Mapping the Then and the Now

The appeal of maps can work for some people on multiple levels. For most, at its most basic, the map’s appeal is simply a practical one. Holding a map means having a miniature representation of where things are in the world. They can be useful in familiar places as well as confusing ones, but more often than not, people find themselves pulling out a new map when they are somewhere unknown. Having an Australia map for wherever one happens to be on that continent can be a great resource, to say the least. They’re not always able to help navigate out of the deep desert , unless one is an expert reader, but for the city, it’s extremely valuable.

Another great appeal for maps speaks to those who can read them like literature. It doesn’t take a cartographer to understand how pleasurable it can be, either. Taking some moments for nostalgia, and recollecting that same trip to Australia, one can take out a map of the world and examine where the journey happened, and put it into context with other places. It’s a way of visually grasping what the mind has already perceived, and making room for another way of looking at travel. It doesn’t just happen in one space and time, because memory makes those things open up in the moment at hand.