Honestly, most travel blogs are kind of a lie. You see the same five photos of the Amalfi Coast or that one specific swing in Bali, and it feels like everyone is just sharing the same singular experience. But recently, there’s been this massive shift toward documenting the literal places and spaces i’ve been in a way that’s much more granular, messy, and—frankly—useful. We’re moving away from the "top ten" lists and toward something people are calling "personal geodata."
It’s about the vibe of a specific street corner in Berlin where the light hits the brick just right at 4:00 PM. It’s the weird, underground jazz club in Tokyo that doesn't have a sign.
People are obsessed with tracking their movement now.
Whether it’s through Google Maps Timeline, Strava, or niche apps like Fog of World, the desire to visualize our physical footprint has exploded. It’s not just about bragging rights. Seeing a digital heat map of your life provides a weirdly grounding sense of self. You realize you’ve spent 40% of your year in a three-mile radius, or you see that one random trip to a gas station in rural Nebraska and suddenly remember exactly what the air smelled like that day.
The Psychology of Mapping the Places and Spaces I’ve Been
Why do we care so much about where we’ve stood?
Dr. Roger Dooley, an expert in neuromarketing and human behavior, often touches on how physical environments anchor our memories. Without a spatial context, our brains struggle to categorize experiences. When you look at a list of the places and spaces i’ve been, you aren't just looking at coordinates. You’re looking at a memory palace.
I remember talking to a backpacker in Vietnam who kept a physical paper map where he poked holes with a needle for every town he slept in. He told me that if he didn't mark it, the days started to bleed together.
Digital tools have scaled this.
Google’s "Timeline" feature is probably the most ubiquitous version of this, using GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell tower data to reconstruct your path. While some find it creepy, a huge segment of travelers uses it as a secondary brain. If you can’t remember the name of that incredible taco truck in Austin from three years ago, you just scroll back. It’s there. The space has been claimed.
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The Difference Between "Spaces" and "Places"
There’s a subtle but important distinction here that geographers like Yi-Fu Tuan have spent decades arguing about.
A "space" is abstract. It’s a coordinate. It’s the empty park before you walk into it. A "place" is what happens when you add value and emotion to that space. When we talk about the places and spaces i’ve been, we are really talking about the transformation of the unknown into the known.
Think about your first day in a new city. Everything is a "space." It’s confusing, loud, and lacks meaning. By day four, that specific coffee shop is a "place." You know the barista has a weird tattoo of a cat. You know which floorboard creaks.
Digital Footprints vs. Physical Reality
We have to talk about the data.
The average smartphone user in the US has location services turned on for at least 15-20 apps. This creates a massive, silent archive of our movement.
But there’s a downside.
Sometimes, the digital record of the places and spaces i’ve been doesn't match the emotional reality. Have you ever looked at your Google Maps history and seen a "stop" recorded at a red light because you were there for two minutes? It shows up as a destination. It clutters the narrative.
This is why "manual" mapping is making a comeback. Apps like Polarsteps or Penzu allow users to curate the data. You don't want the red light. You want the cliffside view.
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Privacy and the "Stalker" Factor
We can't ignore the elephant in the room. Documenting every inch of your movement is a privacy nightmare if you aren't careful.
In 2023, Google announced major changes to how Timeline data is stored, moving it to on-device storage rather than the cloud by default. This was a direct response to privacy concerns and "geofence warrants" used by law enforcement.
If you’re obsessed with tracking the places and spaces i’ve been, you have to be the gatekeeper of that data.
- Encryption matters. If you use a third-party app, check if they sell your "points of interest" to advertisers.
- Check your EXIF data. Every photo you take has GPS coordinates baked in. If you post that photo, you're telling the world exactly where you stood.
- Delayed posting. The smartest travelers don't post their "places" until they've already left them.
Why We Are Obsessed with "Niche" Spaces
The trend in 2026 is moving away from "The Eiffel Tower" and toward "The brutalist laundromat in the 13th arrondissement."
We are seeking out "liminal spaces."
These are transitional areas—hallways, airports, empty malls—that feel eerie yet familiar. There’s a whole subculture on Reddit and TikTok dedicated to finding these weird places and spaces i’ve been. It’s a rejection of the polished, "Instagrammable" travel aesthetic.
It’s raw.
It’s a bit lonely.
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And it feels more honest.
I once spent three hours in a 24-hour car wash in Reykjavik because the blue neon light was the most interesting thing I’d seen all week. It wasn't on any "must-see" list. It was just a space that became a place for me.
How to Effectively Track Your Own Journey
If you want to start a more intentional record of the places and spaces i’ve been, stop just taking selfies. Start recording the ambient sounds. Take a photo of a receipt.
The best travel logs are the ones that include the "boring" stuff.
- Use a GPS Logger: If you want high-fidelity paths for hiking or city wandering, use a dedicated logger like a Garmin or a specialized app that doesn't ping-pong off cell towers.
- The "One Sentence" Rule: Every time you enter a new "place," write one sentence about how it smells or feels. Not what it looks like.
- Review the Map Yearly: Sit down once a year and look at the heat map of your life. It’s a sobering and beautiful way to see where you’re investing your time.
The reality is that our lives are a collection of these dots on a map. Some dots are bigger than others. Some are just fleeting moments in a "space" we will never return to.
But when you aggregate the places and spaces i’ve been, you get a much clearer picture of who you actually are, rather than the person you pretend to be on social media.
Actionable Steps for Documenting Your Next Trip
To get the most out of your personal geography, change your approach to data.
- Audit your location settings. Decide now if you want a passive record (like Google Timeline) or an active one (like a digital journal). Passive is easier; active is more meaningful.
- Download your data. Go to Google Takeout every six months and actually download your location history. Don't let a tech giant be the sole keeper of your life's path.
- Focus on the "In-Between." Next time you’re traveling, take a photo of the bus station or the weirdly designed staircase. These "spaces" often hold more memory than the landmarks.
- Check out "Fog of World." If you want to gamify your movement, this app treats the world map like a video game covered in "fog" that only clears when you physically enter an area. It’s addictive and forces you to take the long way home.
By treating your movement as a narrative rather than just a series of errands, you turn the world into a personal library. Each street is a shelf. Each city is a chapter. It’s your story. Own the map.