I do like maps, strongly, not quite enough to love them. Love being such a big word in small letters. I use a map when I explore rural ruins. I use it to find the locations when others tell me they have found an abandoned farmhouse in my area. I have a backroad map which (so far) has been very reliable, even when I've taken some pretty far fetched turns.

For his birthday, I gave my nephew two full poster-sized maps. One of Canada and the other of the World. We put them up in his bedroom. Is it only a co-incidence that geography is the subject he seems to be having the most trouble with this year? I hope so. I may not be ready to tell him everything he needs to know about geography but I would like to see him learn about rocks, maps and navigation. One of the most important things in life is knowing how to navigate your way.

I remember the last time I looked at a really old map. I liked seeing the terrors written on there like monsters and the edge of the world. Thanks to cartographers and world explorers and ancient navigators we know the world does not end with a sudden drop. Modern explorers and those into geocaching use a GPS to find their way around. But even then, the old fashioned map is at the root of every exploration.

• The International Map Collector's Society
• Map History.info
• Road Map Collectors Association
• Flickr: Maps and Charts
• Flickr: Cartography
• Flickr: Pictures of Maps
• Mapperz: The mapping news blog.
• The Map Room: A weblog about maps.
• Strange Maps
• Cartographer's Guild
• CartoTalk: A forum for cartography and design.
• Cartophilia: Maps and map memorabilia.
• Cartography Online
• The Canadian Cartographic Association

Old/ Vintage Maps

• Map the Universe: Antique Map Collecting
• Flickr: Vintage Road Maps
• Flickr: Old Maps
• Flickr: Maps on Postcards
• Show Off Your Maps
• Pauus Swaen Auction: Tips for Map Collectors
• International Antiquarian Map Sellers Association
• MapHist: An email discussion about the history of cartography.

Hand Drawn Maps

• Flickr: Handmade Cartography
• Flickr: Creative Cartography
• Flickr: Illustration Maps
• Flickr: Altered Maps
• Making Maps: DIY Cartography
• Hand Drawn Map Association
• The Maps Project

This was originally posted by kkh Photos - Off the Desk. You can find the full list of ways to crank up your creativity on the kkh Photos blog.

I really like the randomness of taking 100 steps, as if you were a pirate following a treasure map. What treasure will you find when you stop after that last step?

Reading Toronto - Looking at the city through the eyes of the many designers, architects, writers, and artists in the city.

Imagining Toronto - A local exploration of culture and place, a lived geography of the city and region.

Imagining Toronto, the blog. -
Amy Lavender Harris- A geographer and environmental phenomenologist. Occasional rabble rouser. Known to be fiercely independent, curious, principled, persistent.

Jennifer Burns: Local Ruins - Abandoned and reclaimed buildings in Toronto.

Toronto Psychogeography Society - A loose collection of relentless flâneurs, explorers and walkers. Participants step out of their daily routine and explore the city's overlooked corners to imagine the dynamics of a better future urban environment.

Murmur Toronto - An archival audio project that collects and curates stories set in specific Toronto locations, told by Torontonians themselves.

Canadian New Media Awards - To recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of individuals and companies in the Canadian new media industry.

This is such a cool link I had to add it here too. The Hand Drawn Maps Project

I'm not sure what you would call something like this if you had to label it, folk art?