Using a network of nearby stars as a tool for mapping the interstellar medium has enabled us to chart the locations of diffuse interstellar clouds in three dimensions. I will describe some of the recent observations of the local interstellar medium, and the ways in which these studies are changing our perspectives on our location in the Milky Way, and the new insights on the evolution of local interstellar medium through optical absorption lines.  For more distant observations, a sample of intermediate and high redshift quasars (2 < z < 4) have been observed to detect the composition of low metallicity intergalactic gas. These quasar absorption line studies, using Damped Lyman Alpha systems, give valuable information on the composition of the early intergalactic medium, and the nature of the first stars that have enriched these clouds with heavy elements. A study of the Deuterium within these DLA systems also shows evidence of destruction of Deuterium in the early universe, and possible methods for destroying Deuterium, and their implications will be discussed.