Summary
On the trip timeline, indicate past vs. upcoming activities by progressively colouring the left-hand rail (the line and its dots), rather than graying out the entire entry.
What's the problem and how can it be solved?
Graying out a whole entry makes its content harder to read, even though the content is equally relevant whether the activity is past or upcoming.
Moving the past/future signal onto the rail keeps every entry fully legible while still giving an at-a-glance sense of progress — the rail effectively "fills up" as the trip advances.
Alternatives considered
Graying out whole entries (the variant currently in the reader survey). Also: a "you are here" marker or divider with no colouring at all, which is less informative at a glance.
Summary
On the trip timeline, indicate past vs. upcoming activities by progressively colouring the left-hand rail (the line and its dots), rather than graying out the entire entry.
What's the problem and how can it be solved?
Graying out a whole entry makes its content harder to read, even though the content is equally relevant whether the activity is past or upcoming.
Moving the past/future signal onto the rail keeps every entry fully legible while still giving an at-a-glance sense of progress — the rail effectively "fills up" as the trip advances.
Alternatives considered
Graying out whole entries (the variant currently in the reader survey). Also: a "you are here" marker or divider with no colouring at all, which is less informative at a glance.