love with the brand and its welcoming team.

“Honestly, it was the perfect fit. There really was never a moment where we had push back or we had to settle,” series co-creator and co-showrunner Alexandra Clarke told Obsessed. “It has always been this amazing collaboration. We all wanted to do the same thing and it felt so right to be at home on Hallmark.”

Calling Hallmark home has also meant there’s more room for The Way Home to thrive. If the series had stayed at Netflix, it might have been lost amongst the streamer's never-ending library of content and bundled with similar family fare like Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias (also developed by Daly). Now, the series can serve as a crown jewel for the Hallmark suite.

“I think the show actually fits better on Hallmark because the essence of it is so rooted in family and feeling at home,” explained Hallmark Director of Original Programming Kate Redinger. “It touched on everything we try to do. We didn’t strip back anything. It was exciting to really put it on a pedestal here and treat it as a marquee for us. Netflix has a million shows, a sea of shows, and it gets to be a special baby here.”

The Way From Christmas

That special baby is bringing in a lot of viewers to Hallmark. According to Crown Media, the show has brought in over 4.4 million viewers since the second season premiered in January and the program ranks No. 1 among households, total viewers, and women and persons 18+ in Nielsen’s ratings. The numbers are a pay-off for Hallmark’s advertising blitz strategy during the 2023 Christmas movie season, making sure audiences were aware of The Way Home Season 2 was arriving in the new year during nearly every commercial break in their holiday fare.

“During Christmas time, we advertised a lot for the season premiere. There was a lot of build to that January slot. We have a huge audience in that fourth quarter for Christmas,” Ferneau explained. Hallmark was looking for a way to keep that Christmas audience around, and The Way Home turned out to be the answer. “A lot of people come to us for holiday [movies], so a great way to retain them is to give them great content, elevated content, and this show is perfect for that. It’s above and beyond. We love that we’ve been able to retain a lot of the audience.”

Scheduling The Way Home ’s Season 2 launch in January, immediately after the Christmas rush, shows how much Hallmark and its team believe that the series appeals to its core audience, despite being a little darker and more layered than the usual content on the network. It’s also more evidence that Hallmark wants to prove itself as a content creator outside of the fluffy romance people solely equate to the network.

“It’s exciting that we are a part of this broadening of the network and telling a bit of a different story. We love being the guinea pigs for that. We take that role seriously,” Clarke said. "I’m so grateful that we wound up where we did because I think we have the most incredible fans, and that’s because Hallmark fans are just so dedicated and invested."

The cast is also aware of the show’s success, but aren't surprised because they’ve been singing the show's praises from the beginning. They are equally excited to see the growth of The Way Home from the first to the second season.

“Even our demographics have changed. We’re hitting everything. Parents are watching with their kids,” Chyler Leigh gushed to Obsessed. “It doesn’t really matter where you are at in life, people are just gathering for this show. It’s the greatest compliment that we could ask for and it’s even more motivation to bring it even more.”

Leigh’s co-star Evan Williams, who plays Kat’s childhood best friend and Alice’s reluctant time-travel guide in The Way Home ’s present timeline, has his own theories for why the series has resonated with fans so much.

“There is a wish-fulfillment thing in the show, this fantasy idea of can you go back and see what went wrong and fix it? I think that’s what’s really grabbing people,” he explained. “There’s a heart and healing part of it that is allowing audiences to really invest in the characters and feel like they are involved in things that actually matter in their own hearts. We hooked them with that and that’s the staying power. That’s the kind of thing that makes people want to share the word of mouth about the show. That organic swell of audience has been because of that.”

The audience has grown as The Way Home has expanded its scope. The second season is even bigger than the first, adding in a completely new and more complicated timeline into the mix.

The Way to the Past

The Way Home Season 1 bounced between timelines set in 1999 and the present day, but the mystery of Jacob’s disappearance brought Kat all the way back to 1814. As Alice also continues going back to the Y2K time-period, Kat is exploring the origins of her family farm and her town, which adds an entirely new dimension to the series.

“It is three shows in one. We have three separate casts. We have three separate sections of our wardrobe department,” Clarke detailed. “It was really daunting, but at the same rate, everyone really believed in the story. Everyone really wanted to make it happen. We’re small but mighty…We care so deeply about the story that we’re telling and we knew it was a big ask, but we’re going to do it. So yeah, there are a lot of 1800s scenes that are in the woods, but we wanted to tell the best possible story.”

The theme of Season 2 is origin stories. Kat is literally exploring the beginning of Port Haven, while Alice discovers more about her family in the years leading up to her being born.

“She thinks that her last trip in Season 1 is the end of time-traveling to see her mom as a teenager and to see Elliot and all of those characters that our audience really fell in love with. Kat has told her you never go back, but we learned pretty quickly in Season 2 that she does,” Sadie Laflamme-Snow told Obsessed. “I think knowing that the pond takes you where you need to go, she has things to discover about those characters and those adults in her life that maybe they have been trying to hide from her.”

Alice isn’t the only one struggling with time travel in the second season. Audiences still haven’t seen Elliot go through the pond himself, but Alice and Kat’s journeys force him to reconcile with his past in the present. It allows viewers to learn more about young Elliot’s home life in the aftermath of Jacob’s disappearance and Colton’s death, and the tumultuous relationship he had with his biological father. Knowing that history helps viewers understand why Elliot has been so harsh with Kat and her need to revisit the past. His distaste for Kat and Alice’s time travel culminated in a massive fight between Elliot and Kat in the season’s second episode, and has left Elliot trying to repair the resulting rift with the Landrys.

“Elliot [had] his work cut out for him this year. I think it’s a redemption arc, where we’re going to see Elliot trying to figure out how to own his authenticity, and hopefully earn his way back into the trust of the Landry family,” Williams said. Elliot left Port Haven at the end of Season 1 to give himself space from the angst of the Landry women's time travel, but Season 2 proves he is still very much on that journey.

“Time travel is dangerous. Elliot is aware of that because he’s been on both sides of the time travel paradox. It’s only out of love and care for the people in his life that he is trying to steer people away from the pond,” Williams revealed. “Sometimes the only way to [protect people] is by shielding them from truth that they can’t handle. That’s when you get into hot water and the more secrets you have, the more miscommunication you have, the more the plot thickens. It remains to be seen whether Elliot’s love and support can or will actually be taken [as protection].”

Laying the groundwork for these multi-generational stories starts early on. The time-travel element of the show requires the creative team to think years and seasons ahead. Kat’s journey to 1814 was teased in the very first scene of the series, and more Easter eggs have been planted along the way for viewers to fully understand further down the line.

“It’s a five-year plan, especially with a show like this. You have to know that ending three seasons in, four seasons in. If you do, then you can plant things as early as the very first episode that will make the audience feel secure in the journey and know that we have this path,” Clarke explained. “We know what we’re doing.”

Hallmark knows what they are doing as well. The Way Home is setting them up for a deeper exploration of different types of content and expanding their audience.

The Way to the Future

The Way Home has encouraged the network to be more ambitious and sprawling with its storytelling. Multiple movies in the Christmas lineup strayed from the typical small-town romance set up and explored sibling dynamics ( A Merry Scottish Christmas ), found family ( Holiday Road ), and yes, a couple of movies that even played with time like Christmas on Cherry Lane and A Biltmore Christmas . Fernau revealed that more shows and programming that take big swings like The Way Home are in the pipeline.

“The movie side is very romance heavy-love stories… We love doing those stories, but we’re just trying to have some fresh ideas and really dig deeper with more complex characters, more layers to the characters, but still have that Hallmark promise that’s going to be delivered,” the executive explained.

The success of The Way Home has brought new partnerships to Hallmark’s doorstep. And it’s great timing as the network’s competitor Great American Family continues to compete in Hallmark’s standard content lanes. Fernau elaborated that the network is looking ahead instead of backwards or at the networks around them.

“This show really allowed us to expand our footprint in terms of the industry. Agents, managers, producers and writers are looking at us in a different way and saying, ‘Oh, Hallmark is actually doing this thing.’ We’re getting pitches from talent we haven’t really gotten before. There are offers that are really impressive and exciting,” she said.

Fernau was firm that The Way Home plan does not mean the network is alienating its existing and fervent fan base. The executive team knows where the sweet spot is for their audience and are going to continue to develop content that appeals to those viewers.

“We’re just trying to keep this momentum going. When Calls the Heart is a beautiful period romance and has a huge audience for that. There’s also an audience for this show, and we’re really trying to find content that falls in the middle of those two things, but keeps us moving forward creatively,” she continued. “We really are expanding our programming. This is a great benchmark for that to see what our audience will accept from Hallmark. We can do this thing and we can do this other thing. We’re really excited about developing more content that feels more like The Way Home .”

The Way Home’s Season 2 finale airs Sunday March 31 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Cancún, Cabo or Puerto Vallarta: Which Mexico resort is best for you?

A comparison of the country’s most popular beach towns.

No other country welcomes more American tourists than Mexico . Vacationers go for sun-soaked beaches, warmer temperatures and low costs that feel far away from the cold reality of everyday life. More than 12 million American tourists took a flight into Mexico last year, according to statistics from the country’s secretary of tourism.

The vast majority head for one of three beach zones: Cancún, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, which represented three of the top four airports for international tourist arrivals last year, including Mexico City.

While you can’t go wrong with any of these three resort areas — they’re famous for a reason — there are noticeable nuances that can tip the scales when you’re picking one over the others. Over the past 10 years, I’ve visited all three on several occasions: Cancún half a dozen times, Vallarta twice, and, most recently Los Cabos. In terms of visitor appeal and natural beauty, they rival some of the world’s most remarkable and serene beaches.

We asked the travel platform Hopper to pull average spring break prices — covering March, April and May — to show how the costs break down. Here’s the case for each destination, depending on your budget and travel style.

Cancún: All-inclusives, nightclubs, beautiful beaches

Located on the edge of the Caribbean Sea, Cancún is the most popular of the three Mexican getaways by a sizable margin. It is also the most “touristy” in terms of spoken English, Americanized cuisine and the volume of resorts and daily flights from North America and Europe.

In my experience, it’s been the most expensive of the resort hubs in this comparison, although Hopper’s data shows it has the lowest average “good deal” airfare this spring ($330), and the average nightly hotel rate is higher in Los Cabos. In Cancún, you’ll get a lot in return for your money: tranquil, teal and warm waters and white sandy beaches (when the seaweed isn’t bad). There is also the most nightlife and the best snorkeling and scuba diving. The Cancún area and surrounding Mayan Riviera are full of all-inclusive resorts with options ranging from adults-only to kid-friendly.

Cancún is only a couple hours drive ( and now train ) from world-class Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza and Tulum. There’s also swimmable, flooded sinkholes called cenotes that are a wonder on their own.

Good deal airfare: $330

Average nightly hotel rate: $251

Best for: Clubgoers, families, adventure seekers, history buffs

Los Cabos: Desert romance, deep-sea fishing, wedding backdrops

The area we call “Cabo” is actually two beach towns in one, hence its other nickname, “Los Cabos.”

Separated by 20 miles and on opposite sides of the tip of Baja California, San Jose del Cabo (where the airport is) is the older town located on the Gulf of California. Just around the corner lies Cabo San Lucas, the newer and fast-growing town at the confluence of the Pacific and the gulf.

To get an idea of Cabo’s romantic scenery, imagine if Arizona, Southern California and the Mediterranean had a baby. Dramatic deserts, rugged coastline, deep blue ocean and a famous sea arch (a.k.a. “El Arco”) are flanked by endemic elephant trees, desert sand , and gorgeous cactuses.

As the second-most popular beach retreat on this list, Cabo has an abundance of wildlife and biggest beaches, as well as high-end resorts, spas, golf courses and restaurants.

Travel adviser Sebastian Garrido recommends deep-sea fishing — or just enjoying the products of Pacific waters. Cabo blends coastal Mexican cuisine with resort fare, catering to both locals and tourists alike.

“You can find some of the best seafood around the world down here,” he said.

In my experience, swimming on the Pacific is often forbidden by lifeguards, given the dangerous undertow. But the gulf side is tranquil and family friendly.

A popular place for weddings, Cabo is probably the most dreamy landscape of the three destinations.

Good deal airfare: $447

Average nightly hotel rate: $475

Best for: Pacific views, sport fishing, weddings, culture that caters to locals and tourists, sunsets and scenery.

Puerto Vallarta: Fewer Americans, sleepy beaches, birria tacos

Nestled down the Pacific coast in Jalisco state, Puerto Vallarta is a classic, cozy beach town. It is surrounded by mountains and tropical jungles and often caters more to Mexican tourists than Americans.

In terms of culture, cuisine, number of restaurants, boardwalk shopping, cobblestone streets, and affordability, Vallarta is the most “Mexican” of the bunch, which is endearing.

Vallarta’s narrower beaches are admittedly more confined than Cancun’s or Cabo’s . But they’re still beautiful. Among the Pacific views, you can spot humpback whale breaches early in the year. While there are dozens of large luxury resorts and all-inclusives here, you’ll also find a lot of small hotels that are locally owned and operated .

Jalisco is the home of birria , a complex braise of goat, lamb or beef served with a rich, spicy broth. I’ve also had chilaquiles and tacos al pastor here that trumped the versions I tried in Cancún and Cabo.

“Puerto Vallarta offers an authentic Mexican experience as it was not created as a tourism destination,” says Gustavo Rivas-Solis, a travel publicist who represents the area. “It grew into one as people took notice and fell in love with Bay of Banderas and its surroundings.”

Good deal airfare: $412

Average nightly hotel rate: $192

Best for: Ocean views, sunbathing, fewer tourists, colonial architecture, jungle hikes, street shopping

Blake Snow is a writer from Provo, Utah.

Where to go

Our favorite destinations: These 12 destinations are at the top of our wish list for where to go this year, without crowds. In 2023, we explored an Alaskan bear paradise, Brooklyn’s famous pizzerias and a hidden gem in Italy, among other highlights ..

Travel like a local: Residents share their favorite places in our top city guides: New Orleans , Rome , Tokyo and Mexico City .

National parks: This comprehensive guide has details on all 63 U.S. national parks. For a deep dive into five of the most well-known, you can listen to the Field Trip podcast . Then explore tips from locals for visiting Yosemite , Glacier and Everglades .

Tales from the road: Dolly Parton has opened a new resort at her theme park complex in Tennessee, while “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have a new hotel in Waco . Road-trippers may be just as excited to see the cartoon beaver at Buc-ee’s , and bargain-hunters should consider a stop at the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro, Ala.