How many travel magazines do you have stockpiled somewhere in your house? 10 or 10,000? I subscribe to several travel magazines and keep almost every one of them. I have this feeling the information within them will resurface just when I need it to, as if I will be able to locate which magazine has that article about the Amalfi Coast.
I keep them because I love the commentary and maps. Especially the maps. But here is the thing, before I go on a trip, I rarely have the time or energy to weed through my magazines for tips and maps. Usually I conduct an extensive Google search which might not turn up the same type of info. The travel magazine’s web sites change frequently and on more than one occasion I have found they archive the online companion to the magazine which means a) I can no longer access the information b) when I do find the map, it doesn’t work and c) it took too long to search for it to be worth it.
I must take this information into my own hands. Enter Neighborhood Maps. I created this software with the intention of mapping out architecture portfolios, but have found a private, alternative use. Immediately after reading a magazine, I determine which parts are worth keeping. I rip those pages out. If they are map worthy, I map the information out on my Neighborhood Maps.
I know you must be thinking you don’t have time to insert the information into some system. Neither do I! I have an assistant who does all my data entry for $15/hour. She is wonderful and pretty accurate. I’ll loan her to you if you like.
Here is a map I created today from a Budget travel I have been holding on to since September 2007. They had a feature on American’s 10 Coolest Small Towns. I wanted to keep this information for future reference. I have added it to my Google maps mashup software, so I can find it in the future. Or review it whenever I wish.
I did the same for Chicago’s best restaurants published in Chicago magazine in 2007. I have a terrible memory and this helps me immensely. My goal is to eat at all of the “best” in the near future. Being able to call them up is like having them on “speed dial” so I can answer the question “Where do you want to eat for your birthday?” without hesitation.
The best feature of the mashup map is that I know the information will not suddenly disappear. Since it is housed on my account, I don’t have to worry about someone else archiving the info and taking down the map.
