40 First Dates on TikTok (how to book a honeymoon)

ChatGPT narrowed the destination. TikTok sealed the deal. This episode, Sara Dyer joins Eric Hultgren to break down her actual honeymoon research process—and what it reveals about the real job travel content needs to do in 2025. They open with two news items worth paying attention to: OpenAI reportedly wants to abandon the chatbot format entirely in favor of a context-aware super app, and what that pivot could mean for Gemini's dominance. Then Eric unpacks Obsession—the horror film with a $750K budget that's made $152M and keeps gaining audience each weekend—as a case study in the kind of experience that only works when you're trapped in it. The parallel to travel marketing is not subtle. The bulk of the episode is Sara walking through how she and her fiancé Max actually chose Greece: ChatGPT for the shortlist, TikTok for the conviction. She watched 30–40 videos. She can't name a single creator. And that's the point. What you'll hear: Why authentic "day in the life" content beats polished brand storytelling for destination decisions The moment a destination becomes real vs. just recommended Why the wart in the video might be the most valuable frame in your content library How DMOs should think about volume, format, and the AI-to-social research loop