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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.

When Is the Best Time to Book Flights? There Is No Magic Day to Book Flights But There Is a Better Window

Booking flights often feels like a guessing game. Prices fluctuate daily, advice contradicts itself, and travelers are left wondering whether they should book now or wait. This uncertainty leads many people to overpay simply because they don’t understand how airline pricing actually works. The idea that there is a single “best day” to book flights …

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Your First Christmas Abroad Will Be Lonely for One Week and Then It Will Not: What Expats Wish They Had Known

Nobody really warns you about the first Christmas. When you move abroad, you brace yourself for the big, obvious challenges: the language, the paperwork, finding a doctor, making friends. What catches people off guard is something quieter and sharper, and it arrives in December. The holidays are when the pull of home is strongest, and …

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What Tourists Eat in Germany vs. What Germans Actually Order: 5 German Dishes Tourists Order That Locals Haven’t Eaten Since Childhood

Tourists land in Germany and order like they’re auditioning for Oktoberfest. Schnitzel. Sausage. A giant pork knuckle the size of a bowling ball. Something with a flag stuck in it. And yes, Germans eat those things. Somewhere. Sometimes. But a lot of the “classic German dishes” tourists chase are the kind of food many Germans …

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The ATM Question You Should Almost Always Answer “No” to in Europe: Always Decline the Conversion

You are standing at an ATM in Rome, or Barcelona, or Prague, asking it for two hundred euros, and just before it hands over your cash it asks one last helpful-looking question. Would you like to be charged in euros, or in your own dollars? Dollars sounds safer, since at least you will know exactly …

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It Is Dark by Five in Northern Europe and Nobody Panics: How Locals Survive the Season Americans Call Depressing

In much of Northern Europe, winter does something that unsettles a lot of newcomers. The sun gives up early. By four or five in the afternoon it is gone, and in the far north it barely bothers to rise at all, leaving weeks of deep blue twilight where a proper day should be. To an …

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The Homemade Gumbo Recipe Worth Spending an Afternoon On

Gumbo is one of the most iconic dishes of the American South, particularly beloved in Louisiana, where it blends French, African, and Native American culinary traditions into a single hearty, flavourful stew. This rich dish combines a dark, deeply flavoured roux with meats like chicken and sausage or seafood, simmered alongside the “holy trinity” of …

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How to Make Ceviche That Tastes Fresh, Bright, and Restaurant-Quality

Ceviche might be one of the most refreshing, vibrant dishes you can serve but making it right requires more than just tossing raw fish in lime juice. Rooted in coastal traditions from countries like Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico, real ceviche is an art of balance: acidity, texture, and freshness, all coming together in a single …

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Move to Spain After July 2 and You Are Not a Tax Resident Until Next Year: The Half-Year Rule That Decides Your First Tax Bill

There is a single date on the calendar that can change your first Spanish tax bill by thousands of dollars, and almost nobody planning a move to Spain knows it is there. The date is the second of July. Spanish tax residency turns on a simple count of days, and whether you cross the line …

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What American Men Wear to the Pool Can Be Banned in France: French Public Pools Ban Swim Shorts on Men, The Tight-Suit Rule Americans Refuse to Believe

An American man walks up to a public swimming pool in France, ready for a swim, wearing the same knee-length board shorts he wears at every pool back home. The attendant stops him at the entrance and refuses to let him in. The problem is not the man, or his behaviour, or his ticket. It …

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The Italian Lasagna Technique That Changes Everything: How to Make Lasagna Like an Italian Grandmother

Lasagna is the undisputed heavyweight of Italian comfort food rich layers of pasta, slow-cooked meat sauce, creamy béchamel, and bubbling cheese baked to golden perfection. It’s a dish that turns ordinary ingredients into something deeply satisfying and celebratory. A true lasagna isn’t just a meal; it’s a statement of tradition, patience, and love for cooking. …

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The Humble Portuguese Soup That Became a National Classic: Caldo Verde Is Portugal’s National Soup and It Has Four Ingredients

If you asked a Portuguese person to name the soup that tastes most like home, the answer would almost certainly be caldo verde. This is Portugal’s national soup, a humble bowl of potato and finely shredded greens that turns up everywhere from grand hotel dining rooms to village festivals to the ordinary weeknight table, and …

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A 28-Year Harvard Study Found Something Surprising About Olive Oil and the Brain

For decades, olive oil has been celebrated as a friend to the heart, the golden centerpiece of the Mediterranean diet, praised in study after study for its effect on cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. So when a team of Harvard scientists followed more than ninety thousand Americans for twenty-eight years and looked at what olive oil …

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