My Travel Map

I’m excited. I ran across a new way to keep track of the places I’ve been. A Travel Map! It was an impulse buy and I was prepared to hate it. I ordered it from a link on Facebook. Not the smartest thing to do but it looked really interesting. As followers of Aroundustyroads you know I periodically run through the states I been to and the ones I still need to visit. The original goal was to visit all 50 states. 

As my age has climbed and I repeat travels to my favorite states, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Hawaii to name a few, the odds that I have enough travel years left to get to all of them  has started to work against me.  

I needed someway other than a list to keep me on track. I’m a visual person so a map seemed like a good idea, especially one I can update neatly.

The Travel Map 

On a website called thunderbunnylabs.com I found a framed map of the United States. There are other maps too but I’m concentrating on domestic travel right now. The borders of the states are raised and you add pictures from each trip.  They even provide a template for the photos and a link to Walgreens to print your pictures.  

The map came really fast. I had it in only a couple of days which certainly put my mind at ease. It wasn’t a scam. I was even happier when I opened the package and saw the map.  

Of course I had to start adding pictures right away. 

A Work in Progress

The nearest Walgreens is only half a mile away so getting the pictures printed is quick and easy. I’m finding the hard part is picking the pictures to use. Since I travel alone a lot I’m not often in pictures. I’m more likely to be behind the camera so I gave up trying to find a useable picture with me in it. Oh I have some but not enough for every state. Then I have to be sure the picture I select can be manipulated to fit in the state outline. So far I’ve added Washington State, Arizona, Florida, Maine and New York. I just sent off another batch of photos so I can add more. 

This is fun. It brings back memories and when I have all the pictures added I’ll be able to see where I still need to go at a glance. Pretty cool, huh!