The Solo Traveller Digital Survival Guide: Mastering Location Tracking and Offline Maps
Solo travel is incredibly liberating, but it also means you are your own safety net. Two of the biggest challenges you will face on the road are keeping loved ones from worrying and navigating unfamiliar streets without draining your mobile data (or your battery).
Fortunately, your smartphone has built-in features that can solve both problems before you even leave your home or hotel room's Wi-Fi. Here is how to set up a real-time safety tracker and use GPS entirely offline.
Part 1: Setting Up a Real-Time Safety Tracker
You don't need expensive third-party tracking apps to let someone know you are safe. Google Maps has a built-in Location Sharing feature that lets a trusted friend or family member see your real-time location and even your phone’s remaining battery percentage.
How to Share Your Live Location Continually
1. Open Location Sharing: Requires an internet connection.
Open the Google Maps app on your phone. Tap your profile picture or initials in the top- right corner, then select Location sharing.
2. Start a New Share: Select your timeframe. Tap the New share button. You will see an option for how long to share. Switch this from "For 1 hour" to "Until you turn this off" so it stays active throughout your trip.
3. Select Your Trusted Contact: Choose wisely.
Select your contact from the list. If they have a Google account, they will get a notification in their Google Maps app. If they don't, you can copy a private link and text/email it to them.
4. Verify and Test: Do this before you head out.
Have your contact open the link to confirm they can see your avatar on the map. You can turn this off at any point by returning to the same menu and tapping Stop.
Top Tip: Because this updates via the cloud, your phone will need mobile data to send your live location to your contact. However, if you lose signal completely, the app will still show them your "Last known" location and timestamp, giving them a starting point in an emergency.
Part 2: Navigating on GPS Without Using Your Data Allowance.
A common myth is that your phone needs mobile data to use GPS. It doesn't. Your phone has a dedicated internal GPS chip that connects directly with satellites, completely free of charge. The data is only used to load the visual map around that little blue GPS dot.
By downloading your maps ahead of time on Wi-Fi, you can turn off your data entirely and still navigate smoothly, which is a huge saving.
How to Download Offline Areas in Google Maps
Search Your Destination: Do this using Wi-Fi, preferably not your data allowance.
Open Google Maps while connected to Wi-Fi and search for the city or region you are visiting, (for example, "Paris" or "Reykjavik"). In some cases, you will be required to load the country's map
Access the Download Menu: Find the hidden option.
Tap the name or address of the place at the bottom of the screen to pull up its information card. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top right corner and select Download offline map.
Adjust Your Boundary: Pinch to zoom.
A rectangular box will appear. Pinch and drag the map to fit the entire area you plan to explore. The app will show you exactly how much storage space (in megabytes) the download will take up on your phone.
Download and Rename: Save it to your device.
Tap Download. Once finished, go to your Profile -> Offline maps to rename the file (e.g., "Day 1: Basecamp or city") so you can manage them easily.
What Works (and What Doesn't) When Offline
When your phone loses connection, or you turn off roaming, Google Maps automatically switches to your downloaded files.
What works: You can still search for specific addresses, find points of interest (like restaurants or hotels) within that zone, and get turn-by-turn directions.
What doesn't work: You will not get live traffic updates, alternative routes based on accidents, transit schedules, or walking/cycling directions. It will still show you where you are. Which in most cases is all you need.
Excellent Alternative: Organic Maps
If you plan to do a lot of walking or hiking, Google Maps' offline limitations can be frustrating. An Alternative is Organic Maps, which you can download before your trip. These apps use open-source mapping data, built for offline use, and unlike Google, they provide full turn-by-turn walking and hiking offline, and the good news is it's free.
Quick Setup Checklist Before You Leave the Hotel
[ ] Location sharing turned on "Until you turn this off" with your emergency contact.
[ ] Home base city or country downloaded entirely on Google Maps.
[ ] (Optional) Walking/hiking map downloaded on Organic Maps / Map Me
[ ] Phone battery at 100% and a portable power bank, and a cable packed (GPS drains your battery faster when offline).
Coming shortly: adding and using an eSIM
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