How Meggan is Using AI to Trip Plan

TTT - AI Trip Planning
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Meggan: Hey everyone and welcome back to travel tip Tuesday here on the travel mug podcast. We appreciate you being here very much as always. I am joined by Jen. How are you doing today, pal?

Jenn: I am pretty good. Although it's another snowstorm here in Nova Scotia. I feel like they just won't quit this year.

Meggan: No, I know. Our snow tires have come in handy for once. So let's sort of think about something else, you know?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Okay. So today I want to chat about AI and trip planning and how I might involve it in my 50th birthday trip planning. So, You cannot go anywhere these days online or television without hearing about AI, the effects of AI, is it good, is it bad, is it somewhere in between, you know, are we going to lose our jobs because of it?

All the big questions. And there are so many questions and to be honest, we are pretty much in the dawn of AI in terms of it being in the mainstream. There are a lot of unknowns and I'm sure like so much more to come because we actually saw this recently with the surprise release of Deep Seek from China, which, Was made with a fraction of the money of all the other ones, and none of the tech bros in North America saw that coming.

So that was kind of, that part was kind of fun. Um, but each day it seems like anything is possible, whether it's good or bad. So we decided finally, I know you and I have talked about sort of trip planning for 2025, and neither of us really have or had any concrete plans at one point. And last year after going to Iceland and Amsterdam, it was just a lot.

So we're going to do local this year. And of course that left me to ponder 2026, because always thinking in terms of travel, and I thrive on stuff to look forward to. And, uh, next year, which I'm not as much looking forward to, but I do turn 50. And it is a milestone I embrace, because the alternative, you know, Isn't one anybody wants.

So I started to think like, how can I celebrate this milestone? So I would not consider myself, and you know this as well, I'm not overly techie. I, I do, I function, you know, but I'm in no way an expert, uh, with tech or AI. I'm quite new to it, but I did think about how I could use it to potentially help craft my milestone trip.

So I did choose Italy for spring of 2026, and the possibilities are really vast in terms of where to go and what to do, but I do realize that in two weeks we cannot see the whole country. So I'm starting to narrow that down, and I know for certain that I want to visit Florence, Tuscany, and also the Dolomite Mountains.

Another curveball is that if possible, I want to travel within Italy via train, , as opposed to renting a car if we don't have to. So that will be like another layer of trip planning that we've never really had to do before. So how am I going to involve AI? So for me, I'm hoping to work on a solid itinerary with things to do, places to eat, points of interest, and go as deep as I can, literally just to see what happens.

I have started inputting my wants in terms of location, and how to get from place to place, and ChatGPT has given me an outline. But I want to do more and see how like, finite I can get it. I've asked and added some things already to the basic itinerary, but I'm Really looking forward to literally see what else I can do with it.

This isn't to say that we will blindly follow what it says. Like one of those people in those GPS stories that you hear where they're like, the GPS told me to go here and they end up in a body of water. Like, I don't know. I swear we'll be more careful than that, but I do want to use it as an experiment on how much can be accomplished with trip planning, utilizing this resource.

And it's only just begun and I'm excited to see where it takes us. Of course I know we'll fall back to using Google Maps and doing the things that we normally do, but I'm interested to see. How much of an outline I can get from it. And what are your thoughts on this idea or using just AI in general, or to plan trips?

Right, right.

Jenn: so very tricky and AI has its time and its place for sure. And I think that it's a really good place to kind of get a jumping off point. however, being someone that uses AI nearly every day, I know that it definitely hallucinates and it definitely gets things wrong sometimes. And also, the rise of AI has had a real, real big impact on the travel blogging industry and the blogging and content writing industry in general, which is literally my job. Um, so I don't, I don't want it to take over completely. So I definitely encourage people to support travel bloggers by using their sites and reading their actual firsthand experiences. I think that you still can't beat firsthand experiences. finally, the last thing I'll say is. That Chat GPT and AI have a very real environmental impact as well.

Water is needed for energy generation and server cooling. So there's just some things to like, keep in mind. Yeah, it's super cool and it can be super helpful and I've used it for a lot of things, but I don't think it's the end all be all

Meggan: I completely agree. And those are some amazing points. And every single search we make on the Internet essentially uses the things you mentioned, but certain requests of AI certainly use more. So it's a really good call out. And we, like I said, we'll likely plan for a good framework of a trip along with our own personal touches and always, always verify any suggestions or information that it gives us.

And you're exactly right as well. Combine that if, if I'm going to use it or if you're going to use it, combine it with human experience, combine it with the travel vloggers or vloggers and what are they saying? Because that is never going to be invaluable.

Jenn: for sure.

Meggan: Now that is it for this week's travel tip Tuesday So if you have ever let, dear listener, AI plan or mostly plan a trip for you Please reach out and let us know about it Like what were some prompts that you used to get the results you wanted?

How much of it did you actually follow or use on your trip? So Really just interested to hear a conversation about that and we would love to hear from you. And to do that you can always find us on social media at TravelMug Podcast on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. And on our website TravelMugPodcast. com where you can find past episodes. See some great pictures and other resources, including working with us if you want to be a guest or if you'd like to recommend a guest, there's lots going on in the website. So definitely check that out. Thanks for being here until next time. Safe travels and bye.

Jenn: Bye.