Travel Tip #6: Google Maps Is An Incredible Travel Guide
Getting lost in a new city is a terrible way to blow through a chunk of your vacation time. A great method for avoiding that often common mistake is befriending your smartphone’s Google Maps application.
What do I mean by that? When it comes to navigating the unfamiliar, load up your device’s map application with pinpoints of the places you want to visit. In other words, “Google Map it!” Below is a map I made this evening of places that I want to check out in Downtown Los Angeles. Each of the stars is a potential destination I’ve highlighted, and the blue dot is of course my current location. As I move around the city, so will the dot, even with my phone in airplane mode. This means I can whip out my bulky iPhone 6 at anytime and see just how close I am to something I want to check out.
Enlisting this little trick will help you make better use of your time because you can always see your proximity to places you want to go. Why wander aimlessly around a city when you don’t have to?
There’s nothing more frustrating than learning that the really good gelateria you saw on your friend’s Instagram was just a block away from the Vatican you visited earlier in the day. This is another Google map that I used while in Rome just so you know I’m not blowing smoke. Since discovering this little hack, I’ve relied on Google Maps to tour London, Venice, Mexico, San Francisco and Paris. It works, and if you’re sly enough, will impress the people you’re traveling with.
