A Slice of Life: Recent Obsession: Maps

I've always liked maps. I remember spreading out the U.S. map in the car and tracing our route on our family vacation to Florida every year (I got to sit in the front seat because otherwise I'd get carsick. Win).

When I went to China three years ago, my host sister wanted to buy me a gift, and I told her the thing I most wanted was a map of Xi'an (the city I was living in) with English labels. And she looked all over the city until she found one! In my old apartment, I had it hung on the wall with pictures from my trip lining the borders. I even put little sticky markers where my apartment and workplace had been, so I wouldn't forget.

In my last post, you saw a glimpse of my present from Laura, which also used maps!

And most recently, I bought Travis this map from Pop Chart Lab (which I saw on Apartment Therapy), charting all the breweries in the US:

(source)

It's kind of small, but you can get a better idea from the Pop Chart site!

[Sidenote: I would probably love to be friends with those guys. Their goal is "to render all of human experience in chart form." A list-maker's dream!]

Anyway, you get the idea. Isn't it neat how something can be functional, educational, and decorative?

Here are some other inspiring map decor ideas I've seen lately (these were all found through Apartment Therapy, too. Don't judge me).