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I got one of those Map of the United States jigsaw puzzles as a kindergartener, where every state is its own piece. First I would just put the puzzle together, then I started timing myself to see how fast I could put it together. Later on, I would put the states in, in the order they were admitted to the Union. Perhaps not so necessary a thing for a 9 year old to know, but it proved handy when studying American history.
I think we all need an emoticon with a propellerhead cap on top!
Yes, I am a nerd. Which is why I am pursuing a BA in Geography and maybe a master's in Urban Planning. I love maps. I use to stand in grocery stores or book stores and stare at the almanacs for HOURS or whenever we leave the store. I not only looked at maps. I looked at population stats, area size stats, history of places, etc. etc. I looked at them all. And it's not just the US either. I looked at the entire world. I know so much about do many different places that people ask me why do I know this and I really can't explain it to them.
I owned about 5 Rand McNally maps. I got tired of Rand McNally that I got it's competitor.
When I was 6, my uncle gave me a paper-back world atlas, and I would lie on the floor for hours trying to pronounce the names of places. Another uncle then gave me all the maps he got with National Geographic, whichI papered my bedroom wall with. my mother let me put a map of the world on the wall in the dining room. I got my first stamp collecting kit when I was 10, and got totally addicted to that. I used to go around to gas stations to get the free maps (all this was in the 1940s), and I fouind a card at the Cities Service (now Citgo) map rack to send in to request maps, so I sent it in asking for all of them and got a big box containing every state road map. I was in heaven. I also got both USA and South America jigsaw puzzle maps when I was about 5.
When I was about 15, I got a World Almanac, and marked all the counties I had been in on family trips. I kept doing that, and finally got to all of them in the lower 48, getting the last one in about 1982.
I was and still am a map nerd. As a child it was a cheap and easy way of imagining travel to far different places. I still check out maps and atlases when I go to a book store.
I guess I'm a geography/map geek too. I think at least half of all city data members are map geeks. Thanks to the new google streetview, I can see what certain cities look like without ever going to the place.
Last edited by Chicagoland60426; 11-19-2008 at 12:59 AM..
Yes I'm a map freak with a U.S. altas, and a globe that's out of date.It's impossible to update your globe unless you buy a new one.
I like to travel too. I have done some travel since I was young. I guess as a child I wanted to know where we were going so I looked at maps.
Once in a while I'll read about a place and I just have to know where it's at.
My name is Kali's G'ma and I'm a map-aholic. 12 steps just aren't enough.
Funny but true...we traveled extensively growing up. Always by car, but my poor Dad had THE worse sense of direction and as a stereotypical male thought if he asked anyone for directions (including my mother with the map) some male appendage would fall off or something.
As a result, we were constantly getting lost. Not always a bad thing but still.
It was a matter of survival that I learned to read a map. I needed to know how to get home didn't I?
To this day I keep the Atlas by my chair and read it. If someone mentions someplace I haven't been, out comes the Atlas! My husband cringes sometimes because I usually come up with off the wall place to go.
LOL, Kali's you took my line. I love to study maps. I have two maps up in our office, one of the U.S. and one of Nebraska. I mark all the roads I have driven on and the cities that I have been too. I also do this with one of my atlas'.
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It's impossible to update your globe unless you buy a new one.
