I knocked up some maps with Google during the week, to give an idea of where we’re going and how it relates to where we are. If the embedded maps don’t work out click on the title-links to get to the full-sized Google versions. With all these maps you can click on the icons and lines to get a description, there should also be a key on the left.

• First: Hitchin, Ricky, and Kat’s work – This shows that Hitchin (north) is significantly further out than Ricky (north-west), the respective “home” locations are shown with yellow house-shape icons. The difference isn’t as much as it seems though, the mapping projection Google uses has a finer scale in lat than long. The crow-line from Kat’s work to Ricky is about 2 thirds the length of the one to Hitchin (despite the fact that it’ll probably look half the length.) Also shown are the overground rail lines beyond the locations, notably in Ricky the line heads to Aylesbury then stops, while in Hitchin the lines extend throughout the UK – so other destinations are more accessible. I’ve also shown airports, while Hitchin has 2 that are fairly close (Luton, and Stansted) they’re not as useful as Heathrow (I’m turning into an airline-snob I’m afraid, preferring BA or Lufthansa to avoid being treated like cattle.) The green pin in the centre of London is Big Ben (Westminster/Parliament) and the one to the right is Greenwich. (Remember, you can drag the map around with the mouse!)

• London – This maps shows the city giving an idea of the city-end of Kat’s commute. The graphic reminiscent of a female toilet is where Kat works. The black line is the overground from Kings Cross to Hitchin, the purple line the underground (metro line) to Rickmansworth. Kat gets to work from Ricky in one trip, to get in from Hitchin will require switching to the underground at Kings X, but overall the two trips should take about the same time.

• Hitchin – In this close-up of Hitchin you can see the approximate location of our new place in relation to the train station (6 min walk) and town-centre and market (green pin, 15 minute walk.) Also shown is the continuing rail lines, the one on the right heads up to Cambridge and the other to Peterborough. These lines both continue on to reach almost everywhere in the upper half of the UK, and also provide routes through to everywhere else (though for more southern locations it is probably faster to go via London.) On the topic of travel, Kings Cross is the London terminus of the line from Hitchin and the same general station complex includes St. Pancreas, which is the station that trains to Paris depart from. I’ve also shown the closest chain-gym with a green cycling figure, it’s in Letchworth and is probably a 15 to 20 minute cycle away.