This Free Inquiry Project allowed me to share and apply skills and knowledge I have learned from travelling. Discussing topics including Transportation While Abroad and Communication While Abroad allowed me to refine what knowledge I had and then expand my understanding through research. I like that I had the creative freedom to change some of the topics and shift them depending on where my research led. Originally I didn’t intend to explore Local Communities & Culture. I found some a couple interesting blog posts on the impact of travel on local cultures and communities which sparked my interest and prompted me to write a post about it. Other topics including Booking Travel and Communication provided me with new areas of growth including using AI for travelling. It amazed me how well AI performed to find flight deals when prompted effectively. Learning about DeepAI and other language models showed me how effective we can make AI when focusing on specific uses and the potential for growth.

My biggest takeaway from this Free Inquiry project was how intertwined travelling and technology have become. When comparing stories with my parents, it’s shocking to hear that they used little to no technology when the travelled at the same age. My parents used travel agents to to find the best deals. Now, we can sit at home when finding deals online or get AI to do it for us free of charge. Travelling has become something widely accessible and at times can be cheaper than living at home. I am excited to see how the relationship between travelling and technology change in the future. Technology provides us with a lot of potential opportunities when travelling and I believe it will continue to do so and progress beyond what we know now.

Here are the summaries for my Free Inquiry topics:

• Travel Itineraries allow you to create a loose structure when travelling. Having pre-selected activities gives you a general idea of what you want to do without the pressure of doing everything on your list. This provides you with a balance of flexibility and structure when travelling.
• Communicating While Abroad demonstrated the ability to stay connected internationally. It also allows you to connect more meaningfully with local people and explore areas that would be accessible without knowing the language.
• Booking Travel allowed me to compare booking travel using traditional booking sites versus using AI to book travel. AI preformed better than I expected and has the potential to be useful when booking if it is effectively prompted.
• Local Communities & Culture makes you reflect on how you consume culture while you are abroad. Knowing local customs, understanding you are a guest, and providing locals with the dignity and respect they deserve is critical. The people and their culture are not meant to be a spectacle, but learned and honoured if you are invited to do so.
• Transportation prepares tourists for what transportation methods might look when abroad. Before travelling you should know local apps, types or transportation, and the requirements to use personal transportation.
• Creating Travel Books allows you to reflect on your trips more in depth than looking at picture. You can document you travel with a journal and put this together with images to make a meaningful artifact from your journey.