A short history of the paper map

The first thing a paper map taught you was that the world was larger than your route. Unfolding one across a car bonnet, you saw the road you were on and the five roads you were not, the lake to the east and the village that the highway politely ignored.

Cartographers made choices that screens now hide. Which towns were large enough to print, which rivers deserved a name, where the legend ended. These were editorial decisions, argued over in offices that smelled of ink, and they shaped what travellers believed was worth stopping for.

The conversation at the petrol station

Asking for directions used to be half the trip. A stranger would draw a loop in the air, mention a barn that no longer existed, and add that the coffee at the next junction was better. Navigation apps are more accurate, but they have removed the barn, the coffee and the stranger.