Why a map animation instead of a timeline edit

A timeline editor is the right tool when you are cutting interviews and b-roll. It is a slow tool when the story is a list of cities.

Meridian only asks for the places, the way you moved between them, and an optional photo at each pause. The camera, the line, and the labels are derived from that list.

Keep social cuts short: five to ten stops, vertical frame, a title that states the trip. Longer routes still work — they just read better as a full-route zoom at the end than as a minute of every village.