Club Benefits
As a native New Yorker, I’ve been fooled by the weather one too many times over the past few months.
One day it’s sunny and pushing into the 70s, giving me hope that summer has finally arrived. The next morning, I’m back in a sweater and jacket wondering what happened.
But now that summer is finally getting closer, I’ve started thinking about one thing: planning the perfect road trip.
Creating an itinerary
Before even pulling out of the driveway for that dream road trip, it’s definitely worth checking in your preferred AI tool to plan out your future summer getaway.
Popular AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini Canvas in Google Gemini, Claude, etc.) and even the ones specifically built to arrange trips (Layla, Mindtrip, iMeanAI, etc.) are equally efficient at putting you on the right path towards the best destinations during your travels.
This list of prompts can come in handy whenever you’re interacting with chatbots when you’re looking to be led to the best locales to stop off at during your dream road trip:
- Plan a [number of days] summer road trip from [location] to [location] focused on seafood, beaches, bookstores, and scenic coastal towns. Keep the driving under [number of hours] per day.
- Find underrated summer road trip stops between [location] and [location] that feel cinematic, nostalgic, and uncrowded.
- What’s the best last-minute stop between [location] and [location] if I want to avoid tourist-heavy places?
- Find fun indoor activities near me because it’s raining.
I even asked ChatGPT to come up with an all-in-one prompt that covers every request possible when you’re requesting its aid during your road trip research and planning:
Act like an elite road trip planner, travel hacker, local guide, and budget travel expert.
Help me plan the perfect summer road trip based on my preferences.
Ask me questions one at a time about: My starting location, budget, trip length, travel style, food preferences, interests, music taste, scenic vs. fast routes, hotel vs. camping preferences and who I’m traveling with. Then create a complete itinerary, driving schedule, budget breakdown, packing list, food reccomendations, hidden gems, scenic stops and backup rain plans. Then, optimize everything for fun, efficiency, low stress, and memorable experiences.
Building a road trip playlist, finding cheap gas and more
Once you’ve gotten the most important step out of the way when planning your summer road trip with the assistance of a chatbot, it’s time to move on to the next steps that will make your experience that much more lively:
- Using the voice chat option in Google Maps to locate the cheapest options to buy gas.
- Building the perfect music playlists for your open road journey with the ChatGPT-enabled Apple Music app and the Claude-powered Spotify “Connector. Spotify also has an app within ChatGPT, by the way.
- If you’re going on a solo road trip and are more interested in vibing out to narratives over music, you can get audiobook recommendations from Audible from right inside Claude.
- You’re going to get the munchies during your time out on the road, of course. In this case, using the Resy Connector inside Claude to find the top spots to grub at during your road trip is worth a try.
- ChatGPT also has access to apps for Expedia and TripAdvisor, which come in handy whenever you’re looking to book a top-rated hotel during your road trip if you’re planning to stay at one.
- Chances are high that you’ll be looking to attend a sporting event or concert during your road travels. ChatGPT apps such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek and StubHub are reliable enough to find your best prices and seats for those events.
Bottom line
I’m sure most of you reading this right now are staring at your suitcases and muttering to yourself, “soon…”
Heading out on the road with your best friends or enjoying that road trip getaway with your family or even alone, starts to look and sound that much more delightful for folks like me who reside in states that stay colder a lot longer than it remains warmer. When the time finally arrives for you and anyone who wants to come along to take advantage of that PTO you’ve been saving up for so long, spend some time with AI to help you build the perfect road trip itinerary.
Hopefully, my tips will give you all the best ways to make your dreams of hitting the open road for an unforgettable road trip a reality.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.
More from Tom’s Guide
- I asked Google Maps to find the cheapest gas — this hidden feature nailed it
- I used Canvas in Gemini to plan a trip — and it found free activities I didn’t expect
- I let Resy in Claude pick new restaurants for me to try — and the results were surprising
