4 Reasons Why I Sit and Stare at Maps
By: Will Zolpe
Tags: Beyourself, Life, Learning, Maps, Inspiration

A little further down the line, I got really into soccer.

Soccer is an international game and the best teams are actually all outside of the United States. This sent me on a newer and even more interesting quest to see where players were from, where their teams played, what the culture of that city was like, and more.

It was and still is a branch off of the beautiful game that I have a lot of love for. There’s something so interesting about looking at a well-detailed map, learning about the culture of a place, and letting my imagination run wild.

It was this way for me as a kid, and it hasn’t waned in the slightest.

So why do I do this? I’ll do my best to explain why as I still am exploring this myself:

I Make Connections that Answer Long-Standing Questions

As a young kid, there used to be a lot of places that would come up, whether in movies or real life, that would stick with me and make me wonder if it was real or not and where it could possibly be.

One of these places was Fiji.

Fiji gets referenced in kids’ movies a lot, especially in pirate movies which i used to love. I also caught onto the fact that theres a water company named after this mysterious place.

What is it about this place thats so interesting?

Well one day as a kid, i finally found a little island called Fiji in an obscure part of my map that was hidden in a sea of many other islands.

I finally found out that it was indeed a real place and why pirates would want to sail there and why water from there is so special.

I Always Learn Something New

The last time I was looking at a map, I was standing in the waiting area of a car dealership while my girlfriend’s car was getting an oil change.

For some reason, there was a big, beautiful map on the wall of North America so I had to take a look.

Within two minutes, I saw a city named Tillamook in Oregon. I thought to myself,

“Thats weird, I definitely know that name from somewhere.”

I quickly remembered that’s the name of a popular dairy brand that is sold in most of the grocery stores I shop at. Now I know that’s where that cheese comes from.

Minutes after making this realization, I was looking at Canada and trying to remember where all the big cities were.

I came across a National Park called Banff. Again, it hit me that I knew that name somehow, especially because it is so unique.

Sure enough, I did.

A YouTuber I like to listen to who does a lot of motorcycle riding and hiking has referred to this area on multiple occasions. He talks about how beautiful it is whenever it comes up.

It’s connections like these that I would probably never make in any other context and they connect dots for me. They’re not always profound, but I value them and love them nonetheless.

Regional Culture and Traditions are Endlessly Fascinating

I mentioned that my interest in soccer has been the main catalyst for my love of maps continuing into adulthood.

Some of the notable tidbits I’ve looked into are:

How can Athletic Bilbao have a French player in their team when they only allow players from their specific region (which is in Spain)?

Why do so many Brazilian players travel across the globe to play for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine?

Why is it constantly raining during English Premier League games?

Why are there zero teams from eastern Germany in the Bundesliga except for one recently added team (RB Leipzig)?

I am always having my curiosity and sense of wonder stimulated by things like these.

I learn so much about different regions of the world, I learn about the type of situation these players are in to make the decisions they make, and I gain perspective in my own life because of it.

It’s like a free education that keeps me engaged all the time and promises to teach me something unique constantly.

It’s Nostalgic

I would be lying if I said that looking at maps didn’t allow me to reminisce about things I’ve learned and places I’ve been.

Sometimes I just like to remind myself of all the interesting places I’ve been and how different they are. Places like Sweden, Honduras, Mexico, California, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Texas all have given me memories and have influenced my outlook on life.

I still get that little burst of excitement whenever I see a map around. It re-sparks that endlessly curiosity in me to discover something new whether that is just a geographical finding or connecting the dots between two points that I previously knew something about.

Regardless, this is what I did as a kid and this is still what I do as an adult when the opportunities arise. It’s my own personal hobby that sometimes gets me sideways looks and sometimes has people ask me what I’m looking for.

Really, I’m not looking for anything in particular, just for whatever the map wants to show me that day.