Travel Maps

    

October 3, 2008 by JohnM  
Filed under Feature, John Miele

Maps have always fascinated me… Two dimensional depictions of places I might go, might have visited, might desire to visit. When you look at a map of the world, the Philippines looks so close to many places, yet, when you are sitting on an airplane, the distance becomes very real.

I love the maps that are on the planes. Most airlines have the seatback TVs, and there usually is a moving map showing your location, how far you’ve been, and how much further to go. I usually leave that channel “on” when I fly. If we are flying over somewhere very remote, like Greenland, Siberia, or atolls in the Pacific, I’ll open the window shade to have a look, sometimes to the annoyance of fellow passengers. I once flew from Tokyo to London during the summer, and was literally amazed at the vast emptiness of Siberia… under perfectly clear skies nearly the whole way. Last month, on my return from the States, seeing the Aleutian Islands from 30,000 feet gave me that same feeling. The desire to see something new or a place few have seen is very strong.

With my current job and the amount of travel I have, most flying soon becomes routine. I realize most people only dream of visiting places around the world, hence, the popularity of TV programs such as The Amazing Race or the various Michael Palin travelogues. When I was visiting my mother a few months ago, I left my passports (I have two… One is for Visas) on her kitchen counter. She asked to take a look, and just couldn’t comprehend how I could fill them up so much. A new passport lasts me 9 months, and you can add pages to US passports twice, extending my time to just over 2 1/2 years. I must admit, when I visit a new place, the first thing I do is look at the entry stamp. I also do one other thing…

There are several websites where you can make your own travel map, documenting where you have been. Now, though I’ve visited a number of places, most of my travel is to the same spots, over and over again. So, when I visit somewhere new, I update my online maps as a sort of “Souvenir”. I have never shown anyone my maps, save for Rebecca, and now, on this blog. So, here goes, with the link to the site where you can make your own maps immediately following each section.

World66 is a sort of “Wikitravel” site, www.world66.com, where you can create your own travel maps of the not only the world, but also, uniquely, European countries visited, US States visited, and Canadian provinces visited. Go to the home page and click on “My World66″ to create a map. The map borders highlight in red when you add them.

The next site is Passportstamp.com, www.passportstamp.com. Their travel map is different, in that you can add places where you only have transited, along with the ability to add multiple visits (I only add one visit per country on mine… no time to track my history). You can also compare your statistical rank with other travelers online. The Passportstamp maps also color code based on site popularity (ie: more people visit France than the Philippines).

Next, there is Trip Advisor, www.tripadvisor.com. Click on the “My trip advisor” tab and select “travel map” to make your own map. Trip Advisor’s map is different than the others… You add pins for each place you have visited, so you can add multiple cities within one country. For the Philippines, some rural areas are not well represented, but most places allow a pin.

Finally, there is Most Traveled People, www.mosttravelledpeople.com. This map is different in that you can add individual states and provinces from many countries, like Mexico, Brazil, and China.

I hope you found this posting interesting. It can be a bit of fun to keep your own travelogue. Give these links a try!

About the Author:  John Miele is a Citizen of the World, having spent time in many locations around the globe. Currently, he finds himself in Manila, but travels throughout the Philippines. John joined the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine in mid-2008.