I think the idea that walking through a cemetery is scary is created by the media. In reality, its usually quiet, tends to be damp, among the trees, or windy if there are few trees. I've photographed an old cemetery which was on the edge of a farm field, only one tree. It was very cold and windy. That was perfect atmosphere for a movie. But, they would have needed a story to make it creepy. The reality was just bitterly cold, not scary at all.

I found this post, which included a quote from Loren Rhoads, about travel and exploring cemeteries.

“I look at them as open-air sculpture gardens,” Rhoads said. “There are some places in the world where it’s museum quality, and it’s just there for anyone to visit and take a look.”

Source: A Guide to the World's Most Intriguing Cemeteries

Loren has written, "Wish you Were Here" and "199 Cemeteries to See Before you Die". The first is about US cemeteries and the second about cemeteries around the world.  Also, her site Cemetery Travel.

You can also find her Cemetery Travels Notebook, for your own exploring and notes, from her Etsy shop, CemeteryLibrarian.

Urban Exploration is about Exploring

Urban exploration is what it sounds like - exploring urban areas. We take photos so we can:

• get a better look at what we have seen
• remember what we have seen
• share what we have seen with others

Urban exploration is about history and photography.

Graffiti, destruction of property, salvaging from old places and setting fire and otherwise causing harm is not part of urban exploration. Also, explorers do not skywalk. Rooftopping is one thing, but the intent is to get a photograph safely, not to risk you life hanging over the edge of a building and getting a photo to prove you did it and dare others to do the same.

Urban exploration has some grey areas. Some explorers are very rigid in what they consider the rules. However, everyone who truly goes into this wanting to see old places does not want to see harm come to them. We don't want to cause the property owner or management trouble or expense. The idea is to see the places and then leave as if we were never there.

This means we don't move things around. We don't leave garbage. We don't break things. We don't paint on things. We don't try to jump off things.

Take only photographs and leave only footprints. It's a great rule. People who don't stick to it cross the line and become vandals.

What am I missing?

• rooftopping
• roadside memorials
• street furniture
• cemetery exploring
• cemetery photography
• gargoyles
• ghost signs
• street photography
• public clocks
• manufactured landscapes
• dark tourism
• paranormal
• prehistory
• industrial exploration
• rural exploration
• urban exploration
• old buildings
• lighthouses
• backyard exploring

Glamping (glamorous camping) seems like it must be something just for girls at first. You get a picture of mirrors, make up and lights all set up in tents. Or, that was the picture that came to my mind. However, glamping has a range from lightly rustic to full out luxury.

Looking at the directories for glamping sites around the world I found several based on farms, working farms and hobby farms. Some are located on beaches and some in mountains, forests too. Some feature tents and some have cabins - which would be more year round I'd think.

The idea of glamping seems to have started in Africa, with the luxury safari camps for hunters and tourists. I can remember seeing old movies like Tarzan where they had camps with big canvas tents, king size beds, bedding, carpets, towels, furniture, a feast of food including wine. It looked great on film no wonder people began to copy the idea. It sure sounds better than sleeping on the ground, enduring a leaky tent, fighting off insects and doing without indoor plumbing.

International Glamping Federation

Have you ever made a hand drawn map, simply a way to show someone how to get from here to there? There's something special about a real hand drawn map. It's the closest we get to feeling like an old fashioned, early explorer - before GPS.

I like to explore, mostly old places. I don't mind getting lost, usually you find the most interesting places when you turn down the wrong road. What activity has more freedom, creativity and ingenuity than being an explorer? If you're athletic, that's nice, but not essential to getting out there, finding new places, things and people. You can even be an armchair explorer, to some extent but it loses some of the adventure if you really don't leave your known world and set sail for the unknown, the mysterious and the possibly risky world out there.

My Experience as a Map Maker

Drawing or making maps requires some science, and patience. Luckily, you don't have to be an exceptional artist in order to create a map. Use rules for straight lines if you want. But you can just as well draw them by hand. A hand drawn map feels more authentic and personal.

As an explorer I have drawn maps for other explorers. Maps have always been an important part of exploring. Making a map is like blazing a trail so other people can see where you have been and how you got there. Then, they can follow and choose other paths along the way.

From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association A book from the Hand Drawn Map Association. Will you find inspiration for your own map making adventures? Or just wonder why, or who, made that strange map?

How to Make a Hand Drawn Map

Write the location or destination at the top of your page.

Orient your page to due north and draw the N for north with an arrow pointing up. You can go all out and draw a compass rose with all four directions and those in between.

Draw lines for the connecting streets from where currently are to where you are planning to go.

Sketch in landmarks at street corners or along the route. Try to find landmarks at any place you will need to change direction or turn down a different street.

• The Hand Drawn Map Association

My Adventures as a Map Collector

I don't have a big map collection myself. The maps I keep are functional for my exploring of the local area. I've got footnotes and margin notes and I've circled areas where I found something or want to go back and get a better look. Sometimes you find a place you really want to see but you spent the day searching and now it's too dark to really see what you found. So I mark the place on my map.

I used to keep my maps more pristine. But, I couldn't remember what all the tiny circles were for. As there got to be more and more of them I lost track of what each of them had started out being. So, it's better to make notes on the map - even though my first instinct as a book lover is to never harm the book, or the map. But, when you're an explorer you have to change some of your standards and theories in favour of the adventure.

• MapHist Discussion Group
• CartoTalk
• Fantasy Mapmaking
• Community Walk