From Idea to Interactive Travel Map in Hours using AI assisted coding with Gemini 2.5
2025-05-21
Ever thought about visually mapping your travels on your personal website? I recently set out to create a travel map for my 'About' page, similar to those you see on apps like TripAdvisor, though initially I wasn't sure how to approach it. Using Google's Code Assist plugin in PyCharm turned what seemed like a daunting task into a quick and enjoyable project. I'm genuinely impressed by how effective AI-assisted coding has become, especially with Gemini 2.5—it's an incredible accelerator.
Instead of manually finding coordinates for each location, I simply listed the places I've lived and visited, and my backend handled the rest using Google's Geocoding API. The map itself features minimalist colored markers—red for places I've lived, blue for those I've visited—along with clickable details.
The process, which I expected to be lengthy, took only a couple of hours, thanks to clear guidance and ready-to-use code snippets from Google's Code Assist. I achieved my desired outcome quickly, resulting in a simple, interactive map for my 'About' page.