@boomerang,
I've always loved maps. When I was about 15 or so, I got an absolute treasure trove of them when our landlord died. He'd collected for almost all of his 90+ years of life and nobody else wanted them.
From the earliest days, I could be found with a map spread across the floor as I imagined all sorts of wonderful things, then headed to the bookshelf to learn about different cities and countries.
Atlases were another biggie for me. By the time I was through, they were all falling apart. My favorite was the railroad map atlas. I can still recall its dark brown cover, the yellowish paper the maps were printed on. A few times for my birthday my grandmother was kind enough to purchase an atlas for me. No ordinary atlas, she went out of her way to find only the most complete and up to date.
As time went on, I started creating maps. Sometimes on a blank sheet of paper, some in notebooks which had been meant for school assignments, and yes, even on the backside of some of those large maps from National Geographic. They had everything including schools, gas stations, shopping districts, government buildings, farmlands, and even the required prison. I always had the prison near the edge, right along the water. There were also bus routes, and in a number of them subway systems, including markings for where the stations were. A few had botanical gardens, and of course hospitals, houses of worship of dozens of denominations, including interdenominationals, there were parks, many were by the water and as the subways were put in, the dirt was used as landfill to expand the parks.
About the time the earlier mentioned landlord died, it was decided I'd found my life's calling (about the 200th calling). I would become a cartographer. Little did I know that that would mean actually using real pieces of land and water. The cartographer idea didn't last, I considered other vocations and eventually landed a nice gig in blacksmithing which I gave up for science (which in a way was the appeal of blacksmithing, seeing how metal changed with heat and discovering why). As far as I know, mother never recovered from my abandoning mapmaking.
I still use maps, I love them. Even when there's a map off the computer, I've been known to contact a friend and have them run a copy off for me (I don't have and don't want a printer with my computer). They are used less these days, obviously technology has made it easy to get information that can be carried around on different devices and cars have systems that do the job instead of the paper map. It's similar to actual books in paper being replaced by Nooks and Kindles as far as the changeover; however, like with books, there will always be those who prefer the feel of paper between the fingers.
)
