World Is Yours for the Taking at Map Store : Shop Ranges Wide--Even to Space

People keep saying that the world is becoming a smaller place. Maybe it is.

At World of Maps, 607 Mission Ave. in Oceanside, Bill Coates has a globe in stock that’s less than an inch in diameter. It’s attached to a key ring. He also carries a 9-by-12-foot wall map of the world. In between, Coates carries maps of nearly every country, as well as the moon, the Milky Way and the known universe.

“It makes your family kind of flinch when you say you’re going into the map business,” he said.

But Coates seems to have found a niche. He says he has drawn customers from all over Orange and San Diego counties since he opened for business in January, 1988.

“I get all different people from all walks of life,” he said.

For many who visit the store, maps are the tools of their trade. Developers, hikers, geologists, business planners, travel agents and educators are some of his customers. But there are many who don’t have a specific need--they just like to come in and browse.

Shelves are filled with folded maps of states, provinces and regions the world over. Above those, the walls are lined to the ceiling with unfurled maps. Along the back wall is a collection of globes.

There are specialty maps, such as one showing the beers of Europe, a cheese map of France and a large map that charts the history of Europe. There are nautical and aeronautical maps, topographical maps, maps that show fault lines, raised relief maps and maps that show ZIP codes.

Some are not really maps but photographs, such as the astronaut’s view of Earth--a full-color mug shot of the planet. There are also high-resolution pictures of San Diego and Los Angeles from space. There are globes with light bulbs inside, and a clear plastic celestial globe with constellations on the outside and Earth at the center.

Behind the cash register hangs a stick chart, a crude but apparently accurate representation of the Marshall Islands that was fashioned out of bamboo sticks and pearlized shells by island inhabitants, Coates said.

World of Maps also has travel books, foreign language tapes and travel accessories, such as universal power adapters and zippered belts for hiding money. But the focus is on maps, Coates said.

Customers often look around a while before they casually confide in him that they have always liked maps, he said. For these quiet map lovers, the shop opens a door to wanderlust.

It’s a place where visitors can feel at home, no matter where they are from. They can see where they’ve been and where they intend to go. If anyone is unsure of exactly where Kuala Lumpur is, or has been wondering lately about Mozambique, or is simply curious about what time it is in Reykjavik, he or she can find out at World of Maps.

The store seems especially exciting to young children. They feel compelled to run and holler as soon as they see all the maps. Coates isn’t sure why. He can’t even put a finger on why he likes maps so much. It could be the order imposed by the twisting lines and jigsaw of colors, and all the mind-boggling places and prospects that can transform a piece of paper into a kind of magic carpet.

“I can look at a map and take a trip,” he said.

Coates was 10 when he discovered his natural inclination for latitude and longitude. Maybe he also saw in maps the power to lay waste to the fallacy of “you can’t get there from here.”

“I knew that I was going to be a pilot someday, so I hung around the airport and started reading aeronautical maps,” he said. He was surprised to learn that not everyone could appreciate the ideal world he found in maps.

“My mom never knew how to read a map, and that just amazed me,” Coates said. “She’d look at a map and not know if it was upside down or right side up.”

Coates, now 56, did become a pilot and flew all over the world for the Air Force for 13 years. He now has a small plane of his own, and ready access to aeronautical maps when he needs them.

He closes the shop for one week each year, when he and his wife, Pam, who keeps the books, go on vacation. During the rest of the year, he sees plenty of globe-trotters.

“People come in here, and they’re getting ready to go on some great trips,” Coates said. “It makes you want to get your hat and go with them.”

World of Maps

Oceanside

Calls: 967-7141

Where: 607 Mission Ave.

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.