Traveling abroad, especially for the first time, can be overwhelming! If you’re not part of a tour group, you’ll need to find your own places to eat, sleep, and explore, plus ways to get between them! To combat this travel anxiety, I research destinations on Google Maps before I go!
For example, when I visited Argentina by myself, I didn’t want to waste my limited time getting lost. To maximize my adventure, I laid out everything I wanted to see and what I’d need to see them all!
Make a Custom Google Map!
- Go to https://maps.google.com.
- Select the three bars up in the Search Area to open a dropdown menu!
- Select Your places to see your options!
- Go to Maps and select Create Map to start fresh!
- Add places to your map by searching or placing a marker! You can categorize your locations (hotels, cafes, attractions) using layers!
- Here’s what that looks like! You can mark subway stations, hotels, restaurants, points or interest, and tour meeting sites with your own custom icons, and then, you can go back and reference them later!
Access Your Map Abroad!
Now that you’ve set up your adventure map, you’ll have a better sense of the layout of the place you’ll be visiting! You’ll have a couple of options to view it while you’re on your trip:
- If you have an international data plan on your phone, just open the Google Maps app, and go to Your places then Maps, just like on your computer! Pick your adventure map, and you’ll see all your research right there!
- If you don’t have an international data plan, you can create an Offline Map that you can access even from Airplane Mode!
All you have to do is select the area you want to save, save it, and you’ll have access to that map area the entire time you’re abroad (up to 30 days)! Zoom in and out to specify how much territory you want to access.
- If none of these options work for you, you can also print your custom map! This can be especially useful if you’re walking around a single city and need to find metro stops, your hotel, and more!
Play with Your Custom Map!
Have fun mapping out your adventure! You’ll be amazed at the new places you’ll discover all around the places you already knew! Play with icons, layers, and color coding, and you’re bound to be more confident about your time abroad before you even get on the plane.
