Is it normal to explore random places via google maps?

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35 Comments

If I'm bored and have nothing to do, I sometimes enjoy doing this. I'll just go to a random country and drop the man down and explore neighborhoods with street view just to see how different the countries look. I don't usually look at tourist attractions, I usually just go to random neighborhoods and areas and poke around for a bit, looking at all the houses and trees and stuff.

Anyone else do this?

Voting Results
95% Normal
Based on 40 votes (38 yes)
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Comments ( 35 )
  • McBean
    6 years ago

    When I can't sleep, wandering around random cities with Google Earth in street view is my favorite thing to do.

    Africa is a trash pit. Most third world countries aren't much better.

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  • lordofopinions
    5 years ago

    Sure its normal. I google mapped my place and my car was there. Cool!!!

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  • Kevinevan
    6 years ago

    Explore Compton CA. Ask for Easy E

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    • Algum
      6 years ago

      Easy E died in the 1990s.

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      • Kevinevan
        6 years ago

        I understand but I wanted you to randomly explore compton in search of a ghost.

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        • Algum
          6 years ago

          You really believe you will see a ghost?

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          • Kevinevan
            6 years ago

            No it's a saying.

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  • Justmehere
    6 years ago

    It's fun and all, but, usually not current. I've looked up my own house, and the photo still shows a tree I had cut down at least 8 years ago. Also, like most of us I think, looked up ex-gf's house, and found the same thing. House next to hers now looks nothing like what the earth pic shows.

    If you visit where you look up on google earth, chances are it won't look like what you see on the site.

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    • Algum
      6 years ago

      Yeh, I guess they don't update Google Street views very often. I noticed that the line of small trees along the driveway to my apartment building are missing on Google Street view, and I know that they have been there for at least a couple years. But with the overhead views of my apartments, I've noticed that they update that about every six months or a year. I think they update Google Street views on more main roads more often though, because of how often new businesses are being constructed or old ones demolished.

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      • pendletonGibbs
        6 years ago

        They update places that matter.

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  • Nickvey
    6 years ago

    All central bank nations allow google earth , Banks like to see the access they own.

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    • rayb12
      6 years ago

      The central bank in America owns only 3%

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  • Algum
    6 years ago

    You notice how in some countries, such as in parts of Africa, they won't let you do google street views at all?

    I wanted to ride along parts of the Sahara desert in Lybia and Egypt and see the sand dunes up close, but I couldn't get to that.

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    • BlackCatsAreAwesome
      6 years ago

      India is also not available.

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      • Algum
        6 years ago

        Yes, and India is also somewhere I wanted to explore. Nepal also, the Himalayas and Mt Everest not doing Google Street view, I don't know.

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    • Algum
      6 years ago

      I noticed that they don't give you the Google Street view options in China either. China, numerous African countries (the desert ones, Lybia, Egypt, Algeria, Niger, and Morocco), Saudi Arabia, and for some reason Germany.

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  • MangoTango
    6 years ago

    Laziest travel option ever invented isn't it?

    I may have to check out what's in Kazakhstan. I really love to look at Street View through Italy.

    China doesn't allow Google Street View, if you're curious to know. So that's one country not favorable to displaying everything through Google.

    Will Google Include China In Street View Soon?
    https://www.quora.com/Will-Google-include-China-in-Street-View-soon

    Germany has taken issue with Google Street View too. If you are curious to know.

    Germany’s Complicated Relationship With Google Street View
    https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/germanys-complicated-relationship-with-google-street-view/

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  • Boojum
    6 years ago

    We moved from Italy to Wales a few years ago.

    I knew nothing about the area we were moving to, so I spent a lot of time on Google Street-View doing virtual drives around the area. When we actually arrived, it felt extremely odd to know exactly what I was going to see when I turned a corner, and how to navigate my way around a place I'd never visited before.

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    • McBean
      6 years ago

      Same thing works for airport landing strips at new destinations.

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  • rayb12
    6 years ago

    I went to see straight out of Compton it was pretty good, the only thing I didn't like was I saw the wrong movie, what I saw was straight out of deez nuts!

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  • rayb12
    6 years ago

    He's not really wandering its on a computer

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  • _Mehhhh_
    6 years ago

    I do it too occasionally. I'm interested in seeing places and finding out what they're like, so yeah it can be fun when you have nothing else to do.

    I was going to work in Brazil for a while earlier this year (didn't go in the end, the job fell through), but I was checking out the neighbourhood I'd be living in. I guess that's pretty normal though.

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    • rayb12
      6 years ago

      You should go anyways because of how hot the girls are

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      • _Mehhhh_
        6 years ago

        ...and guys :P

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        • rayb12
          6 years ago

          Its true!!!

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  • Algum
    6 years ago

    There's nothing wrong with doing it randomly. If you were to keep going back to particular neighborhoods or going back to the same ones, I don't know about that. But I only got that from another commenter on the subject. I Google street view different random neighborhoods all over the world, and also busy streets, highways, stores, attractions, checking out restaurants and stuff like that, there's nothing wrong with that at all, I do that alot. This really is a lazy, cheap way of exploring, traveling the world. If they had this when I was a kid, wow. That would've been really cool.

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    • Algum
      6 years ago

      I also like how you can check out different restaurants all over the world, see their menus, and pictures of the food. It's much easier to avoid bad restaurants now because you can see how many stars and different customer reviews of just about every restaurant in the world. Wow! Technology has come so unbelievably far.

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    • rayb12
      6 years ago

      Why can't he go back to the same ones though?

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      • Boojum
        6 years ago

        Yeah, that made me laugh.

        It's not like it's some sort of stalking. If you were looking at something like a bank and checking out possible escape routes, that would be different, but looking at the same houses and the same fuzzy-faced people repeatedly seems pretty harmless.

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        • Algum
          6 years ago

          I didn't know going back to same neighborhoods excessively is best because before I posted that, I read another commenter saying that doing so wasn't the best idea. I'm sure he was probably wrong. I'm not sure why I posted that now, I guess sometimes I believe almost anything I read, even if it turns out to be written by a moron.

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          • Algum
            6 years ago

            I love riding along this beautiful mountainous road in Wyoming, I've gone back there a few times.

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