I had a really strong gut reaction to "The Mappist." At first I thought that people like Benefideo are probably a dying breed, or worse, a breed already gone. His need to make maps that showed layers upon layers of the earth's cultural and geographic history is really something that not many people would take on nowadays, at least not to that degree. Satellites and internet maps and all those other things really make us forget that there was a time when everything had to be done by hand, when people had to really get in touch with the land they were mapping because there literally was no other way.
I have known a few people in my life who would rather draw a map before resorting to a Google map or something similar. I always thought that was kind of an oddity, because why would you draw a map when a computer can do it for you? But I think I understand the need to be in direct connection with the area you're trying to describe a little better now.
