Reinder spotted these mappy suitcases in a hotel window in Rome. He was so taken with them that he didn't mention the nice looking globe, while his wife apparently was more impressed by the towels folded as swans. Go figure! If only those cases were a bit bigger and had wheels.

Reinder spotted this mosaic map of the Old City of Rome, "Saw this in the lobby of the Santa Chiara hotel in Rome. The size of the map is let’s say 50 x 70 cm, it is made of little stones of approximately 4 x 4 mm. No artist is mentioned — but he or she deserves our respect. Ciao!"

Remember Santa's Delivery Route from Xmas Eve? Ken sent me this modern version of that map which he spotted in the lobby of the Great Northern Hotel next to Kings Cross. Note that this time the map is north up.

After the relative success of my first attempt to build a map with WebMapperGPT (WMGPT) I wanted to try something a bit more ambitious. A conversation about how in most parts of London rich and poor live relatively close to each other, prompted me to try and build a map to illustrate Unequal London. This was a much more complex project with several stages:

Last one from Reinder's Rome trip. "I saw these on the Via dei Fori Imperiali in the Eternal City: quite spectacular!"

I don't know where to start with this one. Yes it is a map in the wild, but why would anyone make this decaying world held by rotting hands and then award it as a peace prize? I thought FIFA governed world football, is it really FIFA's role to award peace prizes? As for the recipient, I think the jury is out. This could have been an April Fool's post but I thought it might serve as a starter for 2026. Mappy New Year!

Melinda Clarke (of Melbourne Map fame) sent me this, she said "I met this young girl, we got chatting and I shared that I was producing a map of Melbourne. She then declared her love for maps, and travelling around the world - and showed me her tattoo of a world map on the soles of her feet!  If you look closely - she has even included NZ !

This has to be one of the best maps in the wild ever! Elizabeth sent me this from Weymouth "Last night on the South Coast. Looks like the map of UK, Ireland and Denmark." Mappy New Year to everyone who contributes maps in the wild or follows us, let it be a year full of whacky maps.

Wandering in Covent Garden I spotted this advert for the Omega Speedmaster watch which has a cute globe panel and a Snoopy graphic. Who knew that Snoopy was the official Mascot for the NASA Space Programme with the agreement of Charles Schulz?

Gaëlle Sutton shared these maps a bit before Christmas. The season is still on. Happy Holidays.

Reinder shared this Christmas card designed by Patrick Bergsma

An absolute cracker from Wanmei L, shame she didn't say where she spotted it. Seems like a good one to kick off this years 12 Mapppy Days of Christmas

I wasn't sure whether to share this but the editorial board said "F it, go for it" This tattoo is on the arm of Arsen Ostrovsky, a survivor of the Bondi Beach Chanukah shooting - no further comment needed.

Ken spotted this on US TV - I think it would make a great caption contest. Go for it!

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Reinder spotted this magnificent illuminated globe at the railway station in Leiden. I think it's a perfect choice for our Xmas day post. Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it and Seasons Greetings to the rest of you.

A few days ago, my pal Ken Field posted about a new project he is planning for 2025: "Ten years ago I had an idea to write about a map a day for a year. I've had another idea… Introducing the #365DayMapChallenge where Ian Muehlenhaus and I will make a map a day, using only natural language prompts and AI, for a whole year.

Jeremy spotted this in the Lemon Tree pub in London. He said "It was really interesting to interpret. Around 1850 we reckoned. The Crystal Palace is still in Hyde Park, no Tower Bridge, the terminus main railway stations are in." You might think "that's really neat" then Ken chipped in to identify the maps as "Balloon View of London as seen from Hampstead by Henry Banks, 1851" - you could visit the original in the…

Reinder said "I saw this brand new edition of Ulysses in a 2nd hand bookshop in Leiden. Quite remarkable I think, that this design with a Dublin town plan was not used earlier… or was it?"

Reinder spotted this poster for Billy Wilder's 1953 film Roman Holiday nestled amongst underwear in a clothing shop in Rome

Elizabeth spotted this in a cafe opposite Gospel Oak station, probably Little Oak Coffee. Looks like both Kentish Town and this cafe are worth visiting.

Another one from Reinder's trip to Rome. "Saw this textile work of art in Rome, in the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. It dates from 1990 and is made by  Alighiero Boetti" I had never heard of Boetti, it is worth clicking on the link to look at his Mappe series.

Another piece by Kerry James Marshall. "The past and future merge in this work. The Afrofuturist household appears to be in a cosmos far from Earth. The domestic interior is decorated with modernist furniture and ancient African artefacts, such as Yoruba sculptures. As the children look back at Earth, a hologram of the floating globe positions Africa towards the viewer."

We went to an exhibition of paintings by Kerry James Marshall at the Royal Academy, there were a couple of maps in the wild tucked away in his fabulous work. The gallery blurb says "In Terra Incognita, Marshall uses multiple techniques that call attention to the complicated legacy of the Middle Passage. The collage-like composition shifts our gaze around the painting.