29
Honestly, I thought using a paper map for a road trip was just a hipster thing. Tried it on a drive from Chicago to St. Louis last month and it saved my butt when my phone died.
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
jason_fisher41mo ago
My uncle who works for the forest service told me maps show old logging roads and fire trails your GPS ignores. We used one to find a shortcut around a washed-out bridge in the Ozarks, a route that wasn't on any app. It turned a three-hour detour into a forty-five minute drive on a gravel road. That kind of local knowledge is just printed right there on the paper.
8
Last summer my car GPS tried to send me down a road that was closed for three years. That's the thing, digital stuff gets outdated but the old paper map just shows what's actually built. Like @jason_fisher4 said, that local knowledge is printed right there. I see this everywhere now, from people buying old cookbooks to using hand tools. We're so used to updates and algorithms that we forget some things were just finished and correct the first time. A paper map is a complete tool that doesn't need a signal or a new version.
6