I have a big atlas of the US that I travel with. We typically winter away from home so I buy a paper map of that area. I map my route on my Garmin NuviCam for ease in driving as it give me great alerts to traffic, weather and distance to both my destination and the next turn.

The factory GPS in my Mazda alerts me to red light cameras as well.

In total, I have a window mount GPS, an in-car GPS, a US atlas and my iPhone to get me from point A to point B.

It works some of the time,
Mike

the only thing better that a AAA map,
is a Larger font version for the old farts

I used to love Thomas Brothers maps [RIP].

I still keep maps in the cars for backup purposes, but I exclusively use my phone's GPS.

I too am a fan of paper road maps. On a long trip, I find some comfort in knowing my spatial orientation and relative location to cities and towns and things I may need on my trip. I use portable electronic navigation devices and phone applications while driving. I certainly appreciate the convenience and speed of these devices to locate nearby fuel, restaurants, hotels or emergency services. However, most of my long trip preplanning is done on Google Earth/Google Maps or large paper maps. It helps me to grasp the big picture with regard to my whereabouts.


At home, I have a shoebox full of the paper road maps that used to be given away free at the local gas stations. My collection includes maps from Exxon, Esso, Gulf, Amoco, Sunoco, Shell, Texaco and even Sinclair. I certainly wouldn't use them today for road navigation since they are missing many highway interchanges and even entire interstates.

In third grade, our teacher gave us an assignment to bring a free roadmap to class. For the entire week she taught us every feature and symbol used on the maps and how to find any small town in our state and how to get there. Even as a young kid, I loved exploring areas that I haven't yet visited by studying these maps and planning trips.

I thought I would help the grandkids with a map reading class while on vacation last year. But there was absolutely no interest. They eagerly grabbed their phones to show me that they had everything they needed. When I told them those little pictures don't show you where you are in a bigger space, they almost simultaneously asked, "Why would you need to know that?"

Do you know any museums interested in an old box of roadmaps?

I love paper maps. I really got hooked on them as a kid reading my dad's National Geographic Close-Up USA map set and his road map book of Great Britain.

Plus, no electricity is required for use.

I find my same friends who tell me all you need is a GPS unit or phone are the same ones who send me articles about the dangers of EMPs. Go figure.

No. You and my wife...