Ernest Hemingway once quoted “Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.” Road trips can be a test of love but they can also be filled with wonderful adventures.I remember as a kid sitting in the back seat as my Mother would read the map “Norm, you are going to miss the exit!”

“What!?”

“The exit you need to take that exit!”

” You could have told me sooner.”

“You weren’t listening!”

I learned from those road trips that no good ever comes from driving two hours more to reach your final destination. My parents would then pull over to the side of road while my Mother tried to prove to my Father that she was correctly reading the map.

The only words you heard at the end of that argument were”I told you so.”

All of this occurred long before the arrival of the GPS with the  voice of Margaret Thatcher  sending us on course in the right direction. Maggie is what I refer to our GPS because she has a no-nonsense approach to forcing us to travel from point a to point b without going down the wrong road.

We are in the process of planning our first camping trip of the season with ten days on the open road. I look at the Google maps as I try to plot our course of action. But it lacks the same charm as a big open map sprawling across the kitchen table. I feel like a traitor to the old world maps as I plan our next adventure.

I also know as much as I howl about the map becoming a relic filled with romantic charm that we now frame to our walls with distant memories of the olden days.  The one thing I cannot complain about is that Maggie will guide us to our final destination without arguments and the occasional huff.  She will be our robotic companion to the open road in which we can spend more time with the ones we love conversing about the little things, admiring the views, and no one will be uttering the words “I told you so.”

Do you still plan your road trips with an old-fashioned map? Or do you rely on your GPS?