Maps are fascinating to look at, but they're also deeply anchored to the real world. They represent the world I travel to work in, and the world I go on holiday to. Where technology meets the real world, that's where the fun happens, so map technology, particularly web mapping technology, is great fun.
Map licensing tends to spoil our fun, but when you follow through the reasoning it will point to one ridiculous/marvellous conclusion: We have to go out and explore! That's the idea behind OpenStreetMap.org - the free wiki world map. Since getting invoved in this project I'm in a world where every shop down every street is waiting to become a tagged data element. Every journey is a mapping opportunity. If you try contributing to OpenStreetMap, you'll see what I mean.