This is my go-to app when I’m travelling,one that’s pretty much always open. It’s open as I sit in the train or the bus or taxi from the airport to my accommodation,as I check it to see how everything in this new place fits together,what I’m going past,what I will be close to,what will remain far away.
It’s open once I get settled in too,as I do a quick search for restaurants so that I know the choices close by,what their ratings are,what’s likely to be good. I want to know what the surrounding suburbs are too,whether I recognise the names,how long it will take me to get there.
Can I walk? Is there a subway? Public buses? Could I ride a bike?
Any time I’m moving between cities,Google Maps will be open for the same reason,as I learn the names of the towns and villages I’m racing past,as I see what connects these two places,what the landmarks are,what the options are for travelling from here to there.
Ah,so that’s where Vladivostok is.Credit:Google Maps
I try not to map out exactly where I’m going to walk each day,though obviously my app could do that. You can take in a lot more of a place when you aren’t constantly checking your phone to ensure you’re on the fastest route possible.
Still,if I get a break I like to know where I’ve been,what that thing was I walked past,the direction I need to go to get to the next place.
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All this,and I haven’t even gone full map nerd just yet. I don’t use Google Earth at all. I don’t sit at home scouring the globe for interesting geographical titbits. At least,not yet.
(I’m also a flag nerd. Do these things typically go together? I know all the flags. Even when I was a kid I was a stone-cold killer on Where in the World is Carman Sandiego? Oh,she took off flying a yellow and blue flag with a trident? Clearly going to Barbados.)
Mostly,for now at least,my map nerdery is dedicated purely to the travel experience. Where am I going? Where have I been? Where am I now? I’m endlessly interested in the way the world connects,with the options around me,with the names of places:cities,suburbs,even streets.
There’s no treatment for this obsession. You just have to indulge it.