diff --git a/app/Models/Note.php b/app/Models/Note.php
index 256ed639..678e7a3f 100644
--- a/app/Models/Note.php
+++ b/app/Models/Note.php
@@ -143,12 +143,14 @@ class Note extends Model
      */
     public function getNoteAttribute($value)
     {
-        $emoji = new EmojiModifier();
+        if ($value === null && $this->place !== null) {
+            $value = '📍: <a href="' . $this->place->longurl . '">' . $this->place->name . '</a>';
+        }
 
         $hcards = $this->makeHCards($value);
         $hashtags = $this->autoLinkHashtag($hcards);
         $html = $this->convertMarkdown($hashtags);
-        $modified = $emoji->makeEmojiAccessible($html);
+        $modified = resolve(EmojiModifier::class)->makeEmojiAccessible($html);
 
         return $modified;
     }
diff --git a/app/Observers/NoteObserver.php b/app/Observers/NoteObserver.php
index 945a02c9..bf618edb 100644
--- a/app/Observers/NoteObserver.php
+++ b/app/Observers/NoteObserver.php
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class NoteObserver
      */
     public function created(Note $note)
     {
-        $tags = $this->getTagsFromNote($note->getAttributes()['note']);
+        $tags = $this->getTagsFromNote($note->getAttributes()['note'] ?? null);
 
         if (count($tags) === 0) {
             return;
diff --git a/app/Services/NoteService.php b/app/Services/NoteService.php
index d4c95034..2680ec29 100644
--- a/app/Services/NoteService.php
+++ b/app/Services/NoteService.php
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ class NoteService
         if ($this->getCheckin($request)) {
             $note->place()->associate($this->getCheckin($request));
             $note->swarm_url = $this->getSwarmUrl($request);
-            if ($note->note === null || $note->note == '') {
-                $note->note = 'I’ve just checked in with Swarm';
-            }
         }
 
         $note->instagram_url = $this->getInstagramUrl($request);
diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 9598159a..ae1aada9 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Version {next}
+  - Add simple checkins, i.e. checkins with no note content, for now add a default note for these
+
 ## Version 0.14 (2017-12-22)
   - Tests
   - Refactor
diff --git a/database/seeds/NotesTableSeeder.php b/database/seeds/NotesTableSeeder.php
index 8b9aeb7c..765bbc73 100644
--- a/database/seeds/NotesTableSeeder.php
+++ b/database/seeds/NotesTableSeeder.php
@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ class NotesTableSeeder extends Seeder
             'note' => 'I love https://duckduckgo.com 💕' // theres a two-heart emoji at the end of this
         ]);
         sleep(1);
+        $noteJustCheckin = new Note();
+        $place = Place::find(1);
+        $noteJustCheckin->place()->associate($place);
+        $noteJustCheckin->save();
+        sleep(1);
         $media = new Media();
         $media->path = 'media/f1bc8faa-1a8f-45b8-a9b1-57282fa73f87.jpg';
         $media->type = 'image';
diff --git a/resources/views/templates/note.blade.php b/resources/views/templates/note.blade.php
index e0f33607..e01c730a 100644
--- a/resources/views/templates/note.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/templates/note.blade.php
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@
                         <div class="note-metadata">
                             <div>
                                 <a class="u-url" href="/notes/{{ $note->nb60id }}"><time class="dt-published" datetime="{{ $note->iso8601 }}" title="{{ $note->iso8601 }}">{{ $note->humandiff }}</time></a>@if($note->client) via <a class="client" href="{{ $note->client->client_url }}">{{ $note->client->client_name }}</a>@endif
-@if($note->place)                                in <span class="p-location h-card"><a class="p-name u-url" href="{{ $note->place->longurl }}">{{ $note->address }}</a><data class="p-latitude" value="{{ $note->place->latitude }}"></data><data class="p-longitude" value="{{ $note->place->longitude }}"></data></span>
-@elseif($note->address)                                in <span class="p-location h-adr">{!! $note->address !!}<data class="p-latitude" value="{{ $note->latitude }}"></data><data class="p-longitude" value="{{ $note->longitude }}"></data></span>@endif
+@if($note->place)@if($note->getOriginal('note'))    in <span class="p-location h-card"><a class="p-name u-url" href="{{ $note->place->longurl }}">{{ $note->address }}</a><data class="p-latitude" value="{{ $note->place->latitude }}"></data><data class="p-longitude" value="{{ $note->place->longitude }}"></data></span>@endif
+@elseif($note->address)              in <span class="p-location h-adr">{!! $note->address !!}<data class="p-latitude" value="{{ $note->latitude }}"></data><data class="p-longitude" value="{{ $note->longitude }}"></data></span>@endif
 @if($note->replies_count > 0) @include('templates.replies-icon'): {{ $note->replies_count }}@endif
 
                             </div>