I was beginning to doubt it would ever happen, but I eventually found a regular, useful use for AI: the Vanlife Travel Planner.
I am not a student and I do not code. However, I am on day 48 of my van trip through Europe with my wife and dog. We travel without any specific itinerary, chasing the wind and the sun while working 9 to 5 jobs. AI’s mastery of travel planning has made it an unexpected but irreplaceable expert. So much so that we’ve become increasingly dependent on the free versions of Gemini and ChatGPT to help us choose our next destination.
It all started with a simple question. Tired after a 25km trek with only a few hours of daylight left, I decided to skip the usual slog through Google search results, and instead opened the Gemini app on my iPhone. “Are there any charming villages near Plitvice Lakes National Park,” was the question I typed. Here’s Gemini’s seemingly enthusiastic response:
Absolutely! Very close to the Plitvice Lakes National Park is a particularly charming village called Rastoke.
It is often described as a “fairy-tale” or “watermill village” and is often referred to as “Little Plitvice” because it shares a similar natural phenomenon, although on a smaller scale.
So, we took a chance and took a 20-minute drive to Rastock, Croatia and this is what we found:
Using the same query in Google search would have eventually led me to Rustoke, but it would have taken me more time and more effort. First I had to click on the top results, which included Facebook, TripAdvisor, and a site I’d never heard of called Islands.com. I then have to click on cookie banners and newsletter offers, and then parse walls of text to find that recommended village. By comparison, Gemini’s result was fast, concise, confident, and text-based (no spoilers!) – exactly what I wanted.
With Restoc far exceeding our expectations, we tried the AI again a few days later after visiting Ravenna, Italy – a city that comes recommended by real, actual humans using word-of-mouth. Only this time we used ChatGPT and added a new parameter to the query because our 6-meter rig is too large for the medieval roads found inside walled villages.
“Find a charming village near Ravenna with easy RV parking.”
Here is ChatGPT’s response:
Brisighella
• It is a beautiful medieval hilltop village, often listed among the most beautiful villages in Italy.
• There is a regional campervan on Via Giuseppe Billi in Brisighella, a ten-minute walk from the historic centre, with service (Carico/Scarico).
And here’s what we found:
Brisighella, Italy, probably the most beautiful village I have ever seen in Europe and parking was as easy as described. And yet, somehow I had never heard of it. Thanks, aye!
Searching on Google with the same prompt yielded a Brisighella recommendation in ChatGPT, which yielded no value. The top three links began with a TripAdvisor piece titled “The 10 Best Ravenna Campgrounds 2025 (With Prices), an Expedia link titled “RV Campgrounds Ravenna from $90”, and something from a site called agricamper.com titled “Emilia Romagna on the Road: 8 Stops by Motorhome and…”
AI has proven itself in providing faster responses. But here’s the problem: AI can only produce these results because humans first posted about “charming,” “cute,” “weird” or “fairy tale villages” on the Internet. When no one has a reason to visit travel sites and blogs, they will die out – the economic model that drives the World Wide Web doesn’t work without search traffic and clicks. And when humans stop posting travel content, what measures will AI models take to maintain relevance?
My contribution to “Google Zero” has left me in a dilemma.
as a founder the verge Editor, My contribution to “Google Zero” – the point where AI summaries do not require users to click through to a website – has me confused. It is clear that in some circumstances, AI tools can be more effective and provide a better experience than traditional search and websites. It’s also clear that they will exacerbate the problems that are driving me and many others away from the search. As clicks continue to decline, websites will have to show more ads to increase revenue and include more pop ups asking for my email address to keep me coming back. This kludge is going to make the web experience worse, which will drive more people back towards AI.
The second challenge here is trust. So far, the AI results we have received have been highly reliable. But stories abound of passengers left stranded after failing to check whether the AI had given them accurate information. That’s why I still cross-reference those machine-generated suggestions with Google Maps and Parks4Night.
As AI weather models continue to improve, we’ve started adding weather parameters to our searches to help find spots for kitesurfing when the wind is blowing. Wind forecasts are notoriously unreliable more than a few days out, so we use these results as an indication of where we It is possible Keep going by taking a look at our most trusted wind apps.
For this question about a place where we could go kitesurfing with sunny skies and winds above 15 knots, Gemini suggested the town of Noli, which provided a summary of conditions and a wind forecast, which was extremely helpful in narrowing down our search of the area.
This type of response goes far beyond anything Google Search can produce – even its AI overview summaries lack weather integration. The best a Google search could confirm was that yes, people do kitesurfing in Noli. Gemini and ChatGPT have also proven useful in finding routes and destinations that avoid rain and snow, which we again continue to verify from reliable sources.
Gemini and ChatGPT are now the first tools we use every day to help us plan our trips. Neither of these are substantially better than the other, it’s just nice to get a second opinion – but they’re both far better than paging through Google search results or travel sites. It’s not even close. Armed with such an omniscient advisor our enjoyment was maximized, allowing us to spend less time planning and more time experiencing.
Before using it as a travel companion I was skeptical about AI’s ability to benefit my daily life. Now I am converted. I haven’t found a better way to get Serendipity moving in the right direction quickly and easily. The only question is how long the machine can last if there is no one left to feed it.