I'm reporting live from Pienza — a tiny, gorgeous, medieval town in Tuscany where the wine is excellent and the internet is, as my mother would say, S-H-I-TTY. Real-time voice conversations with Claude? Absolutely not happening. But my AI has still been incredibly useful out here — just not in the ways I expected.

This week I'm sharing eight things I've used Claude for since landing in Italy, and almost all of them involve pointing my phone camera at something I don't understand. A washing machine with Italian dials. A church sign in Italian. A medicine box from the farmacia. A local art exhibit poster. Plants along a trail. Each time, a quick photo and a simple question got me exactly what I needed — no WiFi required.

Also this week: two recommendations worth adding to your travel toolkit. First, a heartfelt case for taking a trip with your siblings — and why a month in Tuscany has turned into a masterclass in family history. And second, the AllTrails app, which led me on a walk through wheat fields so gorgeous they looked like a postcard.

Come join me in Tuscany.

SHOW LINKS: 🥾 AllTrails: https://www.alltrails.com

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome From Tuscany
01:02 Internet Reality Check
02:42 AI Travel Wins
03:37 Photo Translation Tricks
05:16 Everyday Problem Solving
06:13 Keep Expectations Grounded
06:38 Trip With Siblings
08:06 AllTrails Hiking App
10:12 Closing Thoughts And Safety

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd