#30daymapchallenge - a spontaneous odyssey into mapping

mapping
gis
30daymapchallenge
Published

November 4, 2025

Modified

January 9, 2026

A few days into November, I became aware of the 30 day map challenge which has run every November since 2019 thanks to Topi Tjukanov.

I’ve had a passing interest in digital mapping for a while as well as the (I assume?) standard fondness for maps of all kinds and have learned a little since working at the British Antarctic Survey as a Research Software Engineer. So naturally I dived into an intensive month of making myself learn a new skill every day.

The only way for this to work, especially with a <2 month old baby at home, was to establish some rules for myself.

Rules

  1. Work fast.
  2. Have low standards.
  3. Have fun.
  4. Work mainly on polar data.

Rules 1-3 are for my survival, I have precious little time like most people and taking more than an hour a day, expecting too much of myself, or not enjoying it would make it unsustainable.

Rule 4 is to help with the others, by narrowing down the potential datasets I could save time, but also learn more about the organisation I’ve worked at for over a year and a half.

What’s the worst that can happen!