Step 1: Define your Trip’s Purpose

Before you touch ChatGPT, PerplexityAI, Google Maps or TripAdvisor, get clear on why you’re taking this trip. Is it:

• A cultural deep-dive (think: museums, neighborhoods, historical tours)?
• A nature recharge (national parks, beaches, hiking)?
• A food & vibe getaway (restaurants, markets, nightlife)?

Knowing your core vibe helps filter out the noise—and it’s the biggest time-saving hack I use. For example, my trip to Barcelona was food-first. That meant less stress about museums and more focus on tapas bars and market neighborhoods like La Boqueria.

Pro Tip: If you’re traveling with others, do a quick alignment chat or group poll so everyone’s expectations match.

Step 2: Lock in Anchor Activities Based on Your Interest

Search based on your interests and purpose from above. One of the most common searches is “Things to do in ___”. While this is a great place to start, you can actually save time and effort by specifying what you’re really looking for.

Try these queries instead:

• “Best restaurants for foodies in Tokyo”
• “Unique experiences in Paris” (I found a baguette making class off of this one)
• “Bucket list experiences in Mexico City”

Once you know your vibe based on a quick search or look, pick one to two “anchor” activities per day. These are your non-negotiables: things you’ll book in advance or plan the day around.

For example, when planning my Mexico City trip, we planned the 3-4 days around going on a hot air balloon, doing a walking tour, and experiencing Lucha Libre. Plus, we got all of that from just a few unique searches.

Here are a few things you can do in any city as a quick start:

1. Walking tour
2. Rooftop lounge/bar
3. Sofar sounds show
4. Cooking class with local culture

Step 3: Make your Lists

Once you have your anchor interests, find other recommendations that you might need. I recommend just making lists of things like restaurants, cafes, and more. 

You can choose whether or not you actually want to go to them when you’re there, but you don’t have to plan out every single moment of your itinerary–I actually recommend that you don’t or else you’ll stress yourself out. Just find stuff so that when you’re there, you can have lists to chose from instead of flying in blind.

I have listed a few ways you can find these recommendations below.

Searching via AI – To Use or Not To Use When Researching Travel Things? 

AI can be extremely helpful.

I love to use it to get a lay of the land and find unique activities. These are some things I will ask it:

• What is this city known for?
• What are the main tourist spots?
• What are some unique things to do there?
• 4 day itinerary for a foodie
• Adrenaline-based activities in ___
• Local activities in __
• Local restaurants in __

 It helps me see everything about the city. The more personal I make my prompts, the more personal the recommendations. So I use it more as a learning tool than a planning one. 

One of my favorite ones is perplexity.ai – it summarizes things in such a fun way and also cites its sources. I love the interface, and it’s so easily shareable.

Take everything you see with a grain of salt though. Nothing is better than relying on personal recommendations from families, friends, and travel blogs because they’re proven.

Travel Blogs: More Personal Resources

Travel blogs are my favorite resources. You’ll find them through doing those initial queries I stated above. I’ll be honest – it’s time consuming to go through them, but I feel like it gives a way better personal touch than any AI could. It also gives me a ton more context than the summarized AI responses. 

I’ll often follow along to the ones I can relate to. I relate to them based on destinations, their way of giving info, and more. Honestly, just start looking through some travel blogs to see which ones you like!

Some of my favorites are the Blonde Abroad and Salt in our Hair.

The Best Activity Finder: Your Community + Locals

Personally, I get the best recommendations from locals and friends who have been there. I recommend you text your family and friends that’ve been there or live there. If you don’t have connections that are tied to the destination you are visiting, there’s a great workaround to meet locals.

Expanding Your Community: Asking the Experts for FREE

How to meet locals if you don’t know any? Free walking tours. 

Locals are the experts in any destination you go to. From culture to popping restaurants, they know exactly where to go and what to do. The one thing I do on every single trip is take a free walking tour. Not only is this budget friendly, but if you do this early on in your trip, you’ll get a lay of the land right off the bat. Locals will give you a short history of the city itself, but they’ll also add personal anecdotes and recommendations along the way. (It’s also another great place to meet people if you are on a solo trip.)

These are some of my favorite walking tours thus far:

• Copenhagen Free Walking Tours
• London Free Jack the Ripper Tour
• Lisbon Chill Out Free Walking Tours

Step 4: Enjoy the Trip!

That’s pretty much it! I try to make sure I find enough activities to fill different parts of the days – mornings, afternoons, evenings, and have them on deck for random decisions.

Otherwise, I only book and plan anchor activities and certain foodie experiences, and leave the rest to how I’m feeling when I’m on the trip.

This way, you go in prepared but not stressed.

Real Life Example