Who is this for?
- Military families. A new duty station every few years means a childhood spread over several states or countries.
- Third-culture kids and expats, whose homes were in countries their passports don't mention.
- Anyone who has moved a lot for work, for school or because the rent went up.
- Parents of children who are moving now, who want them to have a record of each place before the details fade.
What do you write for each home?
The address and the years go in the title. The story is whatever you would tell someone standing outside the front door. These questions help.
- Which room was yours, and what could you see from the window?
- How did you get to school or work from here?
- Who lived next door?
- What did the place smell or sound like?
- What happened here that didn't happen anywhere else?
- What do you remember about the day you left?
Base housing, third stairwell, second floor. I learned to ride a bike in the parking lot and to say "excuse me" in German at the bakery outside the gate. We left in June, the week after school finished, and I didn't get to say goodbye to Katrin.
How do you make the map?
- List your homes in order first, on paper, with rough years. A parent or older sibling can fill the gaps.
- Add a pin for each one. Choose "Add a story" and move the map until the pin sits on the building.
- Put the place and years in the title, such as "Fort Bragg, 1988 to 1991."
- Set the date to when you moved in. If you only know the year, pick any day in it. The journal view then lists your homes in order.
- Write a few sentences and add a photo if you have one of the house.
- Invite your family by email. Siblings usually remember a different house than you do.
What if you don't remember the address?
Place the pin as near as you can and say so in the story. A street, a housing area or the school is enough to start. Old envelopes, report cards, a parent's service records and the backs of photographs often have the address, and you can move a pin later when you find it.
Does it help with "where are you from?"
It gives you something to show instead of a sentence to defend. When someone asks, you can open the map: here, then here, then here. For children who are still moving, adding a pin before each move is a way to take the place with them.
Questions about mapping your homes
Can a pin show a range of years?
Each pin has one date. Use the day or year you moved in, and write the full range in the title, for example "Okinawa, 2001 to 2004."
Is there a free way to make a map of everywhere I've lived?
Yes. Here My Story is a free memory map that runs in the web browser. Add one pin for each home, with the years in the title and what you remember in the story, and share the map with family by email invitation.
Will my addresses be public?
No. Your map is private unless you invite someone or switch on a public link. If you do make it public, consider leaving your current address off. How privacy works