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The Golden Age of Travel
Let me borrow your time and imagination for a second — I promise, only for a short while. I’ve been mentally rhapsodizing a staple travel tool from the past that I feel needs revisiting. It comes from a faint and distant past when travel was ripe with romanticism and adventure. I’m talking Don Quixote style here. You might remember the time; you might have missed out on it completely. I’m talking about the time before GPS.
Let me come out in the open and say it: I love maps — all of them. I love their intricacies; I love how they look and feel; I love what they represent. I love the potential that maps have to inform and direct. And let’s be honest, maps look great. (I’m talking physical maps here)
But what I love most about maps is that they require the user to develop and utilize life skills while navigating. Orienteering develops an essential sense of observation and awareness for what is around, pinpointing clues in the locational markers of the landscape. Understanding scales and distances give the map user even more advantages. By using physical maps, there is an active demand on the traveler to be mindful and tuned into the navigational process — and this equates to a host of rewards and appreciations.
