The Real Anywhere Door
Traveling is a popular hobby across all age groups. However, planning a trip can be an overwhelming process, even for seasonal travellers. Considering this, it is not surprising that the market is riddled with numerous trip planning tools. One of such tools is offered by Google named Google maps trip planner.
How can you use it?
Google trip planner uses Google maps technology to provide a highly visual and systematic way to organise a trip.
● To start, log in to your Google account, open Google maps in the top left corner, click on the three parts icon, and select "your places" from the menu.
● Click on maps in the far right corner and click on "create map" (at the bottom of the menu).
● At the name and the description and categorise your map. Categories include what you want to do on your trips, such as visiting cities or towns, shopping, and other activities.
● Now you can create a layer for each category by clicking on a layer.
● Finally, add location markers on the layer and click on the "add to the map" button at the bottom.
Google algorithms will do the rest, such as finding the shortest route possible and giving you directions.
Benefits of Google maps trip planner
● Highly visual - Google offers an evident planning experience with the help of colour-coded markers pins options to add images and so on
● Quick overview of the trip - travellers often have no idea of the neighbourhood they are travelling in and what the streets look like making it difficult to visualise your bucket list activities. To solve this, Google offers a quick overview of the planned activities.
● Limits surprises (in a good way) - Google maps shows the opening and closing times of establishments along with other details to make sure that you don't experience unwanted surprises.
● Seamless integration between devices - Google maps can access trip planner via PC, Android, and iPhone without any change in user experience.
● It is more effective for group travellers - it is a better option for group travellers. It allows them to share their itinerary via an inbuilt sharing option and exported spreadsheets.
Access to offline maps
Lastly, considering that it is not always feasible to have an internet connection while travelling, Google allows its users to download offline maps.
You can use an offline map downloaded on your phone or Google Earth to visualize a remote area you will visit while you are traveling.
● First, download the Google Earth app.
● Navigate to your Google maps trip planner click on the three-dot menu next to the map's title.
● From here on, you can download the map for offline usage or use the "export to KML/KMZ" option to use the map in Google Earth.
● Now email the downloaded file to yourself and select the Google earth option while opening the file.
Note: make sure to copy the additional information like addresses, directions, and other info in the notes section. So that you can still access it while offline.