Travel Essentials: Navigation
Today I’m going to prattle about navigation. Nowadays there aren’t too many good excuses for not having a GPS for navigational assistance on a big trip. If you don’t have one the odds are good that you may know someone who does and is willing to loan it to you.
The GPS isn’t without its problems and issues, however.
Even modern GPS units can lose signal in canyons and cities (man-made canyons without the charm) and their maps may not be up to date. Even when the maps are up to date, you have to be very careful about what the GPS thinks a road’s name is versus what the people responsible for hanging signs think a road’s name is. Our road is Green Briar Drive- Google thinks it is Briar Drive. US Route 30 is near here, but my Garmins always call it Lincoln Highway in certain areas. It is never signed as the Lincoln Highway.
Therefore all GPS-based navigation needs to be done with a certain amount of flexibility and oversight. It is best if you have a navigator in the car who can help find signs and the like when you are in the middle of interstate construction near Denver (for example). Always be willing to override what your GPS tells you to do.
The real point of this article, however is to remind you of something you may never have actually heard: navigators never have just 1 navigation tool. If you’re on the road with just a GPS then you are at the mercy of technology (and the US government). What happens if you are on the Big Island of Hawaii and your GPS unit’s power adapter breaks (for example)?
Always have a real map on hand and someone who can read it handy. You can read a map, can’t you?
AAA offers excellent traveller services such as the probably trademarked TripTik. It has your route highlighted on a very nice map and they also mark construction areas. That is an excellent backup tool.
You can also print out your route through Google Maps.
I recommend that you use Google Maps to plan your trip from the very beginning. With Google Maps you can easily alter your route. I always recommend going around metro areas where possible. Most large cities have an interstate going through their middle and a beltway (designated by an even numbered hundreds digit) encircling them. I have found that the beltway is generally a better option.
This post has 3 comments
October 27th, 2008
What happens if you are on the Big Island of Hawaii and your GPS unit’s power adapter breaks (for example)?
i seem to recall a repair being made with parts from another GPS power adapter! LOL!
October 27th, 2008
> What happens if you are on the Big Island of Hawaii and your GPS unit’s power adapter breaks (for example)?
Well… actually… there’s really one road here, and it goes in a circle around the island… and it’s not like you’re going to cross a state line by mistake…
Getting lost in Boston is a better example. Nothing like drunken-cow paths to prove the value of a good navigation device, because even paper maps looks like a child’s scribbling.
October 30th, 2008
@Brent-
Funny you should say that because the Big Dig in Boston is one place where the paper map is a necessity as your GPS won’t be able to see the sky.
To be sure, you’re right about Hawaii. Once you’re outside of a town you don’t have a lot of opportunities to get very lost!