Maps are shortcuts to stories. In a journal, they can tell the story of a trip, pin down a location, help a memory grow roots.
Last weekend, we took the motorcycles for a trip down to Tucson. On a map, it looked like desert for the whole back-road trip. That would have been enough, I love the desert landscape. But when I looked at some history of the area, I found great places with interesting stories.
A map help combines the two. I can remember the route and remember the places with interesting stories. Oh, and one more thing. I’m back on Michelle Ward’s Street Team, doing her Crusade challenges. This is Challenge 48.
The one thing I don’t care about on my maps is that they are not to scale. I can look that up, and since my maps are never to scale, I don’t expect them to be.
You don’t have to know how to illustrate, either. Simple sketching will do, and often an icon (the jail window) stands in for the real thing.
—Quinn McDonald keeps a journal filled with maps. Her book Raw Art Journaling, Making Meaning, Making Art will be in stores in July, 2011.
QuinnCreative 
I love maps! What a great way to capture a trip, you have inspired a new travel journal for me. Thanks so much!
You will LOVE doing these–you can do them as travel journals, as to-do lists, and when I was new here in the desert, I figured out how the water drained from our neighborhood to the dry creek bed–and caused the arroyo to start running. I even did one of these to see what I picked up and left behind as I grew up.
Your map looks great, I love it that you’ve drawn it all.
What a wonderful way to document a trip.
Nicely done!
All my best-
Ingrid
Thanks so much, Ingrid. I love maps. I make them all the time, from mind maps to the way the water flows from my house through the storm sewers.
I like your map !! Very inspiring and informative.
Glad you liked it–they are fun to make!
I love your maps, that they feel so free, and that is how traveling should be — freeing. A map a day is a fun idea. Or maybe a map a week. Wonder if I can incorporate that into my Arizona travels…
Maps are a great way to pinpoint a place with an event. I’m thinking of doing one of Tubac when I’m there this weekend.
What a great map/journal page! I also love maps. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while, and seeing your wonderful map has definitely inspired me to get working on one of my own! Thanks so much for sharing this!
I love doing these. If I could figure out a way to do a map a day, I would!
it is a great journal page indeed, I like the looks of maps too, they are great for overview and yours will give you a clear picture of the day in years to come. glad you’re joining us!
I love being back. The challenges are always so much fun. I had to take a few months off to do the hard work on the book, but now I’m back and loving it! Thanks for the kind comment. Yes, it does make it more fun to see where I was and how I got there.
I love seeing the pages of your journal; it’s inspiring and wonderful!
Thanks, Colleen–I love tracking the journey!
quinn! this is fabulous! great way to capture a ‘been there, done that’…the sketched map is a perfect plan for illustrating the journey, the points of interest, and the memories. thanks for sharing with the team! glad to have you back on our street 🙂
I really missed being away. Now that the book is done, I’m back! I loved this assignment, and love maps, so the combination was made in . . . your street!