You don't need textbooks or classroom teaching to begin learning and using geography. In fact, you use geography every day - probably without realizing it. 

According to National Geographic, geography is the “study of places and the relationships between people and their environments.” So, you can already see that geography is much more than just studying maps and knowledge of country capitals.

Why Study Geography?

Geography can help us understand the planet’s movement, changes, and systems. It helps us to explore and understand space and place - recognizing the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and exploring the links between them. Geography also provides an ideal framework for connecting and bringing together people and other fields of knowledge. With the growing importance of issues such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation (damage), disease control, geography is one of the most relevant courses you could choose to study.

Geography is all about connections of humans with spaces and places. Physical properties of the earth, such as mountain ranges and bodies of water, for example, can dramatically impact the way humans move, think, and act. Geography seeks to understand how physical landscapes shape human history and our future.

The First Geographers

The first geographers were people who, like you, made mental maps and thought about things geographically.  However, they didn't stop there. They traveled around, remembered what they saw, and reported their experiences so other people could learn from them.