NPR had this really interesting article about improving your navigation skills. There was a lot of good and useful information in it. Reading through it I realized it is pretty much everything that I do when I travel.

I’m one of those people that has an “internal GPS”. I have a very good sense of direction and I can usually find my way around somewhere pretty well after a single visit without using any technology. And, better yet, for some reason it stays with me. I can go someplace I have been to before but haven’t been in 40 years and I can still remember details and directions. It’s the strangest thing.

Like most everyone else, I DO use a mapping app but I only use it to find and follow a route to places initially or to get an idea of my ETA. Once I arrive at a new place I’m all about exploring. However, with my Apple Watch I get a prompt and a tap on the wrist to make turns when I need to turn; I don’t need to get sucked into the GPS/mapping app looking at directions so I can still look around and see the sights.

I rely on good old paper maps and a road atlas when I drive someplace, and quite honestly it’s nice to have a guidebook with maps when walking around a foreign place (it’s easier than unfurling a map in public and a lot less conspicuous). Along with internet research, I pore over the paper versions before I go someplace to get some ideas of the route and then they go in the truck for the trip. I have been many places even in the last few years that had no cell service so that’s problematic unless you can get downloadable maps. You have to have a backup. It is also nice to sit at the table in the evening, be it hotel or campground, to figure out where tomorrow ends up.

So, along the way I am able to look at everything around me and take it all in as I drive. I have a clear head as far as where I’m heading at the end of the day so I have nothing major to concern myself with. If I see something interesting on a map, the web, or a billboard then I just might stop to have a look. All I need to worry about is the end of the day’s accommodations.

I liked the author’s encouragement to turn off the GPS and “get lost” (explore) and to be curious about wherever you are. The author mentioned how we, as a society, are always in a rush and it’s so true these days. We see things but do not take the time to really take a look at what is around us.

If you are the type of traveler who likes a strict itinerary maybe this isn’t for you, but I would encourage to loosen up a little and try something different. You can always go back to your “same old ways” if you don’t like it, or you just might find a new way to travel!

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Thanks for reading! See you next time.

Shawn