I didn’t plan any of this.

I love to travel. But planning trips? Honestly, it started to feel like a full-time job. And I just got tired of how exhausting it had become.

I’d spend hours scrolling through Google, Instagram, Pinterest, blogs, even ChatGPT. And still, I’d end up planning the same kind of trip everyone else was doing.

Same popular places. Same “Top 10” lists. Same perfect photos that looked amazing online… and totally flopped in real life.

It wasn’t just frustrating. It was disappointing.

I didn’t want a trip that looked good on paper. I wanted one that actually fit me.

That was around September 2023, when I had the idea for Travelhunter.

The €3 meal that changed how I see travel

In Boa Vista, Cape Verde, I met José, the front desk supervisor at my hotel. Total legend.

One night, he introduced me to Radi, a Senegalese chef cooking out of a tiny backstreet kitchen. No tourists had ever found this place.

After that first meal, we didn’t bother eating anywhere else. €3 meals. No hype. No filters. Just real food, real people, real connection.

That’s what travel should feel like.

But Google, Instagram, and ChatGPT didn’t even get close to showing me that side of the island.

And that’s when it clicked:

The best recommendations don’t come from the internet. They come from real people.

What happened when I let ChatGPT plan my trip

At one point, I let ChatGPT plan a trip for me, just to see what would happen.

It sent me to Cabarete, in the Dominican Republic.

On paper, it sounded perfect: sunny skies, great for remote work, daily bachata dancing, local food, wingfoiling—the full package.

In reality? It rained every single day for ten days straight.

No sun. No dancing. No locals. Just overpriced tourist spots and and expats everywhere.

Going out was as expensive as in Munich. And the local vibe? Basically gone.

I ended the trip two weeks early and flew home.

That’s when it hit me:

Tools like ChatGPT might sound smart, but they don’t know you. And they definitely don’t know how you travel.

From real conversations to real recommendations

I didn’t start with code. I started with people.

For over 10 months, I talked to 500+ travelers.

I asked how they travel, what they avoid, what’s missing, and what makes a trip unforgettable.

Everyone said the same thing:

They trust recommendations from people they know.

But here's the twist:

Even friends can give bad recs if they don’t travel like you.

That’s the core idea behind Travelhunter:

Match people with recommendations from travelers who share how they actually travel.

Real insights from real travelers like you.

The bigger vision: Building the future of travel

Eventually, Travelhunter won’t just give you recommendations.

It’ll build you a full itinerary that actually fits you - with one click.

Where to stay. What to eat. What to skip.

Tailored to your style, mood, budget, season - everything that makes you, you.

The tech already exists.

What’s missing is the data, the kind that truly understands how you travel.

Not even Google, ChatGPT, or TripAdvisor have that.

If they did, they would’ve built Travelhunter already.

The concept is simple. The value is in the data.

That’s why we’re starting here:

Real profiles. Real preferences. Real tips from real travelers.

So that one day soon, you can stop planning and just go -

and still have it feel like you.

What we’re building right now

Right now, we’re focused on one thing:

Understanding how you travel.

Through a short but powerful profile.

That’s the foundation. The better we get to know your travel style, the better your recommendations will be.

Our first goal? Collect the first 1,000 detailed travel profiles, and use them to build the most personal travel recommendation system out there.

We’re starting in Munich to test and refine quickly.

But this isn’t just for Munich - and it won’t stay there.

Every profile helps make Travelhunter smarter.

Once we’ve got the data, we’ll scale fast: to new cities, new countries, and travelers like you, everywhere.

How you can help

Travelhunter is built with the community, for the community. Right now, two things matter most:

1. Fill out your travel profile (if you haven’t yet): Every answer helps shape smarter, more personal recommendations - for you, and for everyone else.

2. Share it with other travelers: Know someone who’s tired of generic trips? Send them this link. For every person who fills it out, you both get an additional free recommendation. Important: When they fill out the form, they’ll just enter your email so we can send you both a free recommendation.

This isn’t just a form. It’s the start of something better.

Because travel should fit you, not the other way around.

Stay hungry. Stay traveling.

Nik

P.S. Travelhunter is still in its early days. Got thoughts, feedback, or just want to say hi? Message me! I read every message personally.