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Ruben Arribas

About the Author: Ruben, co-founder of Gamintraveler.com since 2014, is a seasoned traveler from Spain who has explored over 100 countries since 2009. Known for his extensive travel adventures across South America, Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa, Ruben combines his passion for adventurous yet sustainable living with his love for cycling, highlighted by his remarkable 5-month bicycle journey from Spain to Norway. He currently resides in Spain, where he continues sharing his travel experiences with his partner, Rachel, and their son, Han.

The Rustic Icelandic Soup That Makes Fancy Stews Feel Overcomplicated: How to Make Kjotsupa Lamb Soup

If there’s one dish that captures the heart of Iceland, it’s Kjötsúpa, the traditional lamb soup that locals have relied on for centuries to fight off long winters and chilly winds. Made with tender lamb, root vegetables, and simple herbs, it’s rustic, nourishing, and deeply comforting a meal that tastes like tradition in every spoonful. …

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7 Reasons Why You Should Not Visit Morocco And 7 Reasons To Visit

While Morocco is a beautiful country with rich history, vibrant culture, and stunning landscapes, it might not be the ideal destination for every traveler. Here are some reasons why you might reconsider visiting Morocco, especially if these factors significantly impact your travel experience. While Morocco offers a wealth of cultural and historical experiences, it also …

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European Shoulder Season Explained

A lot of travel advice about Europe sounds tidy because tidy advice sells. Go in shoulder season. Fewer crowds. Better prices. Lovely weather. More authentic. Everyone suddenly behaves as if they discovered a hidden door that tourists somehow missed. That is not how it works. European shoulder season is real, and it is often excellent, …

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I Ditched My Clothes Dryer in Spain: I Stopped Using The Dryer When I Moved To Spain And My Electricity Bill Is €38

The dryer was never just a machine. In the U.S., it felt like part of the architecture of adulthood. Wash, dry, fold, repeat. Clean clothes came out warm, finished, and ready to leave the house without argument. The whole thing felt efficient in the way a lot of American domestic life feels efficient right up …

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Credit Card Debt Hit $6,715 Per American: The European Number Confused Me

Americans don’t have the same credit story. But there’s a big reason we get these averages. The $6,715 figure gets repeated all over the place as “per American,” but the more precise version is that it is an average balance figure tied to borrowers, not a universal adult census of every breathing person in the …

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82% Of Americans Want To Focus On Health In 2026: Europeans Already Live This Way

Americans keep trying to turn health into a project. A new year arrives. The planner gets cleaner. The shoes get bought. The vitamins multiply. Somebody orders a walking pad, a protein powder, and a better version of themselves. The intention is real. One recent wellness survey found 82% of respondents planned to focus more on …

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The Language Exchange Trick That Makes You Friends In Europe

A lot of Americans arrive in Europe and make the same lonely mistake. They go looking for friends. That sounds reasonable. It is also usually the wrong first move. Friendship in a new country rarely starts with “I need friends.” It starts with a repeated reason to see the same people without forcing intimacy too …

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Beef Is Up 14% In America: My Butcher In Portugal Charges The Same As Last Year

This title sounds like one of those Europe comparisons people love to hate. Too neat. Too flattering. Too obviously built to annoy anyone who has stood in an American supermarket lately and watched a normal protein aisle start behaving like a luxury market with fluorescent lights. Fair enough. But the broad contrast is real. In …

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The Spain Visa Shock Americans Didn’t Expect: 64% of Americans Are Rejected Why Americans Keep Treating Spain Visas Like Travel Paperwork

You probably saw that number in a chat or a reel and felt your plan wobble. Here is the calm version in one sentence: there is no official Spanish or EU statistic showing a 64 percent refusal rate for Americans on Spanish visas. Tourist entry first, because it removes half the panic. U.S. citizens do …

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The Daily Habit In Mediterranean Countries Linked To 10 Extra Years

The Mediterranean longevity story gets flattened into olive oil, fish, tomatoes, and a nice-looking lunch. The less photogenic answer is often stronger: in long-living Mediterranean settings, people tend to stay in regular contact with other human beings as part of ordinary life, not as a scheduled self-improvement project. Spain and Italy keep showing up near …

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The American Housing Crisis Is Pushing Retirees To Europe

For a long time, the American retirement fantasy had one sturdy prop. The house. Maybe not a paid-off house right away. Maybe not the perfect one. But some version of stable shelter that would stop eating the budget once work eased up and the loud middle years were over. That fantasy is getting harder to …

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California Pays $5.89 a Gallon: I Sold My Car When I Moved To Spain And It Was The Best Decision

The surprising part was not the gas. Yes, California’s average price for regular is sitting around $5.89 a gallon right now, which is the sort of number that would have sounded fake a few years ago and now just passes through the bloodstream like one more insult. But gas was never the whole car story. …

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