A Map of Visited States

Would you like to have your very own map of visited states?  Many travelers include this as part of their email signature, or in their blog posts or on Facebook.  It’s easy and free by going to http://epgsoft.com/.  Just choose ‘Visited States Map’ and ‘Create Map.’  You should now see the choice of Visited States, Visited Provinces, or Visited Mexican States.  Just click the one you want.

If you have visited lots of states, it’s easiest to click on Select All, then click on the states you have not visited to clear them. You also have the choice to select states by name, select none then add the states you have visited.

When you’re done selecting the states you have visited, select a map size – small, medium, or large – and a file format – GIF, JPG, or PNG. Any of the formats should work, I prefer PNG. Now click on Create Map.  You may want to share your map on Facebook! But, if you want it for your email signature, you should “Download Map”

 

If you find that you’ve missed some states, or selected some by mistake, you can click the Edit Map button.  Once the map looks how you want it, you click the Download Map button.  Navigate to the folder where you want to store it and click ok.  Now the map is a picture on your computer that you can use like any other picture.

How about the World?

If you travel the world and want to have a map of visited countries, check out http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited.  It works similarly to the visited states above except at the very end.  Instead of saving an image file, you get html code to put on a blog or website.  It also only uses one color.  I find for a world map that one color is better anyway.

Using your Visited States Map in your Gmail Signature

If you use Gmail, you can include your visited states map as part of your signature.

1. Open Gmail.com on a computer
2. Click the gear icon in the upper right and settings
3. Select General and scroll down until you see Signature
4. Choose the email address
5. Use the editor box to type your signature
6. Click the Insert Image tool: and Upload, Select a File from your Computer, locate your map, Open
   
7. That’s it!

OK Google, What Route Did I Drive to Tallahassee?

by Chris Guld, GeeksOnTour.com
If you turn on Location Services and allow Google Maps to save location history, it records everywhere you go – as long as your phone is with you. It also records the times and photos you took along the way. On an Android phone, you access this stored data by opening the Google Maps app, tapping the 3-line menu in upper left and choosing Timeline. Then select a day from the dropdown lists, and you will see where you went and what you did that day!

Turning it Off

Now, I know that some of you are a little creeped out by this! First of all, you need to know that this is for your eyes only. No one else can see this information unless they can log into your Google Account. I can’t even figure out a way to share this screen with anyone when I want to – you can’t. To get that picture above, I took a screenshot – it is just a static image.
If you still want to turn it off, just turn off location services for Google Maps.

• Android: Open Google Maps App, 3-line menu in top left, Settings, Google Location Settings, Google Location History – turn off
• iPhone: Open Google Maps App, 3-line menu in top left, Settings, Location History – turn off

You can also delete the existing location history that has already been recorded. See detailed instructions from Google Help.

Seeing Your Location History

There are slightly different techniques depending on what device you’re using:
On a Computer:

• Go to Maps.google.com and make sure you’re logged in with your Google account
• Click the 3-line menu in upper left
• Click Your Timeline

On Android:

• Open Google Maps App and make sure you’re logged in with your Google account
• Tap the 3-line menu in upper left
• Tap Your Timeline

On an iPhone/iPad – the Google Maps App doesn’t have Timeline yet on iOS

• Open a Browser, preferable Chrome, but Safari also works
• Go to Maps.google.com/locationhistory

I find this very handy to remember locations and routes. And, I love it for taking screenshots of maps with my route for putting in my Blog! For lots more info on what your smartphone can do with location information, see Episode 82 of What Does This Button Do? Location Services
What about you? Love it? Hate it? Found any practical use for it? Leave a comment.