Walking methodologies have been gaining popularity among scholars interested in exploring the connections between self, place, and community (Evans & Jones, 2011). These methods have been found to provide rich, multi-sensory data that offer insights into people’s lived experiences within a specific location (Kinney, 2017). With recognising some of the various accessibility and feasibility constraints and the continual opportunity to take advantage of digital and technological advances, this research has developed what is known as the “virtual walking interview.” Complementary to traditional walking interviews, this method allows participants to be virtually navigated around different spaces, capturing numerous spatial data related to their everyday experiences, taking place in the virtual world using Google Earth, specifically Google Maps, a technological medium used by around 1 billion people daily. To assess the practicality and usefulness of this method, through a pilot, five DPhil students from three major academic disciplines (social sciences, humanities, and STEM) participated in this method, aiming to explore their doctoral experience. They also were asked to share their feedback on engaging with such a method. The data generated from the method was rich and spatially sensitive, allowing the researcher to interrogate space in numerous ways and gain an insightful understanding of the student experience, from their avoidance to their engagement with meaningful spaces in their doctoral journey. The method provides researchers with an alternative and radical way of entering spaces from various angles, helping to gain meaning from and insights into everyday spatial experiences.
