GPS tracking

[le calmar]

I have owned a handeld GPS for the past 3 years, and even though its main purpose was to go hiking in the wild and georeference the pictures I take with my reflex, my buddy showed me how useful it was to keep track of your roadtrips or walks around a city.

Now I mostly use it when I hit the road and explore cities, and I have started to be borderline obsessed with it, spending a lot of time on Google Earth looking at the parts of Quebec, Ontario and the Northeast I have discovered so far, and the neighbourhoods in Toronto or New York I have yet to see. Agreed you don't necessarily need a GPS for this, but having the tracks on Google Earth help you vizualise the whole thing.

I was wondering if anybody else does this? Besides my friend, I have never met someone who does that, but I thought people interested in urban-related stuff could be similarily interested in this stuff as me.

[Acajack]

I was memorizing maps and atlases when I was in elementary school so you can imagine how excited I was when GPS and Google Earth came along.

When I was a kid and we visited people out of town I'd study the maps before hand and it often shocked people that a 10 year old kid from out of town would know the names of all the streets and landmarks and other stuff in the vicinity.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I was memorizing maps and atlases when I was in elementary school so you can imagine how excited I was when GPS and Google Earth came along.

When I was a kid and we visited people out of town I'd study the maps before hand and it often shocked people that a 10 year old kid from out of town would know the names of all the streets and landmarks and other stuff in the vicinity.

I did the exact same things! I "read" maps the same way I would read books, memorizing the layout of places I would visit with my family.

I remember shyly giving directions to my teachers and bus driver on a school trip in Quebec City when we got lost on our way to the Musée de la civilisation, in 6th grade. They weren't convinced at first, but they quickly realized I knew my way around the city! It must have been a bit embarrassing for them now that I think about it!

I also spent countless hours drawing maps of imaginary cities and countries.

My interest in maps has proven to be very useful whenever I travel: I pretty much never get lost and usually am the "guide" whenever we travel in group, with family and friends.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by begratto

I also spent countless hours drawing maps of imaginary cities and countries.

.

I did that too!

Mon frère!

[begratto]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I did that too!

Mon frère!

Reading your posts, we do seem to live very similar lifestyles, family situations, taste for travel, etc with the notable exception that my entire family is, and has always been, in Quebec.

[le calmar]

I had no doubts that some forumers would shares similar interests regarding geography and maps. I was always good for naming countries on maps and cities around the world, even though I can't say I developed an "expertise" on streets or neighbourhoods like you guys.

Apparently no forumer is crazy enough to carry a GPS in his car or when walking around cities though. The one thing that doesn't help is if the GPS technology allowing to upload your tracks on Google Earth arrived after you have had traveled around North America or the world for years, or even decades. I see that someone in this situation wouldn't see any use to buy a GPS for this purpose, since 99% of his exploration wouldn't appear on Google Earth.

In my case a good chunk of my urban exploration and travel was done after I bought my GPS a couple of years ago, so it does represent pretty well the places I have been too (at least in North America).