Manual additions and what counts as visited

No app can decide what a meaningful visit means for every traveller. A transit stop, airport connection, border crossing or childhood trip can be part of your story—or not. The useful goal is a definition you can explain to yourself and apply consistently.

Start with a consistent rule

Choose a definition you can use consistently. For example, you might count places where you entered the country, spent time outside an airport, or stayed overnight. Some people keep a second, stricter rule for a personal travel challenge; others include every place that is part of their memory.

There is no need to turn that choice into a claim about how everyone should count countries. A personal travel map is most useful when it reflects your own purpose: recalling journeys, planning a future trip, or simply seeing a history take shape.

Fill gaps directly

Use a manual addition for a trip that your photos missed, a photo without a usable location, or a visit you remember more clearly than your camera roll does. It is also the cleanest way to include older travel instead of trying to infer it from incomplete digital records.

When you add a country, pause to apply the same rule you used for earlier entries. That small check makes the map more coherent over time. If a suggested photo-based entry does not meet your definition, leave it out or correct the record instead of letting automation decide for you.

Keep the map private

Manual additions sit in the same personal map as photo-derived entries. They are part of the same personal record, not a separate public list. The app's listing describes a no-account, no-cloud and no-GPS approach; privacy and permissions sets out what that means in practice.

For a complete walkthrough of the starting point, read how Flags builds your map. The important part is the review: photo information can suggest history, but your own correction gives the map its meaning.