Keep track of your travels with a DIY pushpin travel map! A few easy tricks make this map extra special and easy to create.

Here’s one for anybody with wanderlust!

When we were dating, Ryan and I used to make each other Valentines ever year instead of buying anything. One here hemade me this for Valentine’s Day, and I just about died!

It was a travel map with a pinpoint on every city that we had traveled to together. So incredibly special.

Travel is meaningful to so many of us, and I wanted to create a DIY version of a pushpin travel map that would be easy for anybody to make! It’s such a special way to keep a memory of the trips that you’ve made.

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DIYs for Travel

We’ve got a great library filled with DIYS for travelers!

I took a moment to pull some of our most popular out of the archives, just for you. Be sure to pin your favorites so that you can find them again easily.

Supplies You’ll Need

Map of your choice. We used a US map, but if you’re a world traveler you could definitely use a world map. You could even do a state or favorite city!

Corkboard. These cork sheets would work well, or a framed cork bulletin board would give it a little more of a sturdy feel.

Spray glue. I like to adhere the map to the cork board to make sure the map doesn’t shift around. Spray glue is a great way to do that.

Pins. There are lots of pin options to try! I like the straight pins, like you might use for a sewing project, because they have colorful pin heads. Here’s a shorter option with lots of color choices. Or a good old fashioned push pin would do the trick!

Spray paint in various colors. This is optional, especially if you have colored straight pins. I only had a couple of colors so I painted some of them gold.

How to Make a DIY Pushpin Travel Map

Cut your corkboard to the size of your map.
In a well-ventilated area, apply a thin layer of spray glue to the back of the map.
Carefully place the map sticky-side-down onto the corkboard. Smooth out the paper of the map onto the cork so that there are no bubbles under the surface.
Stick a batch of pins into a scrap of cork and spray paint. We decided on three colors: white for places Ryan has been, yellow for places I’ve been, and gold for places we’ve been together. If you have multicolored pins, you can skip this step.

Adding Pins to A Travel Map

Once your pins and map dry, you can start adding pins to the map!

I find that it helps to go chronologically through your memory to try to get your pins in all the right places!

Once you catch up to current day, it’s easier to place a pin whenever you travel to a new place.

We had some pretty intense tour schedules when we were working on the road, so it took us some time to figure out. But we eventually got it!

I think we’re planning on hanging ours on a bedroom wall for travel inspiration. I’ve just got 4 states to go until I’ve seen all 50! xoxo

Push Pin Travel Map

Yield: Travel Map

Active Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $30

Keep track of your travels with a DIY pushpin travel map! A few easy tricks make this map extra special and easy to create.

Materials

Map
Cork board
Spray glue
Push pins

Tools

Scissors

Instructions

Cut your corkboard to the size of your map.
In a well-ventilated area, apply a thin layer of spray glue to the back of the map.
Carefully place the map sticky-side-down onto the corkboard. Smooth out the paper of the map onto the cork so that there are no bubbles under the surface.
Stick a batch of pins into a scrap of cork and spray paint. We decided on three colors: white for places Ryan has been, yellow for places I've been, and gold for places we've been together. If you have multicolored pins, you can skip this step.

Notes