2018 - a year in journeys

Since giving Google permission to follow me via my Android smartphone (in November 2013), my Google Maps timeline has been building up. Over those past five years and two months, I have a pictorial record of my travels, and an interesting picture it is too.

Here's the map (below), with the red dots representing a place at which I spent at least a couple of hours. Most obvious point - I have not once in those five years travelled outside of this box. A lot of travel around Poland and the UK, two brief business trips to Germany - and that's it.

My last summer holiday was in July 2014, in North Wales. Since then short breaks in Poland, Christmas visits to my brother in Derbyshire, regular visits to my father in West London, and a vast amount of business travel.

Looking at Poland, the map shows far more visits to the south of the country than to the north. This is mainly work-related (most UK manufacturing investment in Poland is stretched out along the A4 corridor from Wrocław to Rzeszów via Katowice and Kraków).

Other interesting facts - in five years I flew through Warsaw's Okęcie airport 96 times, 'London' Luton Airport 64 times (that's 64 times too many); I visited Auchan 96 times, with Lidl in second place (81 visits), while Waitrose in West Ealing was my top UK supermarket destination with 22 visits.

And how did 2018 fit into the scheme of things? Less dense, but a similar picture. (The blue circles represent a business trip.)

My guess is - barring accident, war or other catastrophe, 2019 will look pretty similar to 2018!

This time six years ago:
Wise words about motoring

This time seven years ago:
Hurry up and wait with WizzAir at Luton