Remember the Crumpled City Maps we first found at Selfridges? Now Palomar have created a new series of Crumpled City Junior Maps featuring illustration from Alvvino and designed by Emanuele Pizzolorusso! The soft, light, waterproof maps for young urban explorers currently come in 5 cities: Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York and Paris… what does that mean? These maps have lots of fun young must see destinations from monuments and parks to circuses and more! See more photos of these great crumpled maps on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - kids - maps - shopping - travel

More fun that just came in via email from my Dad ~ this time after he checked out the Art Center Car Classic over the weekend… i loved this map visualizing where the many post WWII automotive design studios of southern california are. We definitely have no shortage! Take a peek at a bigger view on the next page.

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Tags: california - cars - maps - studio

This one is for everyone who keeps asking me where i am… and an excuse as to why i’ve been so behind on emails/everything. 9/11: FLY Los Angeles to Frankfurt. 9/14 FLY Frankfurt to Paris. DRIVE Paris to Reims. TRAIN Reims to Paris. 9/15 DRIVE Paris to Ouistreham. FERRY to Dover. 9/16 DRIVE to Chichester. DRIVE to London. 9/17 FLY to Mallorca. 9/21 FLY to Barcelona. FLY to Hamburg. DRIVE to Bremen. DRIVE to Stuttgart. 9/22 DRIVE to Affaltarbach. DRIVE to Stuttgart. FLY to Frankfurt. FLY to Nice. 9/23 DRIVE to Monaco. DRIVE to Ventimiglia. DRIVE to Monaco. 9/24 FLY (Helicopter!) to Nice. FLY to Munich. Which is where i am now! Hiding out, catching up for a day ~ then more adventures and hopefully on 9/27 FLY home to LA. As to what comes after that ~ a few things up in the air, but hope you understand why it’s been a bit crazy! So far its been planes (and helicopters) and trains and cars (both super vintage and SUPER new) and a ferry…

Tags: maps - travel

After quite the day running around lusting after a time when cars were so so so much more than just cars… and before getting to the most incredible dinner at Cassanova in Carmel ~ when parking on Ocean Ave, we ended up right next to these windows! And as hungry as i was, simply had to stop and take pics! Adorable window display celebrating “Concours on the Avenue” in Carmel with kids’ outfits made of maps! Very well done, and quite the contrast to what you’d find actually IN the store… and of the all the windows we wandered past, it was certainly the most interesting. Others simply added ferrari posters to their jewelry displays and such, whereas these guys went all out! Take a look at the details on the next page ~ the pockets, the shoes, so cute ~ and so much attention to the details!

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Tags: fashion - installation - kids - maps - windows

On fun new web resources, loving Google’s Hotel Finder experiment. It has a beautiful UI allowing you to search for hotels in the US filtering by location (with 4pt shapes), dates, price, hotel class & user rating… you can also flip between map and list view and even have hotels in your shortlist in a different color… But my favorite feature is definitely “Highlight popular areas” ~ which is perfect for new cities you are visiting when trying to figure out what hot spots are. Read more about it on the Google Search Blog and see more pics of the details on the next page.

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Tags: hotels - maps - research - travel - website

Warning: This is totally mesmerizing and addictive, and in screenshotting for this post i lost more time than i’d like to admit exploring the world through their lens.

That being said - check out Rorschmap by James Bridle ~ a playful use of the Google Maps API, creating kaleidescopic views of the world… you can flip from satellite to street map view, type in any location you desire, spin it around, zoom in and out… or just press GO! in the top right corner and let it do it’s thing… or be your screensaver. And trust me, it is a time suck! So fascinating seeing how places you know and love or want to visit are… see some screenshots (and see if you can recognize some of the spots i picked) on the next page!

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Tags: maps - technology - travel

Everything IS Wonderful! Isn’t it? And if not, they should be. Came across one of these “Everything Here Is Wonderful” Best Made Co limited edition map prints while wandering the other day, and it just made me smile. Grin. Giggle? I need one, but i wish there was an LA one. From the NY based axe makers, Best Made Co, they created a “Limited edition of 15 woodblock prints on topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey. Handmade at the Best Made Outpost in St. Paul, MN.” With three maps currently available, you can choose from Mt Hood, MN, Mt Mansfield, VT, and Marfa ~ see them all on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - maps - prints - shopping - travel

Crumpled City Maps! While these appeared on NOTCOT.org about a year ago, they weren’t available yet. Well, i just ran into them at Selfridges in London, and they are so fun! (If only i wasn’t at the END Of my trip, it would have been great to have these balled up in my purse for Paris, Berlin, Milan, and London the last month!) Truth is, maps always get so wrinkled and abused in my purse and pockets when traveling, i usually grab a city center map from the concierge, and toss it by the end of the trip… these are printed on tyvek, so they should be able to withstand quite a bit of abuse, and hopefully still be readable. They also come with a cute pouch ~ and in fun simple flash card like packaging… and now you can even select your own set of 5 for a Crumpled City Collection Box! Love this 5 pack as an idea for someone embarking on a whirlwind trip… take a peek at more details and the available cities on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - maps - Selfridges - shopping - travel

I couldn't help myself. Ami and the Cool Hunting kids clearly had tons of fun with Kidlandia ~ and i had to try it too! Sure it's for little kids ~ but its like mad libs for a playful crazy MAP! Anyhow, check out NOTland ~ and close ups on the next page! According to CH - "Kidlandia, a website that lets you create personalized fantasy maps for kids, evolved from illustrator, entrepreneur and former Disney producer Brian Backus' intricate, personalized maps that he started making a few years ago."

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Tags: gifts - kids - maps - shopping

And since i gushed so much about the Incase topo print being used throughout the press kit in a gorgeous gloss on matte... i just discovered their blog, which has the background and some wallpapers. "This unique pattern along with the integration of the Incase logo is a graphic component of the Incase identity representing the concept of travel. The Topo pattern also resembles an abstracted wood grain that compliments the Incase leaf logo." Also, i just noticed they already got their Arkitip #0044 HIGHMATH with the black viewmaster (see their pics)... mine should be here any day now!

Tags: art - maps - topography - wallpaper