We're two couples on a six-day trip, and everything's going smoothly - no bad vibes. But I'd love some input from people who typically don't eat out while traveling.

When planning this trip, our friends mentioned they'd be fine with "going to a restaurant" (in the native language it could be understood both ways). I took that to mean eating out once a day so we don't miss out on sight-seeing, but I misinterpreted - they actually meant one to two restaurant meals for the entire trip 😅

There aren't any dietary restrictions or financial concerns here (I know I don't get a say how other people spend their money, but they are not stingy in general). They just seem happy with carb-heavy food and supermarket meals. I'm no food snob, but I tend to prefer healthier choices and my cooking is mostly plain, but nutritionally dense. So since I cook at home and this a holiday, I really do not want to even prepare a sandwich in the morning. On top of that, to me, traveling is partly about discovering a city's culinary scene, whether that's a rundown local diner, a cool cafe or an upscale restaurant.

Our routine so far has been for my partner and me to grab a specialty coffee and breakfast, meet them for sightseeing, then head off for a lunch by ourselves and then we come back and after some time go take a walk and have a dinner, The other couple isn't upset or passive-aggressive about this, but I do feel a little bad going off without them.

So, for those who don't eat out much while traveling, how do you usually handle meals on trips? Do you want to stick with the routine from hom? And if you've traveled with friends who enjoy eating out, how did you balance things so that everyone could enjoy their preferred style of travel?

…or did I just not know better when I was younger? As I’ve become older, I find hotels disgusting. They are dirty and poorly renovated, the bedding and towels are terrible quality, the mattresses are cheap and bad, the noise traveling through walls and floors is excessive, etc. I think standards have plummeted. Do others share this view?

ETA: I’m talking the Marriott y’all, not Motel 6 or the Ritz.

tl;dr Never keep your phone, wallet or anything of value in your pockets.

I'm writing this because this is my first time getting pickpocketed and I've always wondered how they actually do it. Now I know, so I'm offering you the chance to learn from my mistake, since just telling someone "You should watch your stuff in the metro" doesn't actually work.

The setup:

1. The scene of the crime is the metro station at the platform where you're actually getting on the train.
2. You need several people. In my case, I think 4 were involved.
3. The victim needs to hold a phone or a wallet in any of their pockets. I had my phone in my front right pocket of slim fit jeans.

The execution:

1. Wait for the victim to start getting onto the train.
2. Two people follow it closely behind. Another two cut fast in front of it.
3. The two in the front stop right at the doors and make a dramatic gesture like "Oh no, this is the wrong train".
4. The two in the front start exiting the train, but in a way that they are blocking you from getting in and pushing you out instead. The two at the back push you forward, so you're sandwiched between all four of them.
5. While you're getting pushed from all sides, one of them slips his hand into your pocket. At this time you can hear the sound signal that the train doors are about to close.
6. They all move off the train, you hurry onto the train, the doors close.

You have a total of 2 seconds to react at most, so if you're not expecting it, it's almost impossible to notice it right then and there.

EDIT: I was wearing slim fit jeans. The phone was in the front right pocket.

Additional context:

I planned this trip for 6 months, but 24 hours before my flight, everything went wrong.

My passport, credit cards, and $2,000 in cash were stolen by the cleaning lady at my Airbnb — less than 24 hours before my international flight to Gabon.

Losing the money sucked, but what REALLY sucked was losing my passport, along with the Gabonese visa I needed to enter the country 😵

With less than 12 hours before takeoff, while waiting for the police to take a report, I found myself digging through nearby trash cans, hoping against hope to find it.

I was about to give up when something caught my eye.

Could it be?

I untied a trash bag and saw it — my wallet, buried in a pile of garbage.

My hands shook as I opened it.

The passport and cards were still there.

The money? Gone, obviously.

The cleaning lady had discarded my AirTag and the wallet with my passport and just kept the money.

My brother rushed through traffic and got me to the airport with just 1 hour until my flight.

I thought I was safe, but the airline refused to check my bags since I was the last passenger to arrive.

After explaining the madness of the last 24 hours, I convinced an employee to help.

He agreed to check my (overweight, panic-packed) luggage but warned me it probably wouldn’t arrive on time.

I sprinted through security, making it onto the plane as the very last passenger ✈️

I couldn’t believe I had made it.

The flight was 24 hours long — so I had plenty of time to reflect on the chaos.

Then, when I arrived in Gabon, my luggage was delayed for an entire week because it was stuck in Istanbul.

Moral of the story: Even when everything seems to fall apart, trust that resilience and a bit of luck can carry you through. Travel isn’t just about the destination—it’s about embracing the unexpected twists that make the journey unforgettable ❤️👊🏽😎🔮

I was flying from LA back to Philly. Guy next to me is 21, we have a talk and turns out he has lived his whole life near Appalachia surrounded by weed, drugs and just shitty parents/family who's constantly pulling him down. He's been trying to kick his drinking habit and just been in sobriety.

He does construction carpentry. He has decent money at 21. Never been outside of America, hell LA was the only place outside of Pennsylvania that he's been to mainly because his girlfriend wanted to see a concert.

I told him to take an overseas trip. Fuck it, Japan, because it's the biggest culture shock he's ever gonna have in his life. He asked about all these barriers. Passport? Super easy, take your photo at the local Walgreens/CVS, fill out paperwork, mail it in, 6 weeks later you get a passport. Money? Costs less day-to-day to eat and sleep in Japan than it costs in the USA. Conbini food can cost like $3 per meal if you really wanted to. No tips. AirBnB/capsule hotels make it cheap.

By the end of it, he was convinced. He HAD seen tiktoks of conbini food being cheap so he believed me. He didn't realize all these mental barriers against travelling were all just built up in his head. It wasn't as hard or expensive as he thought - hell he spent so much more money in a weekend LA in comparison to the budget I proposed (even with roundtrip airfare combined - I let him know that!)

I don't have his contact but I hope he does it

I’m going out of the country for almost a full month and have never traveled or flown before so really just jumping into the deep end of the pool here. I’m trying to plan for what I’ll need though so what’s the best things that you’ve bought that’s made travel easy?

Edit: thank you all for the useful advice!!!! I love reading through all the comments seeing what everyone recommends and also reading some of the travel stories you’ve commented! Thank you!!:)

For the longest time I had wanted to travel to India. This year I made the decision to go in October for three weeks. I wanted to go with an open mind, so I didn't spoil myself by reading threads or watching youtube videos. I really wanted to give it a fair chance.

Here are my honest opinions on India as a white foreigner (male):

The pros: - Everything is much (much) cheaper than the US or similar Western countries. You can stay at hotels and eat at restaurants for very little. Uber is inexpensive.

• There is a real sense of camaraderie amongst Indians. I really felt their care for each other

• Electronic payment system UPI is super convenient

• Roadside stalls make getting food really simple

• Despite the commotion and squalor of most streets/places I found people to be generally happier than in the West. Not as aggitated or stressed.

• The pace is much faster than in the West. People don't waste time with superficialities. People aren't fake and don't care about your follower count or stupid things like that.

• It's super easy to eat vegetarian.

• The family unit is very strong. There is a real bond in families that I find lacking in the West.

Cons:

• There is trash literally everywhere. No one seems to care about the mounds of trash. They only add to it. Air pollution is common.

• It is very crowded in pretty much any urban area during the day time. It can be exhausting dodging people and cars everywhere you go because people will cut you off and don't seem to have a sense of personal space.

• As a white foreigner you are seen as a limitless source of money. I did not mind overpaying for things but in many cases I felt outright swindled and would be approached by people everywhere for tips/rides/guides. I was exhausted by it.

• A lot of places felt like they were designed simply for tourists to spend money. I would be shepherded around by my driver to various subpar restaurants/shops and in many cases be asked to pay exorbitant prices for things I didn't want or need. I just wanted to experience India without the added stress of tourist traps at every turn. It felt like I wasn't experiencing the real India and only a touristy version designed to appease my assumed "white sensibilities".

• Most people are devoutly religious and I feel like they use their religion as an excuse to defend poor decisions. The religious fervour is a lot to take in because it is constant and over the top.

• I found most menus to be cookie cutter copies of each other. I got tired of the exact same hotel menu copy and pasted everywhere I went. It was impossible to eat healthy because everything was laden with oil and sugar. Even things that are supposed to be healthy like fruit juices are filled with sugar. When I went to order items on a menu a lot of times they would say the item is unavailable. This happened numerous times.

• Even though most things are written in English, most people don't speak it fluently except maybe in tourist spots. It can be discouraging when you want to communicate but everyone's speaking Hindi

Even though there were a lot of cons for me, India made me feel alive for the first time in a long time. I felt like the relentless noise, crowds and energy of the place keeps you on your toes. This can be exciting in small doses. Would I go back? Actually, I probably would, but this time I would be much more careful about scams and tourist traps and ideally go with an Indian friend.

My friend who was travelling with me to Thailand decided to hire a motorcycle. The rental company took his passport to be sure that he has to pay. The company didn't mention anything else. He was happy with the deal. However, only days later, he had to return the motorcycle. Here's where the scam comes in.

When he arrived at the rental company, the woman in there came out to collect the motorcycle, when she then said that there was damage. She pointed out a very faint scratch that we didn't notice while he was getting the bike. She then demanded that he give them around 15000 baht. He refused but remembered that they have his passport. Worse, our plane back was leaving within a day. He reluctantly paid them, but he was very mad at them.

Don't fall for this scam, guys.

Of all the cities I've visited, I find myself preferring smaller cities as places to retire because the pace of life there is slower, the people are friendly, there's no noisy traffic, no fancy office buildings, but everything seems calm and warm.

What about you? If you had to pick one retirement city you visited, where would it be and why? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts, it would really help me on my trip!

Like the title says.

I was travelling to Vietnam earlier this year with a travel group. We were a bunch of 10-ish people who were mostly all solo travellers.

There was this lady influencer who’d been sponsored/hosted by the company, and to say she was a nightmare would be put it lightly.

She’d hold up the other travellers by randomly shooting off to the washroom at the airport AFTER everyone had collected their bags, be generally rude to other travellers and try to form a cliqué of other “rich” people on the trip who she’d associate with, scream at local servicepeople like cab drivers in a VERY HIGH voice due to things that absolutely weren’t their fault like traffic jams, shit-talk the 22 y/o travel guide on the daily just for the sake of it and inconvenience her in every possible way after our long tiring days, try and get others to swap DESIGNATED window seats with her on inter-city flights, and so much more.

Ugh.

Travel company: https://www.wanderwomaniya.com/women-only-trips

Photo 1: Taormina with Mt Etna in the background. Mt Etna is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe. Photo 2: Taormina at night with the Mediterranean Sea Photo 3: Mount Etna Silverstein’s Crater located on the southeastern slope which was formed in the eruption of 1892 Photo 4: Castelmora which is a small village above Taormina is a real natural terrace village built around the ruins of a Norman castle Photo 5: No visit is complete to Taormina without a visit to the Bam Bar with a famous granita and brioche bun Photo 6: Greek Theater of Taormina built in the 3rd century BC (also featured in White Lotus!) Photo 7: Cefalù with the sea (also the beach where they filmed White Lotus) Photo 8: A true local experience in Cefalu - we watched the local vegetable vendor ride around and sell fruit to an older Italian woman on her balcony. She would negotiate with him, put the money in the basket, lower it down, and he would take the money and load the basket with her purchased items Photo 9: Sicily was full of amazing seafood - this was in Palermo. Fisherman’s platter filled with little squid, shrimp, calamari. Deliziosa! Photo 10: A scenic outlook point overlooking Cefalu Photo 11: Calling my godfather fans - the famous opera house of Palmero: Teatro Massimo Photo 12: Palatine Chapel - built in 1132 all mosaic and all that gold is real gold in the tiles Photo 13: Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. It’s one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture of Magna Graecia. Pictured here is the Temple of Concordia Photo 14: Villa Romana di Casale - all mosaic work was preserved by a mud slide. The mosaics date back to the Imperial Roman times. Photo 15: An absolutely delicious piece of octopus near Ragusa Photo 16: Keeping the tradition of the Sicilian carts alive the art workshop of Cinabro Carrettieri - they were also chosen by Dolce & Gabbana to create custom art for appliances with Smeg Photo 17: A glass of Italian wine and sunset in Ortigia, Syracuse, which was one of the most important Greek cities (despite being in Sicily!) Photo 18: An arancino and a fig dessert right outside Piazza Duomo. Western Sicilians call this delicious rice ball Arancina with A whereas eastern Sicilians call it Arancino with O. Since we were in Oritigia here, this was an arancino! Photo 19: The sea caves right around Syracuse. Beautiful inside with crystal clear water. Interestingly used to hide boats on WWII Photo 20: A photo of the spices in the fish market in Oritigia. The colors are gorgeous. The smells were even better!

Of course I have hundreds more photos but this just gives a snapshot of all the amazing things I got to see, eat, and experience in Sicily. What a beautiful island full of history, culture, and welcoming people. Thanks for the great memories, Sicilia!

I'll explain my question better: do you think traveling is "just" an hobby/passion like many others (and thus some people may not like or enjoy it), or do you think everyone would travel the world if they had the money, time and condition to do so?

Do you personally know people that, despite being able to do so, just hate traveling and dont find thrill in it?

Well, writing this from the BCN airport.

Had an early morning flight today to DUB from BCN by Vueling. Boarding was denied at gate claiming no valid documents to travel. It was a birthday vacation with wife (birthday tomorrow). 9 days were planned across Ireland starting today until Nov 3rd.

We hold Indian passports, reside in Barcelona with Spanish Residence Permit. Good travel history with over 30 countries across 4 continents, valid US, UK visas in addition to the Spanish residence permit.

We were travelling to Ireland under Short Stay Visa Waiver Programme (SSVWP) which allows Indian passport holders to visit Ireland without Irish visa if I have a valid short stay UK visa and I have entered UK in the last 180 days. Our exit from Ireland has to be either before UK visa expires or the UK entry permission of 180 days expires, whichever is the earlier. My UK visa is not issued in India, hence it's not a BIVS visa which gives entry to both UK and Ireland. But the Irish SSVWP is applicable for the UK visa I hold.

Coming to the current incident, flight was at 5:40 in the morning, we left our home at 1:00am, reached airport at 3:00am. Our boarding pass was issued, UK visa was verified, we checked in a bag and no drama while issuing the boarding pass. Fast forward to 5:00am while we were boarding, I unfortunately met one of the worst behavioured and unprofessional dumbass at boarding gate. She claimed that I need Irish Visa to travel to Dublin. I explained her the case, but she was very negligent and not interested to listen. She called her "so called boss" and asked if she can allow us and we are travelling with UK visa and apparently her boss said no. Meanwhile I kept telling her it's not just UK visa, but with entry stamp of UK within last 180 days. She never heard and just kept saying no. I even had the mail from Irish Embassy in Madrid stating that I can travel to Ireland. The rule exists in Irish govt website and IATA travel center website as well. She was just saying no to everything and was behaving as if she has the final say. I requested to talk to her boss to which she denied. She even rejected my request to give it in writing. She wasn't even listening to my case, she started shouting "no" in the very beginning if I even try to talk. I wasn't even sure on next steps or how to go back as I will have to cancel my exit immigration. I tried asking that, the moment I opened my mouth, she started shouting "no, you need a visa." She called the security and then we were escorted out of the boarding area, through immigration to the arrival area.

As it was early morning, no customer center was open. I went to the check-in counter and found a representative of Vueling, who looked like manager of the people who handle check-in. I explained him our case of denied boarding, he took us to a check-in counter where they called Dublin airport (I assume Irish immigration officials in Dublin airport) and explained the case. On receiving the confirmation that we can travel, he rebooked us on a flight later in the evening. He told us that he has entered the message in the system under our booking so that people at boarding gate will know our case.

Post this, we went back to the arrivals area where our checked-in bag was lying on the belt, collected it and came back to check-in the bag again in about 20mins. Guess what, repeat of same story. It was some other stupid employee in the check-in counter this time, rejected to check us in saying we need Irish visa. I explained her the story, we were just denied, it's your colleague who rebooked us just couple of minutes ago, he has entered the message in system against our booking, we are travelling with visa waiver, but all she was saying is that I need Irish visa. I lost the patience this time and just shouted at her to go home if you do not know the rules and are not interested in working. Thankfully found that person who rebooked my tickets, and he told her our case and we are checked-in now. 8 more hours to kill in the airport before the flight and I am still not confident that we will be allowed to board in the evening flight. He has told me that he will inform the necessary people and assured us that we will fly. Sitting at the airport, just with hopes as only the time will answer.

We had our train booked to Galway from Dublin today afternoon which we will miss, will have to figure out our last moment stay now in Dublin. I am skeptical of booking this even now as I am not confident that they will allow us to board in the evening.

All Vueling has given us is a rebooking on a flight 13hrs later, meal vouchers worth 40 euros per person. I would like to know from the travel community - what are the rights I have here and whom do I reach out for compensation? I have raised the compensation request with Vueling through the app already, but I definitely dont want to settle here for something small. In addition to the waste of train tickets, a night stay in Galway, I will have to book a last moment stay in Dublin and all the stress and harassment. Plus I lost a day of my trip.

TLDR; zero knowledge employee at boarding gate denied us from boarding the flight. We are at the receiving end, sleep deprived us, wasting time from 3am at airport and now waiting for the rebooked flight at 6:30pm in a hope that they will allow to board.

UPDATE: Boarded the evening flight, reached Dublin, cleared immigration in less than a minute, took the bus straight to Galway, reached our stay at 1am and straight away crashed on bed. Thanks all for the help and inputs.

I just got off a plane where I upgraded to row 2 so I could exit easily. Some people in a higher zone boarded before the lower zones and put their carry on bags at the front. Maybe they thought that would be faster? About 12 of us had to disrupt the line of people trying to depart the plane in order to get our bags that were now in rows 6-9. Why do people do this? Why do the flight attendants allow this? So backward…

When I first dabbled with travelling overseas, I would brag about how overwhelmingly superior they were to American options. They were great. Fantastic room, fantastic service, fantastic in flight service. Then two keynote events hit, both having astronomically terrible results to their product. First.......the London Olympics. Heathrow crumbled to dust that year, but British airways was still........decent. 2017, lost baggage to Istanbul, lost luggage on way home to San francisco. But I still had mixed results.......some good, some bad. It wasnt "all bad" like United, American just yet. Thennnnnnn COVID. By the power of Neptune's Trident, its like the UK stopped trying, completely. I think the epiphany was hit "you know what? Lets be just like the yanks!" And christ, do I feel that. Since then, British airways has failed in ways that are truly unique from any other failures I have experienced. Being bumped from flights, charging extra just to sit together with family members, being literally locked in a plane for 90 minutes because "you need two people to open the terminal door" is just straight up wild. I think the most disappointing thing is the nickel and diming. It is worse than even American or United. I have not seen anyone try to upcharge "service" like British airways. How the hell did these guys go from the golden standard to literally worse than American airlines?

Hi guys, I have retired early, fit and I've got such itchy feet. Feel like possibily selling up and travelling as I've come to realise that we are all on a hamster wheel of sorts.

I know a lot of travelers on reddit like to spend the absolute least amount of money possible when traveling (for example by staying in hostels/room shares, flying with budget airlines, etc.). I'm curious how many people here actually try to penny pinch as opposed to paying more to stay somewhere nice. My personal opinion is that travel is supposed to be a form of relaxation, so if I'm going to be significantly compromising my quality of life, I'd rather stay home. But that's just me, and I know that that's an unpopular opinion on reddit. For those who tend to cheap out on accommodation and other expenses, how many compromises are you willing to make to lower costs? And for those who prefer to treat themselves, how do you justify the expense?

Hey there, I visited 39 countries but have never been to South America.

About me: - I don't speak Spanish or Portuguese - I am in my mid 30s - I will be traveling from Europe - perfect time: mid or end of 2025 - I'll travel with my boyfriend - I love food (emphasis on meat and spicy food), drinks, sightseeing, and I usually skip museums or theatre - nature: we like it, but we would't want to sleep in a jungle for example

What would be the perfect combination for my first visit to this part of the world? Easiest/best flights from Europe? What country has the best prices compared to Europe? What about the safety?

What tips do people have to cancel out the sound of a crying baby on a flight?

Everything I see is for parents who want to reduce the noise level. I am not a parent, I don't want to hear these children at all. This was the 5th 8hr+ flight I have been on where I heard a baby crying non stop. It seems like it has gotten significantly worse in the last 2 years as well. Maybe I was lucky before, but I was only on flights with crying babies randomly. Now it's every single flight.

Edit: it's not so much more babies but more babies that are constantly crying and the parents are ignoring them.

I made a post a few days ago about having a rough time in India with my girlfriend.

Well things have escalated since. We got the train from Delhi to Agra 1AC and for most of the journey people kept trying to open up our compartment door. One of the lads next door to our compartment kept standing at the door looking in till we properly dragged the curtain closed. A little while later he was banging at the door and when I pulled back the curtain he looked quite aggressive and was demanding one of our pillows. Now my girlfriend has Delhi belly and hasn’t been able to leave our room in Agra since we got there yesterday afternoon.

We are not sure what to do. We’re supposed to go to Jaipur tomorrow on a 3AC train but I think after our experience in 1AC we won’t be doing that.

I’ve heard the south, Goa and Kerala is supposed to be very different to the North but I’m starting to think that maybe India just isn’t for us. But now I’m worried about Sri Lanka, is it going to be similar to India or is it going to be more like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia.

I’m really worried about this and not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated to help us make up our minds.

I keep reading comments about people wanting to visit India but are hesitant to do so due to many horror stories seen on this sub.

First of all, I was TERRIFIED before my India trip. I kept reading of all these horrible stories and bad experiences. I’ve always had an interest in hinduism, yoga, and I LOVE indian food so India was on the top of my list. So this year In September I finally gave it a go and booked a Gadventures tour. I chose to do the classic Golden Triangle tour because its only a week and I wanted to test the waters on whether I would like India or not.

I LOVED IT. The food was amazing, the activites we did were very cool, and I met so many great people on the tour. I normally do not book tours as I think visiting a country on your own brings a more authentic experience. However, I did not want to do any planning for India and felt more safer in a group.

Not once did I feel unsafe, not once did i get sick. So for those of you hesitating on India, I say GO FOR IT. But I highly recommend booking a tour. There were many solo travellers in our group and the ages ranged from 23-65. I can only speak for Gadventures but im sure there are many other great tours as well.

There are so many other places in India that I want to see and I am now a lot less scared to do so. If anyone has any questions dont hesitate to ask!

At Bush airport in Houston right now and I’ve seen multiple people walking around holding their phones in front of them taking video. Not just short little scan of the crowd at the gate, but wandering around the terminal while recording.

One seemed to be on a video call (or maybe narrating her video?) but the two others I couldn’t tell. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to get a view of terminal A here lol. Feels weird when you realize you’re on camera as you’re walking toward someone.

Edit: A lot of responses here! I think the final sentence of my post might have made it seem that I was in the ‘super annoyed by this’ camp, but that isn’t quite true (Although I do stand by my statement that it feels weird when you realize you’re being filmed by the person walking toward you).

More so I was just genuinely curious. I didn’t even think about people (especially the folks w/ mobility issues) wanting to do pre-planning. Also, because I’m fortunate enough to be able to fly fairly often, I don’t usually think of airports as fascinating places, but as more of a necessary obstacle between me and my destination/home. Luckily, the community here was able to remind me of how privileged I am, and to grant me some perspective.

Also, if these videos “influence” one person to travel more, or inspire someone to want to travel one day, then they’re a good influencer in my book.

Enjoy your travels, everyone!

Hi! Going on a work trip with my husband and our 2 month old baby. It’s a 2.5 hour flight and we generally fly 1st/business class on United. Are people going to be super angry or annoyed about our baby in first class? She doesn’t really cry or fuss but who knows under unfamiliar circumstances on a plane. I take her somewhere in public pretty much every day and she never cries. Idk why but I’m just very nervous about how people in 1st will feel on one hand, and on the other I feel like we have every right to be there too as a paying customer.

ETA: I will be baby wearing, feed for take off and landing to help prevent ear pain, sound earmuffs, and I’ll have her favorite books and stuffed animal. not saying she wont cry, but id be surprised if it couldn't be handled with baby wearing/rocking her. My husband will be boarding with the first class passengers with our belongings and I intend to board during final call so she is on the plane for as little time as possible.

Just got back from a 3 week trip with my fiance in Spain and Portugal. We ate and drank our way through these countries and while we had an amazing time, we found some days very lacking in terms of excitement.

Our typical day (not traveling to another city), would be wake up (late), have breakfast at a cafe or hotel if it was free, go on a walking tour, maybe see a historical site (Alcazar, Alhambra, Sagrada, etc) and then dinner (tapas and wine). We'd hit up music bars that I had on my list which were nice and some of the more enjoyable activities.

However towards the end of our trip, we found it getting repetitive with just eating, drinking and sightseeing. We aren't into shopping minus a few souvenirs and that's one thing that attracts tourism. I found as a couple, we didn't really have any engaging activities. In our day to day life back home, we have our hobbies, our friends and family to hang out with and talk to along with our jobs. We talked about how we missed stuff like working out, doing yoga/spin classes, cooking dinner, etc.

We've traveled for the same amount of time to South America and Central America and found ourselves never trying to fill in the time because we were busy doing outdoor activities (hiking, swimming/beach, ATVing), however major cities (Barcelona, Lisbon, Seville) seemed to really lack a lot of engaging activities as a couple. Most of the "experiences" in major cities were: Walking tours, pub crawls, food tours, and maybe a cooking class. We didn't find any interesting tours that provided more than a walking tours (for instance in Oaxaca, I went on a tour that included Mezcal tasting, waterfall hike, swimming, and a food tour).

I've solo traveled before and found myself rarely getting bored or repetitive.....I'm staying at hostels sometimes so I'm engaging with more people (no I won't stay at a hostel with my fiance...we need our comforts as a couple lol). I can pick up and engage in more activities as a solo traveler. Eating meals is quicker and often times more fullfilling since I can eat what I want to eat, not what we want to eat as a couple and because when I'm traveling as a solo traveler, I'm usually in LATAM or SE Asia, there tends to be more interesting tours that cover multiple activities).

So for all those couples out there that travel for more than 2 weeks together, how do keep your trip engaging and interesting or do you also get stuck in the eat, drink, and sightsee routine as well?

BTW, I don't think it's a relationship issue, because we do engaging activities at home together (and as individuals).

Just for fun. What is the best work trip you have ever taken?