Robert, they WERE cool, weren’t they? Such precision! They were virtual trips for Dad before virtual was cool.

I heard an NPR report several years ago that said the more humans rely on GPS navigational tools, the more we are losing our instinctive ability to figure out where the heck we are. It’s an evolutionary use-it-or-lose it thing.

I still enjoy maps, and I love the opportunity to travel routes I don’t know and then try to nose my way home. I admit that this is easier knowing that I have a GPS safety net, but it’s fun to use the sun as a tool, too. My road trips have been GPS-guided since maybe 2016, but I always have maps, too. I like seeing the bigger picture of where I’ve been and where I’m going. Also, the GPS is not always accurate — like the time it took me to somebody’s house in Fargo, ND instead of to the the hotel I expected to find. I still haven’t figured out that one.

I actually had to stop and think about my answer. How did I know how to get to the mall as a 16 year old new driver? How did I know how to get home from almost anywhere in town? Other than “sort of absorbing it” I’m not sure I can answer that.

I’m not saying this out of generational superiority. My kids are better than me at other things… And many times (most recently in a surprise construction zone in suburban Detroit) Google maps has saved my bacon.