Behind the Maps: My Story and How 'My Daily Journeys' Was Born
- maya dalal
- Oct 9, 2025
- 3 min read
It didn't start with a business plan. It started with a one-way ticket in 2022 and a promise to myself: to stop living a life of routine and start living a story worth telling. I began writing "My Daily Journeys" as a simple way to share my experiences with family and friends back home, a daily log of the beautiful, messy, and unpredictable life on the road. I had no idea it would become my life's work.
How I Found My Niche (Or How It Found Me)
For the first couple of years, I was just exploring. I worked as a bartender in Melbourne, drove a campervan across New Zealand, and learned to find comfort in the chaos of new cities. My rule was simple:
slow nomading. I decided to spend at least a month in each city, not just to see the sights, but to build a routine, to understand the local rhythm, to truly live there.
The turning point came on a sweltering day in Hoi An, Vietnam.
As a digital nomad, all I wanted was a quiet, air-conditioned cafe to work from. I asked ChatGPT, I searched blogs, and they all gave me the same two or three popular, crowded options. Frustrated, I started walking.
I wandered down side alleys, peeked into unmarked doors, and followed the faint sound of espresso machines. By the end of the day, I had found ten more perfect, quiet, air-conditioned cafes that no one online was talking about.
That’s when the first real "map" was born—not as a product, but as a personal necessity. I started marking these hidden gems on my own Google Map, adding notes about the WiFi speed, the coffee quality, and the best table to sit at. I realized that the information I was gathering "on the ground" was infinitely more valuable than anything an algorithm could tell me.
A Day in My Life as a Nomad Blogger
So, what does my day actually look like? It's a mix of a traveler's curiosity and a creator's discipline. A morning might start with finding a new coffee spot in Bangkok to work from.
The afternoon could be spent walking through a market, capturing authentic moments not with a big, intrusive camera, but through my smart glasses, allowing me to see and record the world from my own perspective.
The evening is for writing—turning the day's feelings, tastes, and conversations into stories and, of course, adding new, personally-verified spots to my maps.
From a Personal Project to a Business
For a long time, I shared these tips and spots for free with anyone who asked. But as the requests grew, I realized that these curated lists, born from hundreds of hours of exploration, had immense value. They were the shortcut I wish I'd had.
I decided to turn my personal maps into the premium digital products you see in the shop today. It was the only way to make this lifestyle sustainable and to continue dedicating my time to exploring new destinations and creating even better guides for you.
These maps are more than just a list of places. They are the result of a philosophy. They are my way of sharing that feeling of finally understanding a place, of finding your favorite little corner in a city of millions, of feeling like you belong. They are my way of helping you stop touring and start belonging.
Want to see what I'm talking about? I gathered all my maps here, and you can rest assured that there are more destinations on the way!
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