Easy Going

A Smart Trip Planning App for Stress-Free Travel

Overview

Easy Going is a full-stack trip planning application that helps users plan, manage, and budget for trips. It features AI-powered recommendations, a budgeting system, and intelligent photo caching to reduce external API calls. Designed with simplicity and scalability in mind, it runs across modern browsers and mobile devices using a Node.js backend and a React Native frontend.

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Platform & Requirements

Backend

• Platform: Node.js on AWS EC2 (Ubuntu)

• Languages: JavaScript (ES6), SQL

• Runtime: Node.js v18+

• Package Manager: npm

• Services:

  • Firebase Authentication
  • AWS EC2 (server hosting)
  • PostgreSQL (via Amazon RDS)
  • AWS S3 (for photo caching)
  • Google Maps API

• Libraries:

• All libraries are in backend/package.json and can be installed using "npm install" in the backend directory

Frontend

• Platform: React Native (Expo)
• Languages: JavaScript, JSX
• Runtime: Node.js v18+, Expo CLI
• Libraries:
  • All libraries are in backend/package.json and can be installed using "npm install" in the root directory

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Build & Run Instructions

This project includes a Node.js backend and a React Native frontend (using Expo). All necessary code is hosted in the Capstone GitLab repository:

https://capstone.cs.utah.edu/easy-going/easy-going.git

All code and setup instructions are provided below to ensure the project can be fully built and run locally or on the cloud.

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Prerequisites

Install the following tools on your machine:

• Node.js v18+
• npm
• Expo CLI
• PostgreSQL (or access to Amazon RDS)
• Git
• psql CLI for PostgreSQL interaction

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Project Structure

easy-going/
│
├── backend/              ← Node.js + Express backend
│   ├── server.js
│   ├── schema.sql        ← PostgreSQL schema
│   └── .env.example
│
├── frontend/             ← React Native frontend via Expo
│   ├── App.js
│   └── ...
│
└── README.md             ← This file

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Cloud Deployment

EC2 Backend Setup

1. Launch an Ubuntu EC2 instance and SSH in:

   ssh -i ~/.ssh/your-key.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-ip

2. Install Node.js, npm, and git:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y nodejs npm git

3. Clone the project:

   git clone https://capstone.cs.utah.edu/easy-going/easy-going.git
   cd easy-going/backend

4. Set up .env with credentials for Firebase, Google Maps, PostgreSQL, and AWS:

   DB_HOST=...
   DB_USER=...
   DB_PASSWORD=...
   DB_NAME=...
   AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=...
   AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
   S3_BUCKET=...

5. Install dependencies and start the backend server:

   npm install
   node server.js

Optionally use pm2 or screen to keep the server running in the background.

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RDS PostgreSQL Setup

1. Create a PostgreSQL instance on Amazon RDS:

   • Choose PostgreSQL engine
   • Enable public access
   • Add your EC2 instance's security group to the RDS inbound rules

2. Connect to the RDS instance from EC2:

   psql -h your-rds-endpoint -U postgres -d postgres

3. Seed the database with the schema:

   psql -h your-rds-endpoint -U postgres -d postgres -f backend/schema.sql

This will create all necessary tables (users, trips, history, cached_photos) for the backend.

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S3 Bucket Setup (Photo Caching)

1. Go to AWS S3 Console and create a new bucket:

   • Name it: easygoing-photo-cache
   • Region: Match your EC2 region (e.g., us-east-2)
   • Block all public access (recommended)
   • Enable versioning (optional)

2. Ensure your IAM user or EC2 instance role has these permissions:

   • s3:PutObject
   • s3:GetObject
   • s3:ListBucket

   Example policy:

   {
     "Version": "2012-10-17",
     "Statement": [
       {
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": [
           "s3:PutObject",
           "s3:GetObject",
           "s3:ListBucket"
         ],
         "Resource": [
           "arn:aws:s3:::bucket-name",
           "arn:aws:s3:::bucket-name/*"
         ]
       }
     ]
   }

3. Once configured, the backend will cache Google Maps photo references to this bucket automatically.

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After completing the EC2, RDS, and S3 setup:

• Your backend server should be live
• The database will be seeded and ready
• Image caching via S3 will reduce Google Maps API calls

Developer Notes

• API routes are documented via Swagger at /api-docs

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📄 License

MIT License — see LICENSE.md for details.