Remember where you’ve been … using Google Maps

By Chris Guld, GeeksOnTour.com

We’re currently visiting the San Francisco Bay area and decided to call up our friends, Rusty and Tony who live in a beautiful houseboat in Sausalito. We were happy to learn they were home and available! When they asked if we needed directions, I said, “No, I have your place marked on Google Maps from the last time we were here.”

“You’re so organized!” Rusty said.

Ha! Organized is about the last adjective I would use to describe myself, but I do know how to use Google Maps, and I had simply marked their place as a favorite the last time we were here – 3 years ago. All I had to do was open Google Maps on my phone, tap on the gold star in Sausalito and ask for navigation.

If you’d like to do this, it’s easy. If you’re currently at the specified location you can use Google Maps on your phone and tap the icon to make sure the map is centered on your current location, and you see the blue dot which represents your location

1. Make sure you are logged in to your Google account – look in the upper right corner.
2. Longpress on the blue dot (touch and hold) until you see a red teardrop placemarker appear.
3. You should notice some location info at the bottom of the screen, put your finger on that space and swipe up
4. You should now see more info about the location, and 3 buttons: Save, Label, and Share. 3 years ago, I only had “Save” which left a gold star in the spot. That’s fine, but now you have “Label” which would allow you to type something like “Rusty and Tony’s”
5. From now on, whenever you view Google Maps and you’re logged in to your Google account, you can view that location and see a flag labeled “Rusty and Tony’s.” Tap that icon and then the blue arrow for navigate, and you’re on your way!

Google just announced a new app called Trips. It has some interesting features, but the more I look at other travel and mapping apps, I keep coming back to Google Maps. It does so much, just keep learning.

Chris Guld is President and Teacher-in-Chief at GeeksOnTour.com. She has been in computer training and support since 1983 and owned a Computer Training Center called Computer Savvy from 1983-1996. She has been a Fulltime RVer, popular seminar presenter at RV Rallies, and regular contributor to RVTravel, for many years.

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