I've been checking into the Swarm app by Foursquare since 2013. Like many at the time, I originally downloaded the app out of curiosity at the latest tech craze (remember when checking in was the next frontier of social media?)
Over time, my curiosity evolved into a bit of an obsession. Restaurant? That's a checkin. Ski trail? Also a checkin. How about an unmarked spot in the middle of Drake's Passage in the middle of the ocean? But of course also a checkin.
(I feel compelled to add that I wasn't just a checkin zombie - mindlessly checking in. On the contrary, I found the app's value compounding with the passing of time as it enhanced my ability to walk down memory lane, share itineraries, and identify "gaps" in my world map.)
Anyways, fast forward 6 years and 300 score (6,000) checkins later and my obsession ended up producing a trove of personal data prime for analysis and unbiased reflection.
So, that's what I did.
See below my personal journey to experience our planet and its many cultures as told by maps, data-driven exhibits, and personal reflections.
The following exhibits come from my personal collection capturing how and where I've allocated my time through the years. While the full vault is rich with pseudo Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as my favorite work spots, the sample below intentionally abstracts this out. No one wants to be looking over their shoulder all the time, right?
Backing code to clean, transform, and generate data can be found at LINK.
Exhibits generated by DataWrapper.
Map courtesy of Google Maps.