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As a man thinks, so he is. Some people are never.

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Alternate Route

Turn off the nav system, crumple up that MapQuest printout, and let's find out where the next random turn may take us!

Jul 15, 2007 - Dead Reckoning

Do you trust this map?I've always been a pretty decent navigator on the road. I can read (and fold) a map, although I tend to do all that "paper work" before starting off and then let my sense of direction carry me.

My wife, on the other hand, (she's not listening is she??) sometimes forgets about those little visual hints that things like the mountains on your left or the sun shining in your eyes can give you to help you get where you are going.

So yes, I'm a typical male, never asking for directions. But I really don't ever get lost. I try to know where I am and where I want to be, and understand what I need to do to get there. So I haven't succumbed to the temptation of getting a navigation system.

Sure, they ARE kind of neat to play with for a while. But I've noticed... just like pocket calculators... people tend to become completely dependent on them very quickly. And  it makes them turn off their brain!

Just because something CAN do something for us doesn't mean we should let it!

There was a recent posting in the Nissan Altima Hybrid Navigations System Questions discussion where someone remarked:

"Knowing the name of the street to turn on is a habit from reading maps and is no longer necessary, just follow the arrows and voice prompts."

Maybe it's just me, but I kinda like knowing where I am and where I'm going all on my own! Besides, there's enough to do behind the wheel without another display to distract me... but I'll save that for another day!

Take the next left... just because!!

Alternate Route's Haiku Corner

Lost on the highway
Navigation system died
Do you have a map?

1:50 pm | Categories: automotive haiku, navigation
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Comments
jlbl - Aug 14, 2007 11:37 am
I consider myself also a pretty decent navigator. However, there is some traps from which I cannot escape. The worst trap consists of alternating patterns of radially-diverging straight streets crossed by softly crescent-curved parallel others. For instance, in a city with a wending river crossing through it, where the patters alternate along the bends of the river. Even putting all my attention to the sun, or to any other hint, such as a high building, I always get lost in them! (To my wife's joy.) Which are your traps?
hiwayman - Jul 26, 2007 2:40 pm
I'm a techno-geek at heart. I LOVE gadgets. I've had GPS systems in my cars and on my motorcycles for years. Generally, though, I only use them to let me know how long it is until I reach my destination (Are we therrrrr yet???) on long trips. It is nice to have a GPS on hand in an unfamiliar neighborhood, but sometimes the darn thing gets me all bollixed up, because it's turn warnings are coming too late (maybe not enough satellites in view?). Oddly enough, at least on motorcycle trips, some of the best roads I've found were because of accidental wrong turns. Yeah, a GPS will get you there with no muss and no fuss, but you sure can miss a lot!
pf_flyer - Jul 16, 2007 12:17 pm
Cities are usually the easiest as there's a pattern to follow. NYC the "streets" run roughly E-W and the number of the streets get higher as you move uptown (north), and "AVE's" run N-S with Ave #'s getting higher as you go west :) DC... numbers streets run N-S, lettered streets E-W, the ones named after staes are diagonals! Heck, I don't even need the sun in Manhattan, even when it does make it down to ground level LOL
karens - Jul 16, 2007 4:33 am
I'm like Steve. On foot, I can figure my way around just fine. Put me in the middle of nowhere in a vehicle and I can usually figure out how to get where I want. However, in a concrete jungle like NYC? Forget it! I need the GPS.
Sylvia - Jul 15, 2007 5:56 pm
Uh, what if the next turn is right-turn only? :-P I'm similar in that I generally know N-S-E-W, various landmarks and just have a 'feel' for whether or not I'm going in the right direction. It has certainly paid off over the years - except in London. Never try to use these skills in cities with streets more than 300 years old...
tomscot2 - Jul 15, 2007 4:40 pm
I'm the guy you quoted. I also have the same skills you ascribe to yourself regarding map reading, being oriented to place and time most of the time, and I do not like the sense of not knowing exactly where I am. However, the nav systems dramaticly improve on those innate skills. The display let's me know exactly where I am at. As opposed to the dead reckoning method that gives you a good sense of your location. However, the best part is that I am not straining my eyes and slowing down unnecessarily to find the right intersection to turn at. Furthermore I am not trying to figure out if I have to turn left or right to get to my desination. It reduces anxiety to a degree I hadn't thougth possible. I still know exactly where I am because there is this really cool moving map that I don't have to fold and refold as move. I can push a few buttons and find the nearest In n Out burger when I am traveling around southern california. What more can I ask for. This is one feature that folks who like navigation AND travel frequently to places you are not familiar with will find useful.
steve_ - Jul 15, 2007 2:53 pm
That's all well and good if you have a sense of direction in the first place. I'm fine on foot but the sheet metal messes up my directional abilities in a car, and I get lost all too often. Maybe that's why I've always loved open-ended road trips. Getting lost wasn't an issue, but part of the fun. A nav is on my "to-buy" list.
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