Every travel quest needs a map behind it – I find looking at maps so inspiring. All the wonderful, unusual, exotic places just sitting there waiting to be discovered. You may not be surprised to know my house has many globes dotted around… Let’s see, I can spot at least 4 from where I’m sitting!

The map in this post is actually not in my house, though; it’s in the office at my mum’s house. Each different coloured pin represents a different member of the family, or combination of members – I’m the black pin (chosen mainly because it stood out in the pale expanse of Australia).

Whenever I visit mum, I go and gaze at the map. I plot which countries to visit based on which areas of the map have few pins (in the full picture below you can see a lot clustered around Europe and the Mediterranean, while the Far East and South America have almost nothing).

Trying to choose countries that not only fit my remaining alphabet but also add a pin to an underrepresented area can be a challenge, but it’s a fun challenge. It’s always exciting to add a new pin to the map.

I also love the way the map looks now – it’s faded a lot since we first put it up, thanks to being opposite a window, and I love the aged, vintage vibe it gives off. It looks like it has been charting the travels of our family for decades, which, I suppose it has really.