# Inspiration Page: the base `/inspiration/` experience

> Exploration doc — not yet a spec or roadmap item.

## The idea

A city-agnostic landing experience at `/inspiration/` for travelers whose search
is **open-ended on at least one dimension** — date, destination, return date,
budget, or mode. Distinct from the per-origin pages (`/inspiration/from-boston`,
`/inspiration/from-chicago`) which assume the origin is locked.

The base page's job is to:

1. Let someone arrive with no origin pre-filled and still get value.
2. Surface the dimension they want to lock first (date vs destination vs budget
   vs mode vs accessibility) instead of forcing the A→B→date flow.
3. Route them into the right specialized experience — a from-city page, a date-
   flexible search, an event-driven browse, a multi-leg planner — once they've
   declared the shape of their search.

Wanderu Explore (`/en-us/explore/`) already does live-fare browse-from-city.
The base page is the layer above that: the surface that meets the user before
they've committed to "I'm browsing from Boston."

## The shape of open-ended searches

100 scenarios brainstormed against the [archetypes](../../../.docs/customers/archetypes.md)
and [jobs-to-be-done](../../../.docs/customers/jobs-to-be-done.md). Six
patterns emerged:

| Pattern | What's locked | What's flexible | Approx. count |
|---|---|---|---|
| **A. Flexible dates, fixed destination** | Origin + destination | Date (within a window) | 15 |
| **B. Flexible destination, fixed dates** | Origin + date | Destination | 15 |
| **C. Both flexible** | Origin (sometimes) + budget | Date + destination | 10 |
| **D. Return date flexible** | Outbound | Return date | 10 |
| **E. Constraint-driven discovery** | Mode / accessibility / language / payment | Date + destination | 10 |
| **F. Multi-leg / event-driven / comparison** | An event or set of candidates | Sequence, dates, which candidate wins | 10 |

The remaining 30 of the 100 are distributed across the same six patterns in
the original brainstorm below.

### Key observations

- **The "anchor + range" shape is dominant.** Almost every scenario has 1–2
  locked dimensions and 1–2 free ones. The real UI shape isn't a single "open"
  mode — it's a way to lock any dimension and search across the rest.
- **Proxy bookers compound flexibility.** They search across the traveler's
  calendar, their own budget, and often a direction comparison ("visit me vs
  come home"). Strong stress test for the UI.
- **Sub-segments produce distinct search shapes** that look very different from
  their parent persona — Chinatown bus operators, correctional-facility admin,
  casino shuttle, digital nomad. Worth treating as first-class modes if the
  audience is large enough.
- **Comparison-mode (F) is its own UX surface** — "compare 2–3 named
  destinations" or "compare two directions of travel" is a different interaction
  than "browse anywhere."

---

## The 100 scenarios

### A. Flexible dates, fixed destination (price-driven date discovery)

1. **Jake (Student)** — "Going home to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. Cheapest day to leave between Nov 22–27 from Pittsburgh." Finals lets him leave any day in that window.
2. **Maria (Essential-need)** — "Quinceañera in Dallas is Saturday May 18. Cheapest day to arrive from Houston anytime that week."
3. **George (Retired explorer)** — "Visiting grandkids in Tampa sometime in April. Which week has the lowest senior fares?"
4. **Carless urbanite** — "Weekend in Philly from NYC. Cheapest Friday-to-Sunday window in the next 6 weeks."
5. **Family connector** — "Funeral viewing is Tues–Fri in El Paso. Cheapest day to arrive from Houston."
6. **Susan (Proxy parent)** — "Bringing son home for winter break, anytime Dec 14–21 from Ithaca to Westchester. Lowest-fare day."
7. **Lisa (Business)** — "Need to be in DC by Wednesday 10am. Cheaper to take Tuesday evening Acela or Wednesday early?"
8. **Priya (Proxy caregiver)** — "Dad's checkup is the week of June 8. Cheapest accessible bus that week from Sacramento to Reno."
9. **Rosa (Group coordinator)** — "Family reunion the last weekend of July. Cheapest group fare day for 6 people from McAllen to San Antonio."
10. **Premium seeker** — "Dallas to Austin on Vonlane next month. Cheapest mid-week round-trip combination."
11. **Jake** — "Visiting girlfriend at UMass anytime in February. Cheapest weekend from Ithaca."
12. **Jake (International student sub)** — "JFK to Toronto for winter break, anytime Dec 17–23. Cheapest day."
13. **Maria** — "Immigration interview May 12 in Houston. Earliest cheap arrival window + latest cheap return."
14. **Lisa** — "Quarterly board meeting in NYC next week. Pick the day that minimizes Acela fare + hotel night."
15. **Brightline business sub** — "Standing meeting in Orlando, any Tue–Thu next month. Cheapest Premium-class day."
16. **George (Snowbird)** — "Leaving Maine for Tampa for the season. Cheapest week in November to head south."
17. **Carless urbanite** — "Visiting friend in Pittsburgh sometime in March. Cheapest weekend from NYC."
18. **George (Casino shuttle sub)** — "Atlantic City from Flushing — cheapest 2 mid-week trips this month."
19. **Family connector** — "Mother's Day in Houston with mom. Cheapest day around May 11 from Dallas."
20. **Premium seeker** — "Acela Business NYC–Boston sometime in October. Cheapest weekday round-trip."
21. **Premium seeker** — "Brightline Premium Miami–Orlando in next 2 months. Best fare + concert-train combo."
22. **Susan** — "Bringing daughter to grad-school orientation in Madison sometime Aug 18–25. Cheapest day."
23. **Amanda (Proxy)** — "Boss needs Acela DC–NYC sometime Tue–Thu week of June 3. Cheapest First Class day."
24. **Priya** — "Dad's chemo cycle is every 3 weeks. Lock in cheapest accessible round-trip for the next 4 cycles."
25. **Rosa** — "Cousin's wedding rehearsal weekend in San Antonio. Cheapest Thu–Sun bracket from McAllen for the group."

### B. Flexible destination, fixed dates (inspiration mode)

26. **Jake** — "Spring break, March 14–22, leaving Boston. Where can I go round-trip for under $150?"
27. **Carless urbanite** — "Free weekend May 30–Jun 1, leaving Chicago. Where can I go without renting a car?"
28. **George** — "Anniversary trip in October — scenic Amtrak route, 4–7 nights, leaving Phoenix. Where should we go?"
29. **Carless urbanite** — "Concert weekend somewhere — leaving NYC Friday Aug 15, back Sunday. Surprise me with cities that have something happening."
30. **Premium seeker** — "Long weekend from Miami — anywhere Brightline reaches, Premium class only."
31. **Family connector** — "Free week in August. Which family city has the cheapest fares right now: Monterrey, Reynosa, Saltillo, or Guadalajara?"
32. **Jake** — "Cheapest city to reach from Philly for a Saturday day trip — any destination under 4 hours each way."
33. **Jake** — "Presidents' Day weekend, Feb 15–17, leaving Ithaca. Where can I go round-trip under $100?"
34. **Jake** — "Friend's hometown is 'somewhere in Florida.' Cheapest FL city to reach from Atlanta next month."
35. **Carless urbanite** — "Memorial Day weekend from DC. Pick a beach city reachable without renting a car at destination."
36. **Carless urbanite (Digital nomad sub)** — "Work-anywhere Tue–Thu next week from Brooklyn. Cities with strong café WiFi + confirmed-WiFi bus."
37. **George** — "Fall foliage, 4 nights mid-October, leaving Cincinnati. Pick a scenic Amtrak route."
38. **George** — "Long weekend somewhere warm in February. From Chicago, $400 total."
39. **Premium seeker** — "Anniversary weekend Sept 20–22 from Houston. Premium ground only — Vonlane, Acela, Brightline."
40. **Premium seeker** — "Three-day weekend from Miami. Premium-rail-reachable only, $300 max."
41. **Family connector** — "Christmas week in Mexico from McAllen. Cheapest crossing + onward bus to family region."
42. **Family connector (Caribbean diaspora sub)** — "Labor Day weekend from NYC. Caribbean-diaspora hub cities — Hartford, Boston, Philly — cheapest one."
43. **Accessibility-dependent** — "Sept 10–13 free from DC. Destinations with fully accessible station AND confirmed wheelchair-lift carrier on the route."
44. **Jake** — "Saturday day-trip from Boston. Coastal town under $40 round-trip, back same day."
45. **Lisa** — "Conference cancelled — Mon–Wed open. Premium-rail city within 4 hours of NYC. Pick one."
46. **Susan** — "Family weekend Sept 6–8 from Philly. College town within 5 hours where my daughter has a friend at school."
47. **Carless urbanite** — "Birthday weekend from Toronto, Fri–Sun. Cheapest Canadian city with a live-music venue."

### C. Both flexible (pure open exploration)

48. **Carless urbanite** — "I have $80 and a free weekend in the next 60 days. Where can I go from DC?"
49. **George** — "Bucket-list train routes within a $1,000 budget, leisure-paced, leaving from anywhere I can drive to. Pick the trip."
50. **Premium seeker** — "Sometime this fall, somewhere premium-class accessible from Dallas. Plan it for me."
51. **Jake** — "August is open. $300 total budget. Plan a 3-city loop from Champaign."
52. **Carless urbanite** — "Sabbatical month — anywhere ground-reachable from Seattle, any 5 nights, under $500."
53. **George** — "VIA Rail Canadian or Amtrak Coast Starlight — whichever fits a 7-day window this fall under $1,500 in Sleeper class."
54. **Family connector** — "Take kids somewhere fun before school starts. Anywhere 4–12 hours from Dallas, last 2 weeks of August."
55. **Premium seeker** — "Splurge weekend, anytime in Q4 from Atlanta. Premium-class only. Recommend destination + dates."
56. **Carless urbanite** — "Friend's couch is open 'somewhere in the Northeast.' Cheapest city to reach from Cleveland in next 30 days."
57. **Jake** — "Internship hunt — visit 3 interview cities in any order from Boston, cheapest routing in next 60 days."
58. **Family connector** — "Visit mom, sister, and tía on one trip — 3 TX cities, leaving Phoenix. Cheapest sequence + dates next month."
59. **George (Snowbird sub)** — "Snowbird scouting — Tucson, Sarasota, Charleston this winter. Cheapest order and dates."
60. **Carless urbanite** — "Foodie weekend. Anywhere reachable from Chicago by Friday night, back Sunday, under $200."

### D. Return date flexible (one-way fixed, return price- or event-dependent)

61. **Maria** — "Going to Houston Tuesday for Mom's recovery. Cheapest return day in the next 2–3 weeks once I know how she's doing."
62. **Susan** — "Buying my son's one-way home now. Return depends on his job-interview schedule — cheapest return options across a 2-week window."
63. **Lisa** — "Conference in DC starts Monday. Cheapest return Thursday, Friday, or Saturday — recommend one."
64. **Priya** — "Dad arrives Tuesday. Cheapest return 5–10 days out, depending on recovery."
65. **Jake** — "Going to NYC Friday for an audition. Cheapest return Sunday–Wednesday, depending on callbacks."
66. **Maria** — "El Paso for sister's surgery Monday. Cheapest return 7–21 days later."
67. **Family connector** — "One-way to Monterrey for grandma's recovery. Cheapest open-return options 3–8 weeks out."
68. **Lisa** — "Client in Boston Monday. Cheapest return Wed or Thu depending on whether they extend."
69. **Premium seeker** — "Vonlane to Houston Tuesday for board meeting. Cheapest return Wed–Fri depending on follow-up sessions."
70. **Jake** — "Friend's wedding Friday in Philly. Cheapest return Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday."
71. **Susan** — "Picking up my son May 10. Cheapest return to Dallas in next 2 weeks — we're road-tripping the area first."
72. **Amanda** — "Boss to NYC Monday. Cheapest Tue–Fri returns; flag which still have seat selection open."
73. **Priya** — "Dad here for 1 week, possibly 2 if labs come back off. Cheapest accessible returns at day 7 vs day 14."
74. **Accessibility-dependent** — "Atlanta for ADA hearing — return depends on outcome. Cheapest accessible returns at day 3, 5, and 7."
75. **Carless urbanite** — "To Burlington Friday. Open return — cheapest day back Sun–Wed."

### E. Constraint-driven discovery (budget / mode / access / language / payment)

76. **Jake** — "$50 max one-way, leaving Atlanta in the next 30 days, any city. Show me a list."
77. **Carless urbanite** — "Train-only (no bus) from Boston, under $80, any of the next 3 weekends."
78. **Accessibility-dependent** — "Direct routes only, fully accessible, anywhere from Pittsburgh within 6 hours."
79. **Claudia (Proxy navigator)** — "Cash-payable carriers from Yakima — every destination and cheapest fares this month."
80. **Family connector** — "Cross-border buses from McAllen to anywhere in Mexico, cheapest 3 destinations in next 2 weeks for a family of 4."
81. **Maria** — "Spanish-language carrier only. Houston outbound this month — all destinations and lowest fares."
82. **Accessibility-dependent** — "Wheelchair-lift confirmed, no transfers, under 4 hours, from Boston. Every reachable city."
83. **Claudia** — "Cash-payable + counter-bookable carriers from Bakersfield. Every destination and price next 30 days."
84. **Correctional-facility admin (Claudia variant)** — "From Marion, IL for someone with no smartphone, paid via institutional check. All paths and prices."
85. **Jake (International student sub)** — "Any NYC-area station to JFK or EWR access points, under $30, any day in next 2 weeks."
86. **Family connector (Chinatown bus sub)** — "NYC Chinatown bus operators only — every destination + cheapest fare next 14 days."
87. **Premium seeker** — "Vonlane network only from Dallas. All destinations, cheapest weekday + weekend each."
88. **George** — "Amtrak only (no bus), senior discount applied. All Sleeper-class routes from Chicago under $800."
89. **Carless urbanite** — "Routes ending at a station within a 10-min walk of light rail or subway. From SF, under $100, any weekend next month."
90. **Lisa** — "Routes with on-time performance above 80% over last 90 days. NYC outbound, business-class options."

### F. Multi-leg, event-driven, and comparison searches

91. **Jake** — "NCAA tournament first-round host cities — cheapest one reachable from Atlanta the weekend of Mar 20–22."
92. **Carless urbanite** — "Music festival circuit — which 2 festivals this summer can I string together from Brooklyn under $400 of ground transport?"
93. **Family connector** — "Día de los Muertos — cheapest dates last week of October to reach the Oaxaca region from Houston."
94. **Premium seeker** — "Brightline + Acela combo — Miami → Orlando → fly → NYC → DC. Cheapest 5-day window in November."
95. **Susan** — "Compare 'visit me in Boston' vs 'come home to Atlanta' for my son's spring break. Cheapest direction + dates."
96. **Lisa** — "NYC → DC → Philly → NYC client tour next week. Cheapest day-by-day combination."
97. **George** — "Coast Starlight vs Empire Builder for our anniversary. Cheapest Sleeper-class dates in next 90 days."
98. **Carless urbanite** — "Compare Boston, Providence, and Portland ME as this Friday's weekend trip. Cheapest one."
99. **Rosa** — "Quinceañera host-city decision — San Antonio vs Laredo vs Brownsville. Cheapest for 8 traveling family next May."
100. **Family connector** — "Visit two sisters — one in Reynosa, one in Saltillo. Cheapest sequence + best dates in next 2 months."

---

## Open questions for the base page

- **Entry point:** Does the base page assume no origin and ask for one, or does
  it auto-detect (IP, geolocation, prior session) and route to a from-city page
  immediately? What's the experience for users without a clear "home"?
- **Pattern surfacing:** Should the page lead with the six patterns above as
  explicit choices ("I know where, not when" / "I know when, not where" /
  "anywhere this weekend"), or hide the patterns behind a single unified search
  interface that infers intent from what the user fills in?
- **Per-persona entry:** Are there persona-specific landings worth building
  off the base page — e.g. an accessibility-first entry, a Spanish-language
  entry, a premium-class entry — or does the constraint filter handle this?
- **Relationship to Wanderu Explore:** Is `/inspiration/` the new front door to
  Explore, or a separate surface? If separate, how do we avoid splitting the
  audience?
- **Comparison mode (F):** Worth a dedicated UI, or fold into the standard
  search by letting users enter multiple destinations?

## Related work

- [`projects/inspiration-page/boston/scratchpad.md`](../boston/scratchpad.md) — per-origin page exploration
- [`projects/inspiration-page/chicago/scratchpad.md`](../chicago/scratchpad.md) — per-origin page exploration
- [`travel-dates.analysis.md`](travel-dates.analysis.md) — the date dimension across these scenarios, with prototype coverage
- [`.docs/customers/archetypes.md`](../../../.docs/customers/archetypes.md) — 8 traveler + 5 proxy personas
- [`.docs/customers/jobs-to-be-done.md`](../../../.docs/customers/jobs-to-be-done.md) — jobs by journey stage