Global Travel Buddy — Your Complete AI Assistant for Traveling Anywhere

This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 2: Side Hustle

What I Built

I built an AI travel assistant using Backboard AI that helps travelers anywhere in the world. It translates signs, tickets, and directions in any language, and gives information on food recommendations, safety tips, travel routes, and local culture and heritage. It would be useful for solo travelers, backpackers, and frequent international travelers who need quick, reliable help in unfamiliar places.

Demo

Here's a real test I ran with my assistant — I asked it a complex question covering language translation, bus routes, food recommendations, safety tips, hotel suggestions, and cultural information all at once, while roleplaying being in Hoi An, Vietnam covering language,food, safety and hotel follow up test same assistant handing queries about Himachal Pradesh and Korea .Here's how it responded:

Note: the assistant responded in Hindi and Chinese as well, showing its multilingual support for travelers from different backgrounds", "As you can see, the assistant accurately handled transport, food..."

Code

This project was built using Backboard AI's platform directly, so there isn't a separate GitHub repository — the prompt and configuration shown above represents the core of how the assistant

How I Built It

I used an open-weight AI model through Backboard AI's platform, which provides the agent framework and lets you configure a custom system prompt. I wrote a detailed instruction set that turns the model into a complete travel assistant — handling language detection and translation, transport route explanations, food and safety guidance, hotel recommendations, and cultural information, all built around that open-weight model powering the responses.

Why Does Open Innovation Matter?

Using an open-weight model meant I could fully customize how the assistant behaves instead of being limited by a closed API's rules. It also keeps costs low since I'm not paying per-request to a closed provider, which matters because this could actually work as an affordable side hustle for frequent travelers. And since everything runs on an open setup, I'm not locked into one company's pricing or features if I want to expand it later

Prize Categories

Best use of Blackboard