Map of the South Island, New Zealand
This map of the South Island in New Zealand is a record of an outdoor adventure my wife and I took with Active New Zealand a couple of years ago. Like the map of Mt. Kilimanjaro that follows and the map of Yosemite that I am still working on, it records a journey as much as a place. I was also motivated to work on them because I shared the journey with others and so the map is of interest to at least a small group of people. I have dreams of creating a map of my journey down the Colorado River but that is also a difficult task as the river's path seems minuscule in relation to the Canyon when seen on a map.It is also hard to capture the drama of the canyon without the benefit of photographs, 3D modeling or some wicked water color skills. But I digress. One of the questions I've been asked when I tell people I design maps is, What is there left to map? Hasn't everything already been mapped? I map lover would never ask this question. There are only 2 types of maps... boring ones and interesting ones and as long as you can map something interesting that is different than what's been mapped before, then there are more maps to be made. One way to achieve this is to map an observation that no one has made before. Another way is to focus not on the place but someone's unique journey through it. It is the difference between a map of Dallas and a map of President Kennedy's path through downtown the day he was shot. Minor details like the Grassy Knoll or the School Book Depository take on great meaning that would otherwise have been irrelevant and overlooked on any other map. Though lacking any of the historical importance, this is what I try to capture on my journey maps. On the New Zealand trip, we stopped at several common places, the Milford Sound, Mt. Aspiring, Queenstown, etc. But there were some special moments, the drive around Lake Wakatipu at sunrise, the place our bus broke down, and our bike ride through the Egglington Valley that made our trip unique to us. Flickr now offers the ability to place your images on a map. Both Yahoo and Google offer the ability to create custom maps. These tools increase the social and personal value of the Web. I am trying to do the same thing... just on the medium of paper and at a much smaller group size.