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The Unexpected Comeback of the Paper Map

While millions of younger adults have never read a paper map before, GenZer’s seem to be making that age-inducing statistic a thing of the past. Paper maps are back! And more popular than ever. Stories about oversized, unwieldly origami-folded maps are all over the news lately – and for good reason.

AAA produced 123% more maps last year than in 2021, and membership in the organization itself is on the rise among millennials and Gen Z. And the trend isn’t only catching on in states. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain, experienced a 144% sales increase from 2021, in custom-made maps.

There are multiple reasons for the boom.

Paper maps make ideal artwork and adorn walls. Besides being cheap, their size, color and specific location can often evoke a sense of wanderlust or take a traveler back in time to a magical place.

A record number of travelers headed to remote regions of the country such as national forests and parks in 2022. Oftentimes these regions don’t receive a reliable cell signal or one at all rendering their GPS useless. Enter the trustworthy paper map that can function in the most secluded, out-of-the-way places!

But probably the most heartening reason for the paper map’s return is that many Gen Zer’s are more interested in their sense of place and overall surroundings than getting to their destination on the most efficient route available. They don’t want to miss the big picture along the way. Not to mention, but paper maps make getting lost all the more fun and in many cases more enlightening.

Some of our favorite cartographers include:

Red Paw Maps, based in Boulder Colorado, offers a wide assortment of different types of maps from blueprint and elevation maps to city street and collegiate maps. Reasonably priced, many are ideal for framing. Find them on Etsy.

Steady Hand Maps is the brainchild of crazed mapmaker, Jen Urso, specializing in custom, hand drawn paper maps and map design. Her creations reveals stuff you never even knew you wanted to know about like where to find the most unusual cacti and coffee shops.

Discovery Map, headquartered in a tiny town nestled in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont and known more for cow crossings, leaf peepers and snow drifts than traffic. They are small town experts. And if you’ve ever visited one popular with tourists, you’ve no doubt used a Discovery map. These free, colorful paper diagrams list the local shops, restaurants, and sights to visit and include discount coupons.

Herb Lester Associates, a British company, produces some beautiful retro fold-up maps that can transport a visitor to the golden age of travel. Mid-century modern illustrated maps of metropolitan cities such Los Angeles, New York and New Orleans are documented by their connections to literature, rock’n’roll, the occult and pop culture.