Definitely doing a lot of not-mapping . But instead of bemoaning the lack of carto opportunity, figure your're storing up experiences, images, views, ideas. Gidde, we picked up a cheap canoe, so some weekends are going to be paddling down some lazy excuse for a river hereabouts. But one thing that does is make me aware of the convoluted path rivers can take, and just what are realistic sandbars and islands and suchlike. Makes me think about how modern maps can easily harbor fossils of old roads... there's some bridge piers nearby that you can't even see where a road or railroad once was. Over at the lake we paddled around on a week ago, I recall the way TVA drowned whole communities, in order to protect others ;-)... and now the lake weeds are so thick in places it's like gliding over an underwater forest ... gotta be some way to portray that.

Not to mention which even when you have activities that take up a lot of time, taking a plain ol' notebook or sketchbook everywhere will let you capture the fleeting ideas that you do come up with. And while lazing in a hammock in the shade (more paddlers in my family than berths in the canoe, hence shoreside hanging-around time available) is not active mapping time, it CAN be opportunity for creative musing. Or heck, for reading a good book (or trashy one :-) ) or zoning out with tunes or silence in the ears. Point is - that kind of downtime is essential for creativity.

Hmmmm... seen waterproof books... wonder where I can get a waterproof notebook... ?