How to Make Your Own Holiday Google Map
In this post, I’m going to be showing you how to make your VERY OWN Google Map! You are about to supersize your itinerary! Not only can you add locations like a regular Google Map, you can also add icons to help the places you want to go stick out! Since it’s the Holiday Season, I figured it’d be fun to show you how to make your own Holiday Google Map. This way you can remember the Christmas Bars you want to go to, the Light Shows you want to see, the Places You Want to Eat, and Much More!
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- Step 1 - Go to "My Maps Google"
First things first, you need to have a Free Google account in order to use Google Maps. I suggest creating a separate Google Account for your travels. From here you can use the email for travel alert emails and also keep your all your maps in this account as well. This way your personal, business, and travel lives are all separate!
Next, don’t go to “Google Maps,” go to “My Maps Google.”
- Step 2 - Go to "Create a New Map"
Once you sign in, it will take you to your homepage. From here you can keep track of all the maps you create. To create a new map click “Create a New Map.”
Within My Maps, when you hit “create a new map” it’s going to show you the world. From here, you can choose an address to start or even just put in a general city to zoom in to be able to start your mapping.
You simply type it into the search bar and it will take you to that location and start your map. I’m trying to make it to a bunch of the Christmas themed things in Cleveland this year like Christmas bars and stuff like that, so I’m going to go ahead and type in Cleveland.
- Step 3 - Add Your Layers
Where it says “Untitled Layer,” you can rename this as any category you want. For my purposes I’m going to name this layer “Christmas Bars.”
You can get creative with it and do whatever you want. Maybe it’s “Day 1 Activities,” for your vacation or if you’re traveling with a group of friends you can name it “Things Sarah Wants To See,” etc etc.
One of the places that I want to go is called 9er’s Diner and Pub. As I type it into the search bar, the map will zoom in to where the pub is located. If you wanted to do a layer like shopping, for me, some spots do not show up on Google. What you can do is type in the cross roads of the pop up boutique and it will drop the pin as the name of the crossroads. You can then go in and rename that as whatever you want.
You can make as many layers as you want. Here’s an example of some of mine…
- Step 4 - Add Locations to Your Layers
If you look on the left side of the image, you’ll see how it is highlighted in blue. Now, when I look up a location and hit “add to map,” this is the layer that the location will be added to. I noticed that sometimes it just pops up the location like this, so to remedy this and add it to a layer, you can click on the location and go ahead and click “add to map” and it will add it to that layer.
You can re-edit anything at any time. You just click the 3 dots next to for example Christmas Bars, and from there you can rename that layer. You can also edit how your locations show up on a map.
To do this, see where it says “Uniform style?” This means all icons you edit will look the same for this layer. If you click “Individual style,” you can give each locations it’s own icon individually. Again, you can edit either of these anytime you want.
- Step 5 - Customize Your Map
You can get as creative as you want with the colors and icons. Google provides you with a number of them, but if you go to “More Icons” you have the option to upload your own PNGs. You can find some generic ones online or make your own. Either way, for me personally I’m just using this for my own memory of where I want to go this Holiday Season, so I don’t mind what the icons look like much – as long as they get me where I want to go.
Google Maps is making mapping out your travel plans so much easier! You can use it to map out the stops you want to make on your road trip, it can help you remember the sights you want to see, you can even save a restaurant with notes! (Ex: 9er’s Diner & Pub – Try the Christmas Drinks Flights)
My Maps Google makes it easy to share your map as well. This way if you’re with a group of friends you can all access the same map! It will make it easier to decide exactly what you all want to do.
You can even make a map as you are traveling so that you remember the things you liked best. This way you make sure you visit them the next time you take a trip there.
Watch The Full Step-By-Step Video
I’m like super ADHD, so having a visualization of the things that I want to do really helps! Having everything mapped out shows you how close everything is to each other. Maybe you are trying to go to one Christmas bar, but then you realize oh the shopping and the lights are like right around the corner! I might as well knock out like five things at the same time instead of just going to this one thing I had planned to do!
Another cool option is that you can view by layer. See how on the left certain layers are checked off? I have them all listed, but if you deselect it, it takes that layer away from the map. This way if you want to focus on just your shopping places, you could just look at the sites you wanted to see.
Be sure to share this with your friends this Holiday season as an early Christmas present!
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