The Best Inspiring Travel Love Stories to Read in 2024

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.

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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.