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Virtual Backpacking: 100 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups

Ever played around with Google Map ‘Mashups’? If you haven’t, hoo boy have you been missing out!

With these cool online adaptations of Google Maps, you can do all sorts of nifty mappy things like:

• Locate your nearest coffee shop/public toilet/fast-food joint
• Get a weather overview for wherever you’re headed.
• Check out the latest global incidents happening right now around the world (and make sure you don’t stumble into one)
• Take the mystery out of wondering where you’d end up if you dug a very (very) deep hole.
• Find out what countries you’d pass through, if you walked in a straight line, all the way around the world.

The possibilities are endless, really, given enough bandwidth and web-surfing time, and Google Maps Mania, an ‘unofficial Google Maps blog tracking the websites, mashups and tools being influenced by Google Maps’ has put together a list of 100 Things to do with Google Maps Mashups.

Some of them of particular appeal to backpackers might include:

• Finding a nearby brewery
• Browsing through photos of the world
• Finding the perfect mid-point meet-up
• Locating a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Pinpointing a world airport, airline or connection (or make your own map)
• Find a popular map in any area
• Find out what the time is, anywhere in the world
• Watch a travel video (or find a local webcam)
• Avoid disease outbreaks
• Calculate a New York cab fare
• See where UFO’s have been spotted (I kid you not)

And that’s just a drop in the proverbial ocean – Google Maps Mania has many, many more (some of them conveniently organised into a travel-related mashups section). Be prepared to set aside some serious surfing hours, folks – this can get addictive.

Posted in Backpackers Bookmarks, Destinations, General Travel, Travel Guides, Travel Tips & Planning, Travel Tools