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Imagine that it’s your first night in Valencia, and you’re soaking in the buzzing atmosphere of the Plaza de La Reina over tapas and sangria. A handsome stranger spies you from across the bar, makes his way over and coolly hits you with a pickup line. Your Spanish isn’t the greatest, but under the warm lights of the plaza, it’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard.
Do you have a coin? I need to call my mom and tell her I’ve found my match.
Falling in love while travelling is easy – everything you do and everyone you meet is full of possibilities. And generally, almost all foreign flings start with a pickup line.
From cheesy to downright inappropriate, we love that these brave souls shared the best (and worst) pickup lines they’ve heard around the world. And we love even more that some of our readers have turned those fleeting romances into lifetime loves.
I must have said something right all those years ago.
“I met my wife on the back of an overland truck from Nairobi to Victoria Falls,” Phil Kimberlee said. “Five weeks on the road… now 13 years married with three kids later – I must have said something right all those years ago.”
While on holiday in Rio de Janeiro, British traveller Kwok Ng thought it would be rude to cancel an unwanted hostel reservation under such short notice. “At the other end, my future wife from Brazil wasn’t supposed to be in Rio, but due to her best friend bailing out on her, she ended up staying at the same hostel.” After maintaining a long-distance relationship for years, the two made a lifetime reservation of their own.
Rusty Jorbina met her now boyfriend on an island hopping trip in El Nido, Palawan. “He left for France before we could get to know each other better, but after one dinner date, said: ‘I’ll come back to see you again.’” One month later he did, and the two have been dating ever since.
Even if some of the whirlwind relationships we dive into abroad don’t end in happily-ever-after, the memories can still bring about smiles when we reminisce about our adventures.
“Somewhere on the warm historic waters between Istanbul and Crete, I met a sweet clever girl from Portugal,” Matthew Osiecki said. “Whenever people asked us where we met, we could only and honestly say that we didn’t know exactly. Just somewhere on the warm beautiful sea.”
Related: An incredible inflight love story
Sometimes getting the aisle seat can change your flight plan forever. Read more.
From pickup lines to partners-in-life, every interaction abroad contributes to the memories we make, and the stories we tell our friends when we come home.
Have you had a romantic encounter while travelling? Did it start with a fun pickup line? Was it as fleeting as your time abroad, or did it last a lifetime? Let us know in the poll below.
