Musings of a mapaholic
Thanks, Tom, for the opportunity of providing a guest blog post.
I’m Gwen McCauley and I’m a mapaholic. I know, I know. How on earth could I have allowed myself to get this far without having requested an intervention of some sort. But it just sort of snuck up on me, you see.
My love of travel is not an obsession, nor is my deep love of all things Portuguese travel. I can happily spend weeks and months on the road. In fact, I do spend weeks and months exploring the wonders that are the Algarve, bringing clients along for non-religious spiritual retreats, for explorations and explosions of creativity and now for culinary and dining experiences. That is all wonderful. And while to some it may seem a tad obsessive, I know that it really is about focus and commitment.
But what I’ve managed to keep secret from most is the shame of my true obsession: maps. In all forms, in all sizes, I am not fussy. However, I must say that large fold-out maps are infinitely preferable to those books of maps that send you searching higgledy-piggledy for the stretch of road just off the page you’re reading.
And free maps are perhaps best of all: free, fold-out maps. I can be cheap and feed my obsession at the same time. Wow! All that paper, all those folds to get back into perfect alignment, all that countryside to fantasize about, to be curious about, to wonder what it hides …be still my heart!
I have files of maps I’ve collected. I have drawers of maps I’ve been holding on to just in case I need them. I have collections of maps – maps of outlet shopping mall layouts, village and town maps, city maps, state & provincial maps, country maps, topographical maps, ski-trail maps, hiking maps. And my latest is a regional snowmobile map that I got for FREE! All the land surfaces are covered in white snow so it has a lovely 3D effect to it. What a great little map that highlights the spaces between roads in Ontario’s back woods.
Oh oh, I just realized that perhaps I’m obsessed with maps because I’m searching? Perhaps I’m on one of those ‘life journeys’ everybody talks about these days? Oh my, I guess I’d better stay away from all those helping professionals then; I’d best not ‘find myself’ or I’d have to give up this delightful obsession that brings me such joy. Living life lost …now there’s an interesting approach towards moving into a New Year. Perhaps it should be ‘living life lost …and loving it!’ Now there’s an intention that could take me far, especially if I could only find a map big enough to cover that territory!
Gwen McCauley, author, artist, poet, coach, facilitator, educator and concierge. I’m in love with all things Algarve and lead retreats and culinary experiences there to feed my own love 
of the place as well as to invite people to be all they can become.
I love to live life large and especially enjoy working with women who are seeking more in life. Whether I accomplish that through my writing, coaching or travel experiences is less important than seeing the light of self discovery shine in someone else’s eyes. Visit www.ouicoach.com, www.algarveexperiences.com or www.myalgarve.wordpress.com.
Hi Gwen, thanks so much for doing this for me. I needed that. Love your thoughts on maps and how much you enjoy them. I like maps a lot, but just not quite like you. Did you ever see my map of Pan, the imaginary land in my novel Stonebringer? Here’s the link if you’re interested. http://www.tomhowe.org/images/pan-large.jpg
I was a total symboliac when I drew that map, so it’s got a lot of numerological coincidences, I guess you could call them, though they weren’t coincidental. It was fun to take the scan of the original pencil drawing and try to make it look old on the computer. Not sure it worked exactly right, but still it kinda looks old. Plus added symbolism, of course.
Maps are like primers for the imagination: when you have one spread out in front of you, you’re half the way there!
Thank you again for a great guest post!