This place is special to me because the beaches in the San Francisco Bay Area are extremely beautiful and so easy to reach by foot or bike or car or bus! And, the coffee is amazing! I take hikes at one of these places on a weekly basis. I recommend them all!

Mapping Special Places

While living in the same street for 26 years, I've changed my country 5 times.
Sometimes in Balkans, we love to forget our history. Luckily, monuments of the past stay and they remind us of grandiose times, better tomorrows and fight our grandparents fought. This is the map of some of the most significant (personal and no so) places of the former Yugoslavia found in its capital - Belgrade.

After a busy and stressful stretch of work and school in Nairobi we love to drive up to Samburu National Park. We go to see the elephants, lions, Beisa oryx, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk and Grevy’s zebra and bird life. The views are incredible and change from tree lined river banks, rocky outcrops and to grassland savannah with acacia trees. This map features Ololokwe – the Samburu Sacred mountain.

This map is special to me because it is a map of my part of Quezon City. This is my first attempt, and I showcased some of the spots to visit in this side of "Kyusi". I opted to draw my city (lived here since birth!), because, while it isn't as tourist-popular as Manila, Bonifacio Global City, or Makati City, it also has a lot to offer! This is just a tiny part of Quezon City, but I hope it would be helpful for those who'd want to visit Quezon City. Of course, I had to include a few places to get good, wallet-friendly noms, too! The Quezon City sign on the left is inspired by the small placards placed on jeepney dashboards, indicating the jeepney's routes. The compass rose, meanwhile, was inspired by the sun on our flag.

Growing up in Tanzania, I have fond memories of visiting our country’s various national parks and game reserves. My father used to fly bush planes such as Cessnas and Pipers from our home city of Dar-Es-Salaam to take us to the Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Selous Game Reserve. I vividly remember being in awe of witnessing the great wildebeest migration in the Serengeti and the snow atop Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tanzania’s wildlife and warm culture is a beautiful ode to the rich culture that is a mix of Bantu and Arabic influences also known as the Swahili Coast. I hope this map evokes a sense of exploration and curiosity in you. Karibu Tanzania!

This place is special to me because Ohio is where I have been calling home for the last three years. People may call Ohio as ‘the middle of nowhere’ or ‘a state of cornfields’, but there are actually great places to visit and experience. As an art and nature lover, I have put together a map that would encourage people to come and visit Ohio to experience the beautiful art museums and many natural wonders. I would love people to see this map and think of Ohio as a destination for cultural explorers and embrace more art & nature every day.

This place is special to me because this is where I got my start as an artist/entrepreneur. In my map I included places where people can use their hands and try different crafts, support local artists’ merchandise, and gather inspiration. I want to make more maps that highlight creative hubs in different areas around my city.

Here I draw some selected places where you can enjoy FIKA in Atlanta, GA.

My cousin Kirsten and I meet for breakfast about every three weeks. For years, we went to the same two or three places. About two years ago, we decided that we would try a new restaurant every time we went to breakfast. This map is a record of the restaurants we tried out in the past two years. The limiting factor (being Los Angeles) was traffic, so we mostly went places between our two houses in the west end of the San Fernando Valley.

My absolute favourite place on earth is the island where I grew up; Engeløya. The island is located in the north of Norway, in-between Bodø and Lofoten.

The map I have illustrated only covers a fraction of the history and sites Engeløya contains. I've chosen an area on the south-west end of the island, where the majority of sites and landmarks are datet to the iron and viking era, when Engeløya was an important site of power. Whenever we have visitors coming to the island, they all have to join on a mandatory sightseeing drive around the island. And Stegen/Laskestad(the place I have illustrated)are some of the most important stops. On a normally 30 minute drive, the sightseeing trip will take up to 2 hours with my family behind the wheel.

If you ask me, Engeløya is the best place to grow up. The island is packed to the brim with historical attractions, mixed with medium tall mountains, long white beaches, midnight sun and some pretty typical Norwegian residents.

This place is special to me because I grew up and experienced most of my life here. Chicago is an amazing city filled with delicious foods, beautiful art, and remarkable music from around the world. There is so much to do and see that even I find new things to experience every time I visit. One thing that sticks out to me is the beautiful street art fellow artists create. That is what I wanted to base my illustration on. The art painted on the walls.

This place is special to me because I lived in Shenzhen when I met my first boyfriend there, a city full of romantic memory, a beautiful lovely seaside city in the south of China. Miss the good weather especially in the winter of New York.

Clinton Hill is a treelined Brooklyn neighborhood where artists, writers, makers, students and creatives have lived throughout history, and continue to make their marks today. Spaces for creating, thinking, and collaborating dot the map, creating an atmosphere that's ever-evolving against a backdrop of historic brick row houses and brownstones.

My map depicts the many cafes and community spaces that celebrate the arts, and even a few places that do both (like the women-run Relationships cafe and Playground Coffee Shop). There's imaginative spaces where you can sip coffee surrounded by modern art, places that imagine a more intentionally-designed food system, shops with vintage clothing and furniture, destinations for modern art and music, and even a few historic (maybe unofficial) arts landmarks. It's a special place that has fueled my creativity for years, and I hope you'll find some inspiration here, too.

This place is special to me because I lived in Vancouver when studying landscape architecture, for which I had to make frequent trips to VanDusen botanical garden, a very beautiful place.