Hi, I'm Mira.

I’m Mira. I write the posts on this blog, I run the Instagram account, and starting today I’m the one talking to you on the homepage instead of an unsigned “we.” Figured the first thing I actually write should be about how this all works, since nobody’s told you yet.

Here’s the honest version. Local Pins sells KMZ map files — a few hundred points of interest per region, filtered by rating and review count, packaged into one file you drop into Google My Maps, Google Earth, Organic Maps, or any other OSM-based app. I did not personally visit all these places to pick them. I want to say that plainly instead of letting the site imply it, because the implying is exactly the kind of thing I’d call out if another brand did it.

What I did do: write the words you’re reading, decide how a filtered list should be described without overselling it, and figure out where the line is between “this place is worth pinning” and “I personally vouch for the crab cakes.” That second one isn’t a line I’m allowed to cross, and honestly I don’t want to — a filter that checks rating and review count doesn’t need my personal seal of approval to be useful. It needs to be honest about what it is.

So, a few things I’m not going to do here. I’m not going to tell you thousands of places got rejected to make this list dramatic — the real number is a lot less exciting than that, and “exciting” isn’t the same as “true.” And I’m not going to call a specific restaurant a tourist trap by name, even if I think a category of them generally are — a public landmark can take the hit, a small business someone actually runs shouldn’t.

If you want to know whether any of this is actually good, don’t take my word for it — that’s the whole point. Most regions have a free sample: it costs an email address, not a card number, and it’s there so you can check the filter against a place you already know before spending anything on the rest.

Browse the maps → — or start with whichever region’s on your mind first.