Blog
On timelines, journeys and maps.
Writing about exporting a Google Maps Timeline, what is inside the file, how a route gets drawn on a map, and turning location history into video.
Your phone has been keeping a diary for three years. Have you read it?
Google Maps has quietly been recording where you went and when. Downloading that file takes five minutes, and what comes out of it is usually a surprise.
How to download your Google Maps history (the 2026 way)
It does not work from a computer and Takeout is no longer the answer. The right path on Android and iPhone, what the file is called, and what to do with it.
Your location history came back empty — here is why
The file downloaded but there is almost nothing in it, or a tool says “not enough points”. Five common causes and what to do about each.
What a year of travel looks like in thirty seconds
What happens when you compress 9,700 kilometres into half a minute, which decisions make the film good, and why most “year in review” videos feel hollow.
Vertical map videos for Reels and TikTok: what to get right
How a route sits in a 9:16 frame, how many seconds work, where the title goes, and the three mistakes people make most.
Eight of the world’s great road trips
From the Ring Road to the Great Ocean Road: eight drives worth planning a trip around, with rough distances and how many days each really needs.
Driving Iceland’s Ring Road: a realistic seven-day plan
1,330 kilometres around the island, day by day. Where to stop, how far each day actually is, and the detours worth the extra hours.
The North Coast 500 in a week, without rushing it
830 kilometres around the Scottish Highlands, day by day. Where the single-track roads start, which detours are worth it, and why five days is too few.
Photos remember the stops. The road is what stays with you
What actually survives a journey: the places you went, or the hours in between? And why the pictures in your gallery only tell half the story.
Twelve things that make a long drive better
What turns a thousand kilometres from an ordeal into a good day. Most of it is not equipment — it is how you drive it.