My Most Visited Places
An exploration of my twenty most visited places—via Google Map's Timeline
I've often imagined how interesting a complete set of "life facts" would be. Mundane things like number of hours slept, total emails archived, miles driven, or words typed. The mundane turns silly when I begin to wonder my ratio of right turns to left, the number of Fruity Pebbles ingested, or how many thresholds crossed.
It's not surprising there exist Microculture that share this desire—and are doing something about it. With the internet there's a place for everyone. Diarists were the first, and now there are lifeloggers, sousveillers, and quants. Even transhumanists pursue this goal in service of their others.
My thoughts, as most of them do, lead to light research or daydream. Until I realize I have higher priorities in life than to track every detail of it. Besides, I can't go back in time to count all those Pebbles. I dream about looking it up, not tracking it.
It's a recurring thought that remains a Curio.
I purchased my first cell phone1 in the early 2000s, around the time I began college. A decade later, my first smartphone.2 Now? I've got a computer in my pocket that puts my childhood computer to shame. It's got an array of sensors that augment my life in subtle ways, it can take photographs beyond my needs, and it's got constant access to the entirety of human thought. Did I mention that it's on or near my person3 from sunup to sundown?
If there ever existed a tool4 to automate tracking of "life facts," it's this.
Sometime during my personal smartphone era, Google Maps added a featured called Timeline. If enabled, it tracks each place you've visited during the day.
This freaks people out.
When I make folks aware of it, people pull out their phone and force me to show them whether they have it enabled. I'm a private person and a fan of the fourth amendment, but I've never concerned myself too much with having my data "out there." I'm a techno-pragmatist. It's here and it's ubiquitous. It's best I learn how to live with it and make it serve my life. Instead of the other way around.
Does it worry me that corporations and the government have an understanding of me that would make my toes curl? Sure, I guess. But fighting it would make things more difficult. I'm trying to reduce friction in my life not increase it.
Recently I was browsing through my Timeline, my digital locomotion journal. It can be nostalgic. Seeing that I went to a new coffee shop a month ago is like pulling out a trinket from my past. It returns memories to my mind, ones that may otherwise be lost forever. During this particular tour, I noticed something different.
It prompted two questions. The first was philosophical. Have I really only been to 2,451 places? It's a number that—in context—seems both a lot and a little. The philosopher in me wonders at the definition of place. But I'll save that for another day. For now, the second question is surface level. What are my most visited places? I have strong guesses for the top three, but what's beyond that? Let's find out.
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My previous home in Bloomington, Minnesota takes the top slot. Unsurprising, since I lived there for 15 years. Based on the numbers, I estimate Google has eight years of my location data. I started and ended the day at home for most of them. It being the most visited place during that time is not a shock.
If you guessed work for the two slot, give yourself a pat on the back. I worked at my previous employer for over a decade. Pre-pandemic I was there every business day. I spent a large chunk of my life in that small brick building in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Recently, I moved to a new location for work. Seeing a count of the number of days I'd been there inspired me to lead an office memorial. Many of us would have the address high on the list of most visited places. And for some, it was the only place they worked as a professional. At first I was in a hurry to leave it behind. It's human nature to focus on the bad times over the good. I was guilty of human nature. Upon reflection, I realized it was important to say goodbye and to afford others the same. To allow them to reflect in their own way, to explore their sadness, to embrace their nostalgia.
The memorial was optional—and well attended.
My third most visited place was a nice surprise. It's our new home. We bought it three years ago, but we'd only occupied it for one. The first two years we gutted and renovated it. Those weekends and weeknights add up. It'll take two years to move up a slot.5
In fourth is my in-laws. Not a surprise. They are family oriented and I'm getting there.
The next one is interesting but begins to show a crack in the system. My fifth most visited place is a block up the street from the office—my parking spot. It seems there are days it doesn't count, otherwise the visit count would be much higher. If I were curating the data, I'd have to investigate whether to add the numbers together or remove the noise.
Sixth is Quixotic, my most visited coffee shop by far. It's en route to work (at least it was), has great coffee, nice people, and it's the perfect spot to write in the morning. The number of visits seems low though. I would've guessed a higher number. There are times I hop in and out, which may not count as a visit.
My seventh most visited place is actually my second. I'll explain. A year and a half ago the company I worked for was acquired. Their corporate office was in Pennsylvania, and according to their systems I was a "remote worker." The reason it's listed separate is because my previous employer shut off their business profile and the new one didn't claim it. It only shows the address of the building.
This discovery led to action.
Since my new employer never claimed the location, the folks applying for jobs within my department saw no presence within the state of Minnesota. There wasn't anything on the website either. If they were coming in for an interview, or even for the job they'd accepted, they were driving to a street address not a company. A lot of people had questions whether we were real. It prompted me to get the location claimed and renamed. As a side effect, the number two slot now says my current employer and—even worse—it moved with us to the new location. It will eventually eclipse my previous home and it'll take many years for my current home to eclipse work as my most visited place.
Remember the renovation I mentioned? It's the reason Lowe's takes the eight slot. Depressing. I'm curious whether it counted each visit separately, since there were days I went to the hardware store an embarrassing amount.
The ninth and tenth spots are a window into the past. My bouldering gym and our first daycare center respectively. If it wasn't for the pandemic, the gym would be a few slots higher. The daycare though? Stuck in time—they're both in school now (a future "most visited place").
Eleventh: Raising Cane's. Premium chicken fingers. I'll die on this hill.
Twelfth: Culver's. Top tier fast food.
Thirteenth: Rooster's BBQ. Great vibe, better barbecue.
Fourteenth: Boathouse Brothers. The closest brewery to our new home.
Fifteenth: Black Sea. A Turkish restaurant with excellent food at reasonable prices.
The New Prague Golf Club begins the final five of the top twenty. I played slow pitch softball for many years. It took a decade of mediocrity to determine that I'd rather be frustrated with myself than frustrated with my team. A few teammates and I agreed to try our hand at golf instead. Life gets in the way, but this appearance in the top twenty shows I've kept it up better than I thought. I hope it rises. Golf is something I'm poor at but see continuous improvements in. It grounds me. Pun intended.
Next is my parent's home. I lived there before Google's tracking. It's at this point I begin to wonder what truly is the place I've visited the most. The word visited begins to lose meaning in this context as well. I don't visit my home; I reside there. Either way, one of the childhood homes must be the true top slot. I'm curious where my other pre-Timeline residences rank.
I could napkin math it but again my interest is in fact—not estimation.
Two other restaurants slot in at eighteen and nineteen: The Nook and Punch. The Nook had one of my favorite burgers and the fries were divine. Punch is a local Neapolitan style pizza place. The Bufalina is my jam.
Last but not least, my twentieth most visited place? MSP—the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
Which reminds me. I need to plan a vacation.
I've been trying to find the make and model of this phone for years. I've had no luck. I have a clear visual of it in my head. It was the size and shape of a candy bar, with a creamy gold color. The bottom flipped down uncovering the keypad. If anyone helps me, I will forever be in your debt.
This one I know well—a T-Mobile G2.
An interesting turn of phrase. Why my person in place of myself?
A smartwatch may do a better job of certain things. But I don't want to wear a watch and I don't enjoy how tethered I'd be.
This is no longer true. Due to a quirk in the system, it will take a lot longer to catch up. Google considers my new place of employment the same as the old due to how the location was converted. Google could fix this if they desired but—due to privacy concerns—I doubt they're putting too much effort into the feature.
Very thought-provoking and thorough, per the usual Mr. Salsman. Being an iPhone user, I was curious to see what my location situation looks like. For Apple, it's called 'significant locations', and over the last year, I have 229 records, but I'm unable to go any deeper.
PS: Your list does hint at your Foodie tendencies. You'll be happy to know I took my family to Applebee's the other day. : )
For what's it worth, I've been diligent about logging visits to places using FourSquare/Swarm over the years and have around 14,000 check-ins at around 3,700 places since 2010. With Google Maps it is just around 1,500 places visited since 2014. Google is passive and captures some interesting stats around time spent at places or in transit but misses a lot.