Your year is full. You are living your best life. You’d be proud of yourself if you stopped for a moment to reflect, but who has time to write anything down when you are out there living your best life? Don’t lose the flow by dragging out your notebook to write down the name of the restaurant. I’ve tried snapping pics only to get lost in the shuffle. No need to record it. You’ll remember because this moment it just oh so memorable.

Ahem…you aren’t as good as you think you are. You’ll want to flex, brag or recommend this place to a friend—and for that, you need an exact location. Perhaps write about it later when describing the burst of salty goodness or comparing it to the three other piazzas you were in that week, day, hour. For me, it’s about reflecting in those quiet moments when you are feeling a little too homebound. When you realize you’re being irresponsible to take that next trip only days after you’ve returned. You pop into your Insta account for an easy trip down memory lane. Compliment yourself on what a cool life you lead. What an eye you have for photography. We’re all self-congratulatory when we need to be. Your IG feed is good for remembering those public moments, those good enough to show the world, but what about random things like free, unexpected nibbles while “rushing” to catch a train. In case you aren’t taking the time to record your travel history, let someone else do it for you! Hello Google Maps Timeline.

We already know the All Knowing knows your every step (unless you turn off location tracking) because how else does this datapolis world work? Most of the world fears loss of privacy, but I say thanks for being my computer chip of stored memory. Leaves me space for other things.

Having a keepsake to remind you of your travels is the best. I got mine as a surprise and now I’ll never have to reach back into my memory bank* to remember the precise home of those deep fried olives and perfect ruby orange Negroni. My Google Maps Timeline says I was in Bozen at Piazza Walther at 6pm sunset where I spent exactly 22 minutes. Thanks for being my companion and most reliable quiet note taker, Dear Google. You’ll forever be my lifeline.

Not only helpful for those who can’t be bothered to write anything down, but obviously a sophisticated marketing tool, such as in local SMB marketing. Example…

Local “Restaurant A” is registered as a Google Business and subscribes to various levels of analytics for the area. This restaurant you walk past everyday has access to your movements, your timing, your google searches. Why do you never stop in? He knows you work hard, loves Pinot Noir and strolls the neighborhood hopping inconsistently to various establishments. The marketer of this local business could microtarget you. Send an email a 20 minutes before you leave the office on Wednesday afternoon. Email contains an offer of Wine Wednesdays - 50% off with purchase of an entree. The image would be a bottle of Pinot Noir, but not explicitly reveal that we know you’ve just taken a vacation to California’s Anderson Valley (the kismet of Pinot Noir). That’s too much. The point is, location tracking is useful. Who doesn’t want a timely offer helping you save in a convenient time and place?

As I continue this travel marketing journey of mine, Google will be with me at every step. Literally.

Screenshot from my most reliable diarist:

*but no thanks to the Google for allowing these parts of my brain to gather dust and atrophy. I’ll never need to remember any specific dates or facts because the Google becomes my crutch. Love him, hate him. He’s there for me.