Travel Briefing

This skill turns a destination (+ dates) into one comprehensive, source-cited briefing, front-loaded with what the traveler needs in the first hour. Where available, it also folds in their own trip notes and packing list.

The job, in one sentence

Given a city and travel dates, research the destination with live web search, then write a fixed-structure briefing that covers transport, money, water, connectivity, weather/packing, food, sights, nightlife, safety, and etiquette - citing a source for every fact that can change or that matters for safety.

Step 1 - Resolve the trip

You need a city and dates (or at least a time of year). If the user's message names them, use those - don't ask for what they already gave you. If a private trip-data skill exists in your setup (e.g. one that maps a Notion Trips DB, trip notes, and a packing list), use it to resolve the trip, mine its linked notes, and reconcile the packing list. Without one, just ask for the city and dates.

When a packing list is available, reconcile it on every briefing regardless of how you got the city/dates - it's the traveler's universal default kit. If the trip-data source is unavailable (auth/network), say so in one line and continue from the city + dates alone: a partial briefing beats a blocked one.

Step 2 - Research with live web search

The whole value here is current, trustworthy info, so lean on web search rather than memory for anything that drifts over time. Treat these as must-verify-and-cite (they change, or being wrong has real cost):

• Tap water drinkability - this is the one the user cares about most. Always search it, always cite. If the answer varies within the destination (mainland safe, islands brackish), say so.
• Transit fares, passes, and tap-to-pay rules, plus the airport→city options and current prices.
• Money: which local-bank ATMs to use vs. independent operators (e.g. Euronet) to avoid, the DCC / "charge in your home currency" trap, FX fees, and how card-friendly the city is.
• Opening hours, ticket prices, and booking sites for headline sights (and whether they sell out).
• LGBTQ+ legal status & current climate (laws move - e.g. marriage/anti-discrimination), and any current events / advisories / strikes / closures overlapping the dates.

Evergreen, slow-moving things (classic dishes, why the Acropolis is a ruin, general etiquette) can come from your own knowledge - but if a quick search gives a good source, cite it. A claim with no source is fine only when it's genuinely general knowledge you're confident in. Never present a water-safety or money claim without a source.

Citing: put the source inline right after the claim as a normal markdown link to the page you actually used, e.g. safe to drink straight from the tap ([Athens Water Co.](https://...)). Prefer official/operator/government/health sources over content farms. If sources disagree, say so and give the cautious read.

Step 3 - Write the briefing

This is the most important part: keep it scannable. the user wants the recurring facts as a quick checklist - a question and a one-line answer - not paragraphs. Most of the briefing should be answerable at a glance. Only go into prose for two sections: Nightlife and Sights & the day-by-day plan. Everything else is terse: a value, maybe a clause of nuance, a source link, done. If you catch yourself writing a paragraph outside Nightlife/Sights, cut it to a line.

Use this fixed structure and order every time:

# [City] - [N] days, [dates] [+ headline flag if any, e.g. "heatwave"]

## At a glance
One line each. Lead with the answer. Cite where it matters (water, fares, ATMs).
- **Tap water?** Yes, drink from the tap - [caveat if any] ([source])   ← always cited
- **Currency?** [name + symbol + a rough mental conversion in BOTH directions, e.g. "euro - €1 ≈ $1.10, $1 ≈ €0.90"]
- **Cash needed?** Barely - very card-friendly / Yes, carry ~€X
- **Where to get cash?** Where the ATMs are and whether they're easy to reach - in the airport arrivals hall, all over the city, or both? Any access catch (inside branches only, 24/7, fees)? Quick tip: use a bank ATM not Euronet, and decline DCC. [cite if fees/availability are specific]
- **Plug type?** [What the outlets take + what it looks like + voltage, e.g. "Type C/F - round 2-pin - 230V; bring an EU adapter". Flag if their kit lacks the adapter.]
- **Center / base?** [the functional center of where they're going + the best area to stay; usually the same - if not, or if several areas are good, say "see Where to stay"]
- **Airport → city:** [best option] - [time], [cost], [exact ticket needed]
- **Getting around:** [walkable? metro?]; tap-to-pay [yes/no]; rideshare: [apps]
- **Apps to grab:** [the must-installs for this city - transit/ticketing app, taxi app, food delivery, whatever locals actually run on; skip what their usual apps already cover]
- **Language?** [what's spoken + how far English gets them, e.g. "Greek - English fine in Athens, patchy on islands"] + these three phrases, transliterated: *hello*, *the everyday casual greeting (the "what's up"/"how are you" locals actually say)*, *thank you*
- **Data/eSIM:** [provider, ~cost] / wifi norm
- **Quick bite right now?** [Where to grab a fast, cheap, *local* first meal after landing - is there anything worth eating near the airport, or better to drop bags at the accommodation and hit a spot in the city? Name the dish + a place, e.g. "skip the airport, get a €4 souvlaki at Kostas near Syntagma"]
- **Dinner time?** [9:30pm]
- **Tipping?** [Not expected / round up / ~10%]
- **LGBTQ+ friendly?** [Yes - one line of reality]
- **Tourist season?** [Is they hitting peak / shoulder / off-season for this place, and what that means - crowds, prices, heat, closures. e.g. "peak summer - book everything ahead, expect crowds" or "shoulder season - pleasant and quieter"]
- **Weather for your dates:** [highs/lows, rain, any alert]
- **Emergency #:** [112]

## Heads-up for your dates
Bulleted - ONLY the trip-specific flags that actually matter this visit: heat/cold
alerts, strikes, festivals (e.g. Pride week), seasonal closures, the common local
scam. Skip the section if nothing notable.

## Where to stay
Small section. Name the **functional center** - where the action is and where
distances get measured from - and the **best area to base in** for reaching
everything easily. They're usually the same place, so usually this is 1–2 lines
restating the at-a-glance answer with a why. Expand only when they *differ*
(the center is noisy, touristy, or dead at night) or when multiple areas each
earn a stay - then one line per area on who it suits and why. If accommodation
is already booked (trip notes), orient around it instead: how well-placed it is
and the walk/transit reality from there.

## Book in advance
Bulleted list of activities/things that need reserving ahead (or the moment they land)
so nothing sells out - and roughly how far ahead:
- Timed-entry tickets for headline sights (note the sell-out window)
- Restaurants that require a reservation
- Tours / day-trips, and ferries or intercity transport
- Big nightlife or festival nights (which advance platform)
If a booking came from their trip notes (already reserved), mark it done instead of
telling them to book it. Skip the section only if truly nothing needs pre-booking.

## Packing tweaks (vs. your list)
- **Add:** [item - one-line why]
- **Skip:** [default item that doesn't fit this trip - why]

## Food
**Local dishes worth ordering** - a proper reference list (longer is welcome here) the user can
pull up at a restaurant to order the cultural thing, not the safe thing. Each dish gets a
short "what it is" so they know what they're getting. Group it so it's usable:
  - *Street / quick*, *Mezze / small plates to share*, *Mains*, *Sweets*, and the *local coffee/drink*.
Then keep these tight:
  - **Eat-where-locals move** - the neighborhoods/markets and the timing tell (e.g. full at 10pm, not 7).
  - **Avoid** - the tourist-trap signs (photo menus, hawkers, the Acropolis-foot markup).
This is the one non-Nightlife/Sights section where a longer list earns its place - make the
dish list rich, but keep the locals/avoid notes terse.

## Nightlife   ← go deep (prose OK)
Timing (when it actually starts), the right neighborhoods, specific venues,
dress-code reality, and how tickets work (door vs. advance platforms like RA).

## Sights & a [N]-day plan   ← go deep (prose OK)
The headliners + booking tips (official sites, sell-out risk, best time slots,
seasonal closures), then a day-by-day itinerary sized to the trip.

Notes on the format:

• At a glance is one line per point - if a point genuinely needs more, it's probably a Heads-up flag, not a paragraph.
• Keep the questions in bold so it reads like a checklist the user can skim in five seconds.
• Nightlife and Sights are where the detail lives - that's where the user actually wants the richness, so don't skimp there.
• Match the day-by-day plan to the trip length. Skip a checklist line only if it's truly N/A (note why).

Style

• Direct, opinionated, specific. Give the best move, not a menu of every option. Concrete names, prices, times, app names - the value is in the specifics, not the prose.
• Answer first, nuance second. Outside Nightlife/Sights, if it can be a line, make it a line.
• It's fine to end with a single offer to go deeper on one thing (a neighborhood, a day-trip, pinning food spots) - but deliver the full briefing first.

When NOT to use this skill

This is for destination briefings. It's not for booking flights/hotels, building a Notion trip page from scratch, or answering a one-off like "what's the time zone in Tokyo" (just answer that). If the user only wants one slice - "is the tap water ok in X" - answer that slice well (with a source) rather than dumping the whole template.