Almost every traveler starts the same way. They look up a place they’re going to visit and search for suggestions. What to do. Where to eat. Which spots are considered essential. Within seconds, there’s a flood of lists and reels, all confidently telling you what not to miss. 

At first, it feels helpful. You’re being efficient, gathering input, checking boxes. But once you try to follow that advice, you might find that something feels off. I’ve been in that exact situation. I followed a well-reviewed itinerary, saw all the popular landmarks, tried the top-rated local food, visited every museum that made the cut. And still, by the end of the day, I felt strangely disconnected from the experience. 

Everything was supposed to be perfect. But none of it fit me. 

That’s the flaw most travel recommendations carry with them. They don’t ask who you are. They don’t know what you need from this trip or what kind of pace feels good to you right now. They just assume you want what everyone else wants. And when you follow that template, you often end up with a version of travel that’s technically correct but emotionally hollow. 

People travel for different reasons. Some want adventure. Others want space to breathe. Some are recovering from burnout. Some are just curious. But when advice is made for the average person, it ends up working for almost no one in particular. You get the most popular stops, the safest options, the obvious highlights. And those might be fine. But they’re rarely memorable in a way that feels personal. 

That’s where Marv tries to shift the approach. 

Instead of throwing you a list of ideas, it connects you with someone who can adjust to the way you move through a place. A person who understands the location, sure, but more importantly, someone who listens. Not just to your interests, but to your energy, your mood, your timing. Someone who can ask the kind of small questions that actually change how the day unfolds. 

Do you want to move slow today? 

Would you rather talk than walk? 

Are you feeling quiet or open? 

The difference that makes is hard to measure. But it’s very easy to feel. 

I remember a day when we only visited two places. They weren’t famous, they weren’t busy, and they didn’t have high reviews on any platform. But they made sense for me. That day, I didn’t chase anything. I just moved through a city at my own speed, and everything I noticed stuck with me more clearly than anything from those bigger, louder days. 

Travel doesn’t always need to be exciting to be meaningful. Sometimes it just needs to make sense for you. 

And that doesn’t come from lists. 

It comes from connection.