Woman shares clever travel hack using Google Maps

A woman's TikTok video sharing a handy travel hack has amassed almost 5 million views with many praising the trick as genius.

A woman's TikTok video sharing a handy travel hack has amassed almost 5 million views with many praising the trick as genius.

American TikTok user, Jessica, shared a tactic she always uses while travelling to save time and phone data.

"It has come to my attention that not everyone plans a trip this way and ever since I started doing this, I can't look back," said Jessica in the video.

"You are going to make a Google Map first – search for Google My Maps.

"You've got all these ideas from TikTok and Instagram so what you are going to do is actually pin them all onto the map.

"And organise them by groups like attractions and activities and food."

Jessica also recommended people add important transportation hubs like airports or train stations so you know how close they are.

Travellers can also search the internet for the best places to visit or stay and compare them to your map, she added at the end of the video.

@jessicawantsanap

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Having a map in front of you wasn't just helpful for directions but also for planning your itinerary for the day, as you can see what attractions are close.

"Another really great thing about this is you can more easily plan days," she added.

"This is also really helpful because sometimes you just wander, you explore, you deviate from the itinerary but you can pull this map up at any time just to see where you are close to."

Since posting the video, it has been viewed more than 4.8 million times, with 877,000 people 'liking' the clip. More than 4,000 viewers commented and many praised the tip.

"This is the best video I've found on TikTok. Thank you!" said one viewer.

Many expressed how much time this would save in the future.

"The way I've spent hours googling every address to see how close/far they were away from the hotel or attractions …. THANK YOU," wrote one viewer.

"Are you kidding I've been doing this on regular Google Maps and giving myself a hard time for nothing!" another added.

One traveller also added their own recommendation: "Pro tip – download the map so you can pull it up OFFLINE and are never lost in the city you're in."

This article originally appeared on NZ Herald in December 2022 and has been republished with permission.

Originally published as Woman shares clever travel hack using Google Maps