Where Did You Say You Were From?

As a member of the bikelist.org touring newsgroup (formerly phred.org) I come across not only suggestions for great places to do a bike tour, but also some interesting ideas about ways to make bike travel more fulfilling.

One such idea relates to maps. No, not the ones depicting how to get where I'm going (I know where to get those!), but rather a map showing where I came from. I thought this a novel idea, especially if I were traveling overseas. The U.S. is a big place and if I tell a curious new friend I'm from Missoula, Montana, U.S.A., I'm likely to get a polite nod or maybe a questioning look leading me to lamely attempt to explain where exactly my hometown is located.

Now, if I had a map of the U.S. and perhaps a map of Montana, I could give a more spatially oriented answer as to where in the world I live. And to really show the flavor of my locale, it was suggested that having 10-12 photos of home stored in my camera would be a nice bonus to share. Another option would be to have that same information available to display on my cell phone or netbook.

Personally, I intend to put this idea into action for my next international adventure as a way to more intimately connect with those I meet on the road. What do you think? Is this a bonus or does it interfere with your persona as a mysterious traveler?

photo by Julie Huck

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GeoPoints Bulletin is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures and persons from Adventure Cycling's route network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure.