Maps

[Martin McNickle]

I used to obsessively draw maps when I was a child, even through to young adulthood. I made up imaginary countries on imaginary continents, and I would draw political subdivisions, such as states, provinces, cities, counties, even down to individual neighourhoods. I would often use different colours to denote different divisions, such as electoral boundaries, national parks, and also roads and expressways. I would sometimes use a highlighter to draw population densities. Man, it was an obsession. Sometimes, I would make up timelines, and draw different maps, showing changes in political boundaries over time, along with different languages and cultures and histories for the countries I had created.

On top of this, I even developed different scripts for individual languages in these countries, with cognate placenames (if one culture took territory from another, and renamed a city or other geographical feature. Did I mention I did altitude contour lines on occasion. I would be so engaged in there drawings that nothing else mattered. I have kind of stopped doing it in the last 10 years or so (I'm 34 now), but maps still fascinate me.

 

[Judge]

I still look at maps every single day. Absolutely love them.

GPS on my car is uh...."interesting", but I still have a whole lot of maps crammed in the door slots.

 

[Martin McNickle]

I don't have much use for GPS. Once I know a place (city), I can navigate very easily.

 

[Judge]

I don't have much use for GPS. Once I know a place (city), I can navigate very easily.

Exactly. It's amusing to observe in real time, but I don't see myself actively taking the time to input the point of origin and destinations, etc.. As for driving around in the metropolitan area, generally I can navigate on sight alone.

 

[Martin McNickle]

It throws me off if ever they change a road sign, such as no right turn, or a new traffic direction.

 

[OlLiE]

that sounds awesome

 

[Judge]

It throws me off if ever they change a road sign, such as no right turn, or a new traffic direction.

True, if one is dependent on GPS it all comes down to how current it may not actually be.

According to my car's manufacturer I can download new versions, but I'm not really looking forward to having to transfer an SD card to my computer, download and then put the card back into my car's SD slot. Something goes wrong with that card and it's an expen$ive replacement.

 

[Gracey]

I like paper maps. At the top of a mountain where there's no signal and low cloud I could trust that piece of paper to get me where I wanted to go.


An uncle of mine volunteered as part of a mountain rescue team. Yes he did have a fancy pants GPS unit but always carried a paper map as back up.

Having that printed map in front of me means I'm not reliant on a satellite (someone else)

 

[Nervous Rex]

If you have any computer graphics skills, it sounds like you could make a nice career out of map making. There are so many different maps needed for political, linguistic, marketing, and insurance demographics.

Any interest in map folding? There are some pretty cool ways to fold large maps so that their content is still easily accessible. When I think about them, I get a little sad that everything is electronic now.

 

[kay]

Would love to see the maps you drew. They sound great. I used to keep a road atlas in every room and a small one in my purse. The only time I've drawn maps (and that's odd since I draw and paint everything else) was in kindergarten trying to figure out the best escape routes. For gifts this Christmas I am using out of date high-way maps as wrapping paper.

 

[Martin McNickle]

Would love to see the maps you drew. They sound great. I used to keep a road atlas in every room and a small one in my purse. The only time I've drawn maps (and that's odd since I draw and paint everything else) was in kindergarten trying to figure out the best escape routes. For gifts this Christmas I am using out of date high-way maps as wrapping paper.

Escape routes from what??? Lol

Most of the maps I drew have probably been thrown out, but I can easily draw new ones.

 

[Judge]

I'm afraid in my youth I used to "militarize" many maps made with tracing paper.

I still love to examine and speculate on the political evolution of a country's boundaries. Whether the result of peace or war. Particularly the Balkans.

 

[kay]

Escape routes from what??? Lol

Most of the maps I drew have probably been thrown out, but I can easily draw new ones.

I was trying to escape Kindergarten.

 

[Martin McNickle]

I was trying to escape Kindergarten.

Well, that started early...

 

[Martin McNickle]

I'm afraid in my youth I used to "militarize" many maps made with tracing paper.

I still love to examine and speculate on the political evolution of a country's boundaries. Whether the result of peace or war. Particularly the Balkans.

The Balkans? That's definitely a complicated geopolitical topic...

 

[Judge]

The Balkans? That's definitely a complicated geopolitical topic...

Borders have changed all over the globe over time. But the Balkans? Mercy!

 

[EKnuppel81]

I’ve always loved maps. In fact, one of my first memories is of me falling down the stairs after successfully completing a US map puzzle at age 3. I especially liked US History because of seeing the way territories changed over time into their eventual states. I could look at maps all day and be perfectly content.

 

[DCA]

I love maps too, & always have. When I was younger I used to draw maps with imaginary countries, places, borders, rivers, mountains, forests, etc. I had to use a specific style of pen & ink for it too (had to be a dense black water soluble ink, like India Ink). These days I still play Dungeons & Dragons, so do a few maps in relation to gaming. @Judge: I used to "militarize" maps too as a kid. These days I have a history degree, so I love looking at maps to see how borders evolved over time. Those videos showing border changes over time were meant for people like me...

 

[DaRKMsOul18]

I love maps.

 

[Ezra]

I love maps. I have several copies of old world maps. I spend a lot of time on google maps. I also like fantasy maps. I play Lord of the Rings Online, so I am frequently looking at the in game maps of Middle Earth when traveling from region to another.