My map had turned into a visual chaos that I simply did my best to ignore when I was using the app, much like you would garbage in the street. If I ever did want to look at my recommendations, I had no way of sifting through them for whatever I was actually looking for. Since I wasn't even looking at the recommendations, I certainly wasn't following up any on them.

In the meantime, the comfortable routine that I had settled into — my usual cafes, restaurants, shops and such — was on its way to becoming a rut.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Berlin. My friend/host there was recommending some art galleries to me, and offered to send me a list he had organised in Google Maps. He had lists for everything: restaurants, museums, doctors, etc.

I was impressed, and for giggles showed him my own map — the well intentioned mess I'd made of Paris. He gave me a curious look and suggested I start organising myself.