Maps are more than just information—they’re a lens through which we interpret the world. I’ve always been drawn to mapmaking because it’s such a revealing exercise; the choices you make about what to show and how to show it say something fundamental about how you see things. When I look at maps, I’m not just reading geography—I’m reading someone’s perspective. That’s what interests me most. Tools like The Fastest Way To Build A Custom Interactive Map or Interactive Map Maker - Proxi is a free, easy map tool make this accessible in a way that wasn’t possible before, and that changes what becomes possible.
I’ve thought about charting my own movements—where I’ve been, the paths I’ve taken, how those places connect. There’s something meaningful about that kind of personal cartography. But I’ve also noticed things when traveling, like in parts of the Philippines, where entire areas become almost illegible on standard maps. That gap between what a map shows and what’s actually there is interesting to me. It’s not just about coverage; it’s about interpretation and whose version of the world gets represented.
There’s a real difference between dropping pins on Google Maps and actually making a map. Pins mark locations, sure, but they don’t ask you to think about how someone else might read what you’ve created. Having a Good Map is Important (Story) because it reflects intentional choices about audience and communication. When you build your own map using something like Make interactive maps without coding, you’re forced to think about who might use it and what they need to understand. That’s the real work of mapmaking.
The surprise isn’t just that these tools exist—it’s that they’ve made the practice accessible enough for someone like me to actually do it without years of training. What would change is my relationship to the information itself. Instead of passively consuming someone else’s cartography, I’d be thinking like a mapmaker: about clarity, audience, and what story the geography is telling. That active engagement with On the process of note-making extends to how I think about any space I’m documenting. The map becomes not just a record, but a way of really seeing.