# Did you spend time just looking at maps as a kid? Anyone else still do it as an adult? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 21, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320 "2018-07-21T11:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/41 "2018-07-21T21:58:54Z")
I love to peruse maps (and charts). It is better it is someplace I’ve been or plan to be, but I like them all. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/42 "2018-07-21T22:05:08Z")
Today I just got a look at the plat book of the area in the Netherlands where my surname comes from. It not only lists the “Hof 't Merkotijn” but also lists who owned the surrounding farms. No surprise, they were owned by people of other surnames in my family tree. No new info for me really, other than a closer view of who the family neighbors were. I do love poring over this stuff. BTW, I also almost always have Reddit’s “Map Porn” page open in a browser window anytime I’m online too. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/43 "2018-07-21T22:14:05Z")
Add my name to the list! I have several atlases, and a globe, and Google Maps is a major timesuck for me whenever I’m so inclined. When I was a kid and was assigned to write a story, I would also draw a map so everyone would know where it happened. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/44 "2018-07-21T22:14:25Z")
My favourite shop in the world is a three floor cartography shop in London called Stamfords. I could spend hours in there. Maps are amazing. And I especially love the seemingly countless maps of the London Underground. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/45 "2018-07-21T22:21:10Z")
When I was at uni I rented a bedroom with one wall of truly hideous wallpaper. So I went to the second had bookstore and bought a raft of Nat Geo maps and covered the entire wall. It was awesome. Set the bed up so I would awake gazing at maps. Peru was right at eye level, and I marked Machu Picchu, so I could see it at a glance. And say to myself, one day I’m gonna get there. (And I did too!) Have always loved maps. I keep all the maps I acquire on my travels, City, country, island, local badly drawn page maps, all of them! I somehow acquired a bunch of full size topographic maps of the Tibetan plateau. They wallpaper my attic now. I still have an oversized Nat Geo atlas from 25yrs ago, that I adore. Too big for any bookshelf! And I still use it quite regularly. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/46 "2018-07-21T22:30:49Z")
p.s. My niece is in Indonesia right now, so that’s given me plenty of excuses to map-surf. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/47 "2018-07-21T22:46:23Z")
Oh, you betcha. In fact, my love of maps (combined with [Qadgop’s](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19076013&postcount=34)) led to [one of my finer moments as a Doper.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19076013&postcount=34) Now days my map collecting is pretty much limited to pre-Interstate highways days, along with aeronautical charts. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/48 "2018-07-21T22:54:07Z")
When I was growing up, my dad had a giant map of the world covering most of one wall in our den. I learned to love maps from poring over that. When I lived on my own, I would plaster all my walls with maps of my city, region, and any place I had traveled to, tacked into the plaster with push pins. If I still lived alone, I would probably still have the walls covered with maps. The GF doesn’t think it is grownup enough, so now I am down to one very large map of Middle Earth and one map of Chicago neighborhoods, both nicely framed. ETA: I still love paper maps better than Google maps (except when I’m driving, of course) because there is no need to zoom: you’ve got the BIG picture, and the tiny details, all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/49 "2018-07-22T01:35:46Z")
Back when I collected the National Geographic magazine I was proud of the fact that all issues that were supposed to have maps did have them. I had every issue from 1914 to the present. Try taking a look at a world map of 1914, and then look at another from just five or six years later. Talk about border changes! And not just in Europe, but Africa too. Then of course there’s WWII and more changes. I had a history teacher that said you could just read the books to learn history, you had to follow along with maps. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/50 "2018-07-22T01:58:14Z")
If any map lover ever visits New York City, take a tour of the public library. The map room there is interesting! And the tour is free. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/51 "2018-07-22T02:09:52Z")
Awesome to peruse the responses! Quick show of hands: how many of you, like me, get a little thrill when you open a new book and discover that there are maps before the story starts? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/52 "2018-07-22T02:12:49Z")
Yes, it has always been a big plus for me. It delays me starting to read while I absorb the map and I constantly go back to the map while reading. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/53 "2018-07-22T02:27:44Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I can literally spend hours going over maps and websites “mind traveling” for hours. I draw maps for fun. In the evening, while we watch tv, my wife colors, I map. Often of cities I make up as I go along. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/54 "2018-07-22T02:30:51Z")
Does anyone else have a map of the world shower curtain? We’re on our second one; the first Ms. P had when we met. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/55 "2018-07-22T02:31:13Z")
Whenever I hear a news story and am not familiar with where it happened, I have to go and pinpoint it on a map. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/56 "2018-07-22T02:51:57Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Whenever I hear a news story and am not familiar with where it happened, I have to go and pinpoint it on a map. Absolutely! Even when it’s something that happened in a part of town (Nashville!) I’m not familiar with. To an earlier point: isn’t amazing how little accuracy we demand of maps in stories? I can recall some Sherlock Holmes stories where the “map” was beyond childish, just a scribble at times, but it was essential to the story. Wonder who could locate the most ridiculous such thing… ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/57 "2018-07-22T03:23:59Z")
I always enjoyed maps. Now, I have a mission when I get near a map. If it is a world map, is it right? We lived in the CNMI for 6 years, and I want to see if the mapmaker has it on the map, and if they have identified it correctly. The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands are in the western Pacific. The southernmost island in the Marianas chain is Guam, and that is usually on maps. But the other islands often aren’t even marked as little blobs; they just aren’t there. When they are included on modern maps, they are often labeled as Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (U.S.), a designation that ended in 1986. One mission-minded church we attended bought a huge world map in 2011, and it was wrong. I like maps. When I travel to or through an area, I want to see the topographic map to see changes in elevation and topography that you can’t recognize from the car. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/58 "2018-07-22T03:42:31Z")
Yep, now it’s Google Earth, but I’ve always liked maps, especially maps that show how borders and country names have changed over the years. I’ve been looking for a good online source for something like that. It’s easy to find a static map for whatever year, but what I’d like to see is a world map that lets you zoom in to whatever size region you want, and then use a slider bar or something similar to move the date up or down and see the corresponding change in the map. Does anybody know of anything like that? Also, and this should be easy but danged if I can find it, I wish I could find an online map that lets you isolate rivers. If I want to see where, e.g., the Rhine flows, I can just type in “Rhine” and it’s highlighted, without disturbing the rest of the map. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/59 "2018-07-22T03:56:23Z")
I propose that geographical knowledge should be a voting requirement. In order to obtain your ballot, you have to answer a simple geographical question (e.g., “_Is Nepal east of or west of Mongolia?_”). You might get three tries before being disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320/60 "2018-07-22T04:48:35Z")
So much that I became a cartographer. I often joke that we were the kids who would sneak _National Geographics_ into our bedrooms—not to study the unclothed natives, but to pore over the maps. I gave a talk back in January at the Chicago Map Society called “Beyond Google Maps,” to make them aware that there are quite a number of interesting or specialized worldwide (or at least national) map services on the web. [Here’s a page](http://chicagocarto.com/beyondgooglemaps.html) with links to the ones I talked about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-spend-time-just-looking-at-maps-as-a-kid-anyone-else-still-do-it-as-an-adult/818320.md?page=4)