Bundle install - Could not locate Gemfile or .bundle/ directory

i had this problem once. reinstalled everything from scratch. it started working again. 3 days later same problem reappears.

i check for bundle -v

it confirms that Bundler is installed :
Bundler version 1.12.5

bundle install gives me the same error

i am running locally on Ubuntu 16.04 (VM Vagrant) . Am I missing something?