Airlines have been charting their networks for more than 100 years. Every airline with regular scheduled service have created a map of its routes, connecting destinations on a map with lines that dart across countries and continents, crossing time zones and cultural frontiers. These maps are often beautifully designed and illustrated in a myriad of styles. Direction of Travel charts their progress, examines their designs, decodes their stories, explores their makers and the history of the airlines behind them.

These maps are also used as jumping off points to explore the culture of flying. I look at how aviation has transformed the way we move around the planet and the impact it has had on the cities we call home. I examine airports, their role and significance in both the past and present, and how routes that once required multiple stops can now be completed in a single journey and much more.