u/KingLiiam

I posted here a couple of times earlier this year about Explorer AI, a travel planning tool I've been building. A few things have changed since then, and one of them is actually new rather than just another feature, so it seemed worth a proper update.

First, the milestone: we passed 5,000 users. Thanks to the people here who tried it early and told me what would make it better - a fair amount of what follows came out of that.

The short version, for anyone who hasn't seen it: you answer a set of questions about your trip - pace, budget, food, who you're travelling with - and it returns 20 ideas across four categories: things to do, see, eat and experience. The difference from asking other AI tools the same thing is that the recommendations partly come from a database of verified ideas from real travellers rather than whatever the model identifies on the spot, so you're less likely to get the same four landmarks everyone gets, and the ideas are filtered to how you actually travel rather than a generic top-ten. You're also more likely to get ideas for destinations that are current, we refresh this database almost daily.

You save the ones you like after they appear and they are then saved to the My Trips page, reuse your profile across other cities in the same trip, and see everything pinned to a map. You can add your accommodation too, so the pins sit relative to where you're staying.

Map view of all your saved ideas - easily add any idea and see it appear on the map

There's an itinerary builder now as well - day-by-day, add ideas to each day from the ones you've saved. I didn't want it to be a walled garden, so it takes manual entries too: find something on TikTok or a blog, add it yourself, and it lands on the same list and the same map. The tool gives you a strong starting set; it doesn't pretend to be the only place you'll look.

Organise your trip day by day using our itinerary builder.

The part I'm actually interested in is the Stories page, which went up last month. Most people research trips by reading - blogs, articles, a writer whose taste they trust. That isn't going away and I don't think it should. So rather than compete with it, the Stories do the one thing an ordinary blog can't: every place named in the article is a live component sitting in the text, and as you read, you can add it straight into your trip in two clicks. Read about a restaurant, tap, it's on your map. No copying names into a notes app, no losing half the list by the time you're home. Same principle as the rest of the tool - research and planning in one place - applied to the way people already find things. We’re working through applications now for Writers and Stories for the website, if you’re interested please get in touch!

That's the update. It's free - try it on a city you know well and tell me if the picks hold up. Thanks for the early support from this sub, it's been extremely helpful for the development of this website!

I posted here a couple of times earlier this year about Explorer AI, a travel planning tool I've been building. A few things have changed since then, and one of them is actually new rather than just another feature, so it seemed worth a proper update.

First, the milestone: we passed 5,000 users. Thanks to the people here who tried it early and told me what would make it better - a fair amount of what follows came out of that.

The short version, for anyone who hasn't seen it: you answer a set of questions about your trip - pace, budget, food, who you're travelling with - and it returns 20 ideas across four categories: things to do, see, eat and experience. The difference from asking other AI tools the same thing is that the recommendations partly come from a database of verified ideas from real travellers rather than whatever the model identifies on the spot, so you're less likely to get the same four landmarks everyone gets, and the ideas are filtered to how you actually travel rather than a generic top-ten. You're also more likely to get ideas for destinations that are current, we refresh this database almost daily.

You save the ones you like after they appear and they are then saved to the My Trips page, reuse your profile across other cities in the same trip, and see everything pinned to a map. You can add your accommodation too, so the pins sit relative to where you're staying.

Map view of all your saved ideas - easily add any idea and see it appear on the map

There's an itinerary builder now as well - day-by-day, add ideas to each day from the ones you've saved. I didn't want it to be a walled garden, so it takes manual entries too: find something on TikTok or a blog, add it yourself, and it lands on the same list and the same map. The tool gives you a strong starting set; it doesn't pretend to be the only place you'll look.

Organise your trip day by day using our itinerary builder.

The part I'm actually interested in is the Stories page, which went up last month. Most people research trips by reading - blogs, articles, a writer whose taste they trust. That isn't going away and I don't think it should. So rather than compete with it, the Stories do the one thing an ordinary blog can't: every place named in the article is a live component sitting in the text, and as you read, you can add it straight into your trip in two clicks. Read about a restaurant, tap, it's on your map. No copying names into a notes app, no losing half the list by the time you're home. Same principle as the rest of the tool - research and planning in one place - applied to the way people already find things. We’re working through applications now for Writers and Stories for the website, if you’re interested please get in touch!

That's the update. It's free - try it on a city you know well and tell me if the picks hold up. Thanks for the early support from this sub, it's been extremely helpful for the development of this website!

I posted here a couple of times earlier this year about Explorer AI, a travel planning tool I've been building. A few things have changed since then, and one of them is actually new rather than just another feature, so it seemed worth a proper update.

First, the milestone: we passed 5,000 users. Thanks to the people here who tried it early and told me what would make it better - a fair amount of what follows came out of that.

The short version, for anyone who hasn't seen it: you answer a set of questions about your trip - pace, budget, food, who you're travelling with - and it returns 20 ideas across four categories: things to do, see, eat and experience. The difference from asking other AI tools the same thing is that the recommendations partly come from a database of verified ideas from real travellers rather than whatever the model identifies on the spot, so you're less likely to get the same four landmarks everyone gets, and the ideas are filtered to how you actually travel rather than a generic top-ten. You're also more likely to get ideas for destinations that are current, we refresh this database almost daily.

You save the ones you like after they appear and they are then saved to the My Trips page, reuse your profile across other cities in the same trip, and see everything pinned to a map. You can add your accommodation too, so the pins sit relative to where you're staying.

Map view of all your saved ideas - easily add any idea and see it appear on the map

There's an itinerary builder now as well - day-by-day, add ideas to each day from the ones you've saved. I didn't want it to be a walled garden, so it takes manual entries too: find something on TikTok or a blog, add it yourself, and it lands on the same list and the same map. The tool gives you a strong starting set; it doesn't pretend to be the only place you'll look.

Organise your trip day by day using our itinerary builder.

The part I'm actually interested in is the Stories page, which went up last month. Most people research trips by reading - blogs, articles, a writer whose taste they trust. That isn't going away and I don't think it should. So rather than compete with it, the Stories do the one thing an ordinary blog can't: every place named in the article is a live component sitting in the text, and as you read, you can add it straight into your trip in two clicks. Read about a restaurant, tap, it's on your map. No copying names into a notes app, no losing half the list by the time you're home. Same principle as the rest of the tool - research and planning in one place - applied to the way people already find things. We’re working through applications now for Writers and Stories for the website, if you’re interested please get in touch!

That's the update. It's free - try it on a city you know well and tell me if the picks hold up. Thanks for the early support from this sub, it's been extremely helpful for the development of this website!

Most itineraries fall apart for one reason, and it isn't bad ideas. It's trying to find things and organise them at the same time. You bounce between a blog, a map, three notes apps and a dozen tabs, and by the end you've got 40 places saved and no clue which ones are near each other or what day they should go on.

The thing that fixed it for me was doing those as two separate jobs. Here's the order I use now. It works with any tools, or none.

1. Just collect first. Do one planning session where you're only finding things. Anything that looks good, save it, don't worry yet about where it fits. The moment you start trying to build actual days while you're still hunting for places, it turns into a mess.

2. Match the ideas to how you travel. Every "top 10 things to do in [city]" gives you the same four landmarks. If you're a slow traveller, or you've got kids with you, or you're really just there to eat, most of that list is dead weight. You want ideas that fit your pace, otherwise step one was you collecting stuff you're about to throw out.

3. Map everything before you think about days. This is the one people skip and then regret in the taxi. Get the places pinned first. Once they're on a map you can see it straight away - these five are all walkable, that one's stranded on the other side of town - and the days sort of sort themselves out.

4. Drop your hotel on the map too. Now the pins actually mean something. You can see what's a quick walk after breakfast versus what's a mission you should only do on a day you're already over that way.

Everything pinned, hotel included, so you can see what's actually near what

5. Build days around what's close, not around the calendar. Take the clusters and give each one a day. Keep adding your own stuff as you find it - a mate's restaurant rec, something off TikTok, a gallery from a blog - into the same list, so it's not sitting in a separate note you forget about by day two.

https://preview.redd.it/56k35tjpatah1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=f78a3515fd774bf3c994c619c05b07fabb0bf4b4

That order matters more than it sounds like it should. Collect, map, cluster, then schedule. It's the thing that stops you standing on a corner at 2pm working out where lunch even is.

I got sick enough of doing this across spreadsheets and half a dozen apps that I built a tool for it, called Explorer AI. It comes up with ideas based on how you travel, pins them to a map, lets you throw your own finds in next to them, and builds the day-by-day. Free if you want to try the process without duct-taping five apps together. The order works either way though, even if you do the whole thing by hand.

I start with the map every time, can't plan a day until I know what's near what. Plenty of people go day by day from the off though, so I'm curious on other approaches. How does everyone here do it?

I posted here a couple of times earlier this year about Explorer AI, a travel planning tool I've been building. A few things have changed since then, and one of them is actually new rather than just another feature, so it seemed worth a proper update.

First, the milestone: we passed 5,000 users. Thanks to the people here who tried it early and told me what would make it better - a fair amount of what follows came out of that.

The short version, for anyone who hasn't seen it: you answer a set of questions about your trip - pace, budget, food, who you're travelling with - and it returns 20 ideas across four categories: things to do, see, eat and experience. The difference from asking other AI tools the same thing is that the recommendations partly come from a database of verified ideas from real travellers rather than whatever the model identifies on the spot, so you're less likely to get the same four landmarks everyone gets, and the ideas are filtered to how you actually travel rather than a generic top-ten. You're also more likely to get ideas for destinations that are current, we refresh this database almost daily.

You save the ones you like after they appear and they are then saved to the My Trips page, reuse your profile across other cities in the same trip, and see everything pinned to a map. You can add your accommodation too, so the pins sit relative to where you're staying.

Map view of all your saved ideas - easily add any idea and see it appear on the map

There's an itinerary builder now as well - day-by-day, add ideas to each day from the ones you've saved. I didn't want it to be a walled garden, so it takes manual entries too: find something on TikTok or a blog, add it yourself, and it lands on the same list and the same map. The tool gives you a strong starting set; it doesn't pretend to be the only place you'll look.

Organise your trip day by day using our itinerary builder.

The part I'm actually interested in is the Stories page, which went up last month. Most people research trips by reading - blogs, articles, a writer whose taste they trust. That isn't going away and I don't think it should. So rather than compete with it, the Stories do the one thing an ordinary blog can't: every place named in the article is a live component sitting in the text, and as you read, you can add it straight into your trip in two clicks. Read about a restaurant, tap, it's on your map. No copying names into a notes app, no losing half the list by the time you're home. Same principle as the rest of the tool - research and planning in one place - applied to the way people already find things. We’re working through applications now for Writers and Stories for the website, if you’re interested please get in touch!

That's the update. It's free - try it on a city you know well and tell me if the picks hold up. Thanks for the early support from this sub, it's been extremely helpful for the development of this website!

As the title says, I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of Evertonians on what positions they feel we need to strengthen this season (AND WHO TO SIGN, REALISTICALLY).

Not sure if it's a really divisive opinion but I agree with statements from the club about this being a 2 summer window project. I completely agree with them from where we've come from to where we are as of the end of last season, and while it was extremely disappointing to miss out, I feel like we're just 3-4 players away in the starting XI and the bench to really push on for Europe. Obviously with better form we would've made Europe last season but I do feel like we're a much stronger position to attract players than we were in last season which I think (hope) counts for more.

So, what positions do you think we need to strengthen this season and who do you think would be some realistic targets?

Explorer AI gives you 20 personalised ideas that actually match how you travel. It starts with those 20 profile questions about your budget, pace, food, nightlife, outdoors stuff, whatever. Then it pulls from a hand-curated list of 1,800+ real spots across 250+ cities so nothing feels generic or made up.

But until now the ideas were still just a list. The new map fixes that.

https://preview.redd.it/kughtlpoa6ug1.jpg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4ebe84b15e1bb8531c88b96a4232c5c7d361a50

The second you save a trip, every idea pops up as a coloured pin straight on a proper Google Map, all plotted around where you're staying. Add your hotel or any address and it turns into the bright green anchor pin. You instantly see distances and how things cluster together. Drag ideas into days in the itinerary builder and the map updates live - it only lights up that day's stuff so you can actually see the route taking shape. It plots both our hyper-personalised ideas for you as well as any custom ideas you might add as long as Google Maps can find a match.

I used it on my own Rome trip last month staying in Ponte and it completely changed the game. Everything just clicked into place spatially instead of living in some random text list I never looked at again. A couple of mates have tried the new version too and they're stoked - it finally feels like a real plan you can take out on the street.

Explorer AI is still totally free. I've been building it in public and we're getting roughly 30-50 new people trying it every day. The map was the missing piece that turns decent recommendations into something you can actually use.

Keen to hear what you think if you give it a spin. Does the map feel useful on the ground? Any bits that feel clunky? Just try it and let me know - happy for any feedback.