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Sad, isn't it? I've tried repeatedly to teach my wife and kids for years but they weren't interested and now the GPS is the answer to everything. My son get's turned around all the time on our land in upstate NY. I won't let him carry his stupid GPS in thw woods, I gave him a compass, map and instructions but he doesn't bother. He's now 23 and still doesn't want to know!
Many people aren't interested in learning more than they feel they are required to learn.
I've been interested in reading road maps for as long as I can remember. Growing up, we always took at least one cross-country road trip every summer. I would be reading the road signs as we were driving and looking at the map to see where we were and what was around us. I LOVE Google Earth. I love looking around at different roads and cities, planning my dream roadtrips.
I have a GPS that I take on long road trips, but I don't let it be my brain. I always have a back-up atlas and there have already been a few times where I've outsmarted the GPS just by reading the signs first before following blindly the directions that the GPS is giving. If it's a planned road trip, I always study the trip pretty well with Google Earth beforehand as well.
I'm also amazed at how few people know anything at all about our highway systems in this country. I've never met a single person who could tell me the differences between Interstates, US highways and state routes, tell me why highways are numbered the way they are or anything. I've been working on educating my wife and I'll try and make sure my kids have a slight grasp as well.
I LOVE maps! And I love reading them. Must have been that Geography class I had my freshman year of HS.
I'm a genealogist, and learned years ago that I need to have a Rand McNally road atlas nearby at all times so I could find the counties that I needed to, and do relational distances between places.
Before I travel to a place (I go to some off-the-wall destinations to go to courthouses the way other people go to beaches on vacation), I contact the Convention/Visitors Bureau and get them to send me little local maps because I HATE not knowing where I'm going.
I always plan for a trip, with my Google maps, CVB maps, Expedia hotel stay receipts, etc stacked on my passenger seat. That way I have everything I need close at hand. Next week, I'm driving from Milwaukee to the Finger Lakes, then back through mid-northern Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana. I can't wait!
I LOVE maps! And I love reading them. Must have been that Geography class I had my freshman year of HS.
I'm a genealogist, and learned years ago that I need to have a Rand McNally road atlas nearby at all times so I could find the counties that I needed to, and do relational distances between places.
Before I travel to a place (I go to some off-the-wall destinations to go to courthouses the way other people go to beaches on vacation), I contact the Convention/Visitors Bureau and get them to send me little local maps because I HATE not knowing where I'm going.
I always plan for a trip, with my Google maps, CVB maps, Expedia hotel stay receipts, etc stacked on my passenger seat. That way I have everything I need close at hand. Next week, I'm driving from Milwaukee to the Finger Lakes, then back through mid-northern Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana. I can't wait!
My favorite travel accessory is a laminated Rand McNally Motor Carrier's Atlas. You can get 'em for around $30 at truck stops on sale (which is frequently). They're spiral-bound and darn near bulletproof. Yes, there's a lot of information up front you don't need driving a car. But the maps are great and the spiral binding makes them very easy to use. Haven't seen one in awhile, but truck stops used to carry "Interstate Exit Guides"; books that listed every interstate highway exit (and whether it was a left hand, right hand or even whether there's difficult or no reaccess to the interstate. They also show which side(s) of the highway the rest areas are on. Those two were indespensible in my travels!
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