I’m a Travel Advisor—and Yes, I Think You Should Use AI to Plan Your Trip.
By Stephanie Marie
AI is changing the way we plan travel. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But there’s a difference between researching a great trip and actually making one happen.
I’m probably not supposed to say this as a travel advisor, but here it is:
I think you should use AI to help plan your trips.
Use it to brainstorm where to go. Ask it which neighborhoods might fit your travel style. Have it explain the difference between Lake Como towns or help you narrow down Greek islands. Use it to build packing lists, understand train routes, compare destinations and organize the 47 places you’ve saved on Instagram.
There has never been more travel information at our fingertips—and I think that’s a good thing.
But more information hasn’t necessarily made planning a great trip easier.
In some ways, it’s made it harder.
The problem isn’t finding options anymore. It’s knowing which ones are actually worth choosing.
Open Instagram, TikTok, Google or ChatGPT and within minutes you can have a list of “the best” hotels, restaurants and things to do almost anywhere in the world.
Then comes the harder part.
Which hotel is actually in the right location for the trip you’re planning?
Is the room category worth the upgrade?
Is that restaurant genuinely wonderful—or simply wonderful at marketing itself?
Does the itinerary make sense geographically?
Is three nights enough?
Is the viral experience actually worth the price?
Where should you spend more because it will genuinely change the experience—and where are you paying for something you don’t need?
That’s where information becomes judgment.
And judgment is a very different thing.
AI is incredible for inspiration.
There are plenty of things I think travelers should use it for.
Ask it to explain the differences between destinations you’re considering. Use it to brainstorm itineraries, learn the geography of somewhere new, create packing lists or start researching restaurants.
It can turn a blank page into a very good starting point remarkably quickly.
But I wouldn’t treat every recommendation it gives me as something I’d immediately book.
Travel information changes constantly. Hotels sell out. Restaurants close. Ferry schedules change. Opening dates move. Seasonal businesses operate differently from one month to another. And a recommendation that makes perfect sense for one traveler can be completely wrong for another.
A great trip isn’t created by having the longest list of recommendations. It’s created by making the right decisions between them.
A beautiful itinerary on paper is still just an itinerary.
AI can create a seven-day itinerary for Italy in seconds.
But someone still has to turn it into a real trip.
The right hotel needs to be selected and booked. Room categories need to be considered. Transfers have to line up with arrival times. Restaurant reservations need to work with the day’s plans. Drivers, guides, boats and experiences need to fit together without turning your vacation into an endurance sport.
And sometimes the smartest decision isn’t adding another reservation.
It’s knowing when to leave an afternoon completely open.
That’s the part of travel planning I love most: taking all the possibilities and turning them into something that actually feels good to travel.
What if planning the trip is actually your favorite part?
Then please don’t stop.
I get it. There’s something genuinely fun about discovering a hotel before everyone else, saving restaurants for months, comparing destinations and slowly watching a trip come together.
Working with a travel advisor doesn’t have to replace any of that.
Think of me as another layer of the planning process.
Bring me the three hotels you’re debating and I’ll help you think through which one actually fits the trip. Send me the restaurant you found on Instagram and I’ll help work it into the itinerary. Tell me the experience you’re willing to splurge on and we can figure out where it makes sense to save somewhere else.
And sometimes, what you’re looking for isn’t another recommendation at all.
It’s confirmation.
Is this actually a great hotel?
Am I choosing the right room?
Does this itinerary make sense?
Are we staying too long—or not long enough?
Is this worth the splurge?
Am I missing something I wouldn’t know to look for?
You can still discover the places, obsess over the hotels and build the Pinterest board.
I’ll help pressure-test the plan and take care of the pieces you don’t want to.
Because there’s a difference between researching because you love it—and researching because you can’t stop second-guessing.
If you’re anything like me, the fun part of travel research can eventually turn into 37 open tabs and wondering whether the hotel you chose three weeks ago is still the best hotel.
At some point, more research doesn’t necessarily lead to a better trip.
It just creates more options.
Sometimes the value of having an advisor isn’t finding something you couldn’t find yourself.
It’s having someone you trust say, “This is the one. Book it.”
Then there are the things you can’t prompt your way into.
One of the biggest misconceptions about using a travel advisor is that you’re simply paying someone to Google things for you.
That’s not how I see my role at all.
Through my affiliation with Fora, eligible hotel bookings may receive preferred benefits at participating properties, which can include perks such as hotel credits, breakfast, upgrades or flexible check-in and checkout, depending on the hotel, rate and availability.
There are also relationships behind the reservation—hotels, destination partners, guides, drivers and other travel professionals who actually operate on the ground.
And then there’s something much less glamorous, but incredibly valuable:
a real person who understands your trip.
When something changes, you have someone who already knows where you’re staying, what you’re doing and what matters to you.
Using a travel advisor doesn’t mean giving up control.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about what I do.
Some travelers want almost everything handled for them.
Others arrive with six saved hotels, three TikToks, a restaurant they absolutely have to try and half the itinerary already mapped out.
Both are welcome.
Working with an advisor doesn’t have to mean handing over your vacation and saying, “Surprise me.”
It can mean having someone look at everything you’ve found and say:
Yes, absolutely book this.
I’d choose this hotel instead.
You’re trying to do too much that day.
Spend the extra money here.
Save it here.
And this thing everyone is posting about? I’d skip it.
That isn’t taking control away from you.
It’s adding another layer of expertise while you’re making the decisions.
So where does AI fit?
Everywhere it makes sense.
I don’t think travelers need to choose between technology and a travel advisor.
Use both.
Use AI for the brainstorming.
Use Instagram for inspiration.
Use Google Maps to save the little wine bar you stumbled across at midnight.
Send me the hotel you’ve been obsessing over.
Send me your screenshots.
Send me the TikTok restaurant.
Send me the completely chaotic Notes app list you’ve been building for six months.
Then let me help you turn it into a trip.
Because the future of travel planning isn’t about having access to more information.
We already have more than we could possibly use.
It’s about knowing what’s actually worth booking.
THE LA VIE MARIE TAKE
You can absolutely plan it yourself. You just don’t have to.
La Vie Marie isn’t travel planning for people who don’t know how to travel.
It’s travel advising for people who care deeply about how they travel.
I created La Vie Marie for travelers who care about where they stay, where they eat and how a trip feels—but don’t necessarily want to spend hours researching every decision, second-guessing every reservation or coordinating every detail themselves.
Whether you already know exactly where you want to stay, have half the trip planned or want help starting from scratch, my role is to help you cut through the noise, make smarter choices and create something that feels distinctly yours.
AI can give you the options.
A great travel advisor helps you know which ones are worth choosing.
Ready to plan something?
Already know where you want to stay?
Send me your hotel, dates and room preferences. I’ll review the options and let you know which preferred benefits may be available.
Want help with the whole trip?
Tell me where you’re thinking of going—or even just how you want the trip to feel—and we’ll start there.
