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Beacon

AI-Powered Travel Discovery & Trip Planning Platform

Active Development

React (TypeScript) · Node.js · Express · SQLite · Mapbox · Gemini · Google Maps · Amadeus · AWS

Live

Overview

Beacon is a live travel platform where users drop pins on an interactive Mapbox map, build itineraries with an AI planner powered by Google Gemini, and collaborate on trips in real-time via WebSockets. Currently serving 20+ active users with location pins across all 50 U.S. states and 3 countries.

Highlights

  • Shipped live React (TypeScript) frontend with interactive map (Mapbox), real-time pin sharing, and heatmap visualization of popular areas
  • Built Node.js/Express backend with SQLite database and full end-to-end unit test coverage; production deployed on AWS infrastructure, testing self-hosted on homelab server
  • Integrated Gemini for AI-powered itinerary planner with carbon emission tracking; Google Maps & Amadeus APIs for location search
  • Implemented RAG-enhanced AI recommendations incorporating user preference history into personalized trip planning
  • Supports real-time collaborative trip planning via WebSockets with 10+ concurrent editors
  • Actively maintained with error tracking, performance monitoring, and privacy-respecting Plausible analytics
  • Tech stack: React 19 + Vite + TypeScript + Tailwind for frontend, Express 5 + TypeScript + SQLite for backend, Mapbox GL for maps, pnpm workspaces at the root
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