@chick thanks man! And I REALLY appreciate the tips. My other world map needs some similar fixes. As for what's next.... not sure. I'm gonna take a look at trying some subtle coloring to HINT at vegetation/terrain variation like RevGunn is talking about. Also I'm going to start looking for some fonts, oh and pseudo-nav lines. I say "pseudo" because I don't actually know much about them or how they were used, so I'm just gonna make something that looks cool until one of the hardcore cartography buffs on here educates/corrects me or until I'm curious enough to research it myself.

@RevGunn, I'm gonna give your idea a try, but I'm trying to keep it subtle still.

Time for class! Gotta go...

Thanks folks for the comments and feedback, I'm very grateful.