My Favorite Free Travel Hack

I’ve talked about my travel nerves a lot on social media. The way I deal with them is over-preparing for each trip – list making, packing, repacking. My absolute favorite thing to do is create a custom Google map for wherever I’m going. Not only does this make me feel prepared, it gets me so excited for all the places I’ll see.

Let me show you how I do it –

Go to https://www.google.com/maps/ (make sure you are signed into Google).
Click the menu in the upper left-hand corner and select Your Places from the drop-down menu.
Under Your Places, click Create Map at the very bottom.

This will open a new window, and now, the fun begins!
Using the search bar, start typing the name of the place you want to add. Once you find it, click Add to Map.

Make the map work for you. I personally like to create layers for different places – cafes, things to see, restaurants, shopping, etc. I color code so that it’s easy for me to differentiate things on the map.

You can do as much as you want with the color coding. I think it’s fun and kind of relaxing, so I take the time to use certain icons too. Even if you don’t want to mess around too much with colors, I would recommend adding where you are staying to the map in a bright color. Here’s an example from our NYC map. Our hotel is the yellow pin –

And when you arrive at your destination, it’s easy to pull up the map on your phone and navigate through the new city (I use the Google Maps app and access my custom map by clicking on the menu, selecting Your Places, and then Maps.)