TrailWhisper – CSE470 Project

A full-stack MERN travel journaling platform that empowers users to document their adventures, upload images, and create personal travel story collections.

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🌟 Features

Core Functionality

1. Landing Page – Engaging and user-friendly entry point.
2. Create and Save Travel Stories – Easily document and save your adventures in your personal collection.
3. Upload Images per Story – Add multiple photos to enhance your stories.
4. Preview Entries with a "Read More" Option – Quick glimpse before diving into full stories.
5. Image Carousel in Story View – Smooth browsing through story images.
6. Upload Profile Picture During Registration – Personalize your account from the start.

Advanced Features

7. Whispy AI Chatbot – Intelligent travel assistant powered by AI to help plan trips, answer travel questions, and provide recommendations.
8. Wishlist Management – Create and manage your travel bucket list with destinations you want to visit.
9. Favorite Stories – Save and organize your favorite travel stories for easy access.
10. Search Functionality – Find stories, destinations, or content quickly with the integrated search bar.
11. Location Tags – Tag your travel stories with specific locations, cities, countries, or landmarks for better organization and discovery.
12. Delete Travel Stories – Full control over your content with the ability to remove stories you no longer want to keep.
13. Admin Dashboard – Administrative interface for managing users and content.

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🎯 User Experience

For Travel Enthusiasts

• Document Your Journey: Create detailed travel stories with photos and descriptions
• Organize Your Adventures: Use favorites and wishlist features to keep track of your travel goals
• Location-Based Organization: Tag stories with specific locations for easy filtering and discovery
• Get AI Assistance: Chat with Whispy for travel tips, recommendations, and trip planning
• Search & Discover: Find specific stories or explore content through the search functionality

For Content Management

• Full Control: Edit, delete, or manage your travel stories as needed
• Profile Customization: Upload profile pictures and personalize your account
• Story Organization: Categorize stories with favorites and maintain a wishlist of destinations

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🛠 Tech Stack

Frontend: React, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS Backend: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB, Cloudinary

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v16 or later
• MongoDB
• Cloudinary account

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Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

Create a .env file inside the backend folder:

connectionString=your_mongodb_connection_string
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_cloudinary_api_secret
PORT=5000

Start backend:

npm start

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Frontend Setup

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Create a .env file inside the frontend folder:

VITE_API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000

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