AI-Powered Travel Planning
Streamlining our Travel Plans?
I am not a computer expert. (Don’t confuse the fact that I sold large, complex computer systems for more than 20 years with expertise.) I am not an expert on artificial intelligence (AI)…but I am fascinated by it. So when it came time to plan our summer road trip, I thought I would give it a try.
Our Summer Travels
You may recall our goal for 2024 was to travel somewhere new every month. We skipped January because Denise was in the States and traveled to Madeira in February. While I am not convinced we will achieve our goal of traveling every month…we already have several trips planned (Mallorca, Croatia, Vietnam, and Cambodia). Airlines, boats, lodging, Guruwalks, Viator tours, locating vegetarian restaurants … the planning can sometimes seem exhausting. So when Denise returned from the golf course one day and announced, “I think we should drive to Denmark this summer,”1 I gulped.
We’ve planned quite a few road trips. (We used to own a motorhome.) And while our Danish friends drive home in 3-4 days, we wanted to take a more leisurely route. We haven’t visited Guimaraes yet … we have a raincheck at Troia Golf Club we need to use… I want to visit Bordeaux… Denise would love to return to Prague…
And so it began … I opened Google Maps … where do we stop for a night or two that is somewhat on the way … that is preferably less than a 6-hour drive? As we settled on a location, we jumped to booking.com or Airbnb.com to find pet-friendly accommodations. We would check TripAdvisor.com to find things to do.2 After three or four hours my fingertips hurt and I would need to take a break.
A Better Way?
I had read just a bit about artificial intelligence. I recently listened to Business Wars’ podcast series on AI. Yes, many ethical questions need to be addressed! Yes, regulation is required! Yes, it can seem scary!!3 But by the time I had planned our route to Denmark, I needed a break. So I opened ChatGPT and typed: “Plan an 8-day road trip in Denmark for two adults and their dog”. Below is a portion of the reply:
I then asked: “Recommend pet-friendly accommodations for the itinerary above”, and in less than 2 seconds I had this reply:
Maybe
The long and short of it is:
We are pretty much following the route recommended … I happened to play golf with Peter yesterday (the Dane referenced in footnote 1 below) and he confirmed it will provide a good overview of the country.
We are NOT using any of the hotels recommended. Some had a no-pet policy. So don’t assume everything is 100% accurate. Also, when you are on the road for 5 weeks, you need to find places with washing machines every few days.
I asked about golf courses nearby and ChatGPT recommended one near Skagen, Hvide Klit Golf Club, which every Dane I have ever met has recommended.
So I am beginning to think that I will consult ChatGPT, and perhaps other AI tools more often when planning a vacation. I have just scratched the surface! Have you tried AI for any of your travel planning? Please, let us know.
A Funny Story
Before I leave you I need to share something. When you have a blog you receive unsolicited emails from every Tom, Dick, and Harry regarding monetizing your writing. One was from a Substacker who used AI to identify a highly sought-after blog niche and then to write his weekly posts. He claims his blog is generating nearly $10,000/month after less than one year. Perhaps it is the religion major in me, but I think this is cheating. But just for fun, I asked ChatGPT to write a short blog post on Algarve using the “style” found on my site. It replied with the following:
Needless to say, I won’t be using AI to generate any of my blog posts!
Eu prometo!, Fica Bem, Beijinhos
Nanc
Editor’s Update: In case you missed it, the US Embassy in Lisbon called Denise at 17:30 the day my blog post on Social Security went live. She is all set!
Our golf club has members from all over Europe who spend their winters in Algarve. She happened to play golf with Peter that day, a gentleman who lives in Denmark.
I also must confess that I have become obsessed with two British TV shows: Help, I Bought a Village, and Chateau DIY. Both highlight crazy Brits, often with too little money, who buy enormous chateaus or deserted villages and convert them into hotels. We are visiting a few on this trip.
Denise is not a big fan of my newfound interest.
The other day I flamed out doing Wordle. The NYT analysis bot told me "goals" was unlikely to be the answer. So I asked Bard (Google's AI) why that was so. It told me:
1. Wordle answers are five letters. "Goals" is six.
2. Wordle doesn't use double letters, and "goals" has two "o"s.
3. Wordle uses common words, and "goals" is uncommon.
4. Wordle uses interesting words, and "goals" is too common to be interesting.
So I'm still a bit skeptical.
Those Chat GPT suggestions seem so vague! And to include non pet friendly accommodation assuming it welcomes dogs is wrong on many levels, the lack of accuracy is astounding! And that blog post draft is so wishy washy haha! Anyway, your road trip plan sounds fantastic.