Print directions – Road trip tip

With the invention of GPS, many people may be tempted to forgo carrying printed directions for their road trip. However, physical directions and a detailed map of the area are necessary in many situations where GPS may fail. Example problems with a GPS include:

  • A slow or weak signal which prevents the unit from updating;
  • The GPS doesn’t recognize streets in some rural areas;
  • The device could die or malfunction;
  • The unit can be insistent, taking you in circles, and not allowing you to try another path;
  • The device doesn’t always find the best way around unexpected road construction or detours.

While technology is wonderful, a good map can save you a lot of frustration.

How far will a man drive without asking for directions?

How far will a man drive without asking for directions? In this particular case, the answer was nine hours. Nine hours!

An 81-year-old Australian man named Eric Steward took a wrong turn in New South Wales country town Yass, reportedly on his way to buy a newspaper, and ended up on a major highway. He drove almost 400 miles before pulling off and asking the advice of a policeman at a petrol station.

“This little old man came up to me saying he was lost. He handed me his mobile and asked if I could speak to his wife,” Victorian Police Senior Constable Clayton Smith told Reuters.

Steward claims that after taking the wrong turn, he just went with it: “I just went out on the road to have a drive, a nice peaceful drive.”

Nine hours.

cough-cough-Typical.-cough

[via Reuters]

Lost in Rome? Look for a “tourist angel”

Naples may have a team of ex-cons out on the streets helping lost tourists, but Rome will soon have a fleet of angels – “tourist angels”. According to the online Italy Magazine, Rome is currently recruiting a fleet of 60 guides who will zoom around the city on “electric chariots” (souped-up Segways, perhaps?) looking for confused visitors to help out with information and directions.

Rome’s deputy mayor and tourism chief said that the tourism ambassadors will begin work in November and will be wearing red jerseys to be easily recognized. He said the aim of the project is to provide visitors with easier access to tourism services. “This way tourists won’t have to go to information offices. They’ll be reached wherever they are,” he said.

Of course, that may not be entirely accurate. Rome is a pretty big city, with thousands of tourists flooding its streets every day. With only 60 tourist angels on the team (and not all of them working at once I’m sure), they really can’t be everywhere at all times. I imagine they’ll spread out among the major tourist areas, where they’ll be approached by people in need rather than having to seek them out. Still, it’s a helpful service and I’m sure that many lost souls will appreciate the help of their guardian tourist angel.

MeetWays finds your halfway point

You are visiting Washington, DC. Your best friend just moved to Baltimore. You have a free afternoon and want to get together, but neither of you knows much about the area — except that getting from one city to the other is a giant pain in the butt. That’s where MeetWays comes in handy.

This new website lets you plug in two addresses (or just ZIP codes) and it finds the halfway point for you. Even better, it can find specific points of interest near that halfway point, like a pizza place or a movie theater, so you can figure out the perfect place to meet up when you and your friend are coming from different directions.

Using the example above, if I say that I’m in DC and I want to meet my friend from Baltimore to go shopping, I type in the two addresses and “mall” in the Point of Interest field, and it gives me directions to four different shopping centers in Laurel, MD.

MeetWays is a nifty little tool that can definitely help you save time and avoid stress in your social calendar. You don’t even have to be in different cities for it to be useful. So many people only know their own little neighborhood hangouts, so MeetWays could be good for folks with cross-town friends, too.

Don’t Rely on GPS to Always Pick the Shortcut

Lest we become overly reliant on our GPS system for traveling, a recent news piece should give pause.

A London ambulance crew used their GPS to take a mental patient from one hospital to another. For the trip, which should have been only 10 miles, they scrupulously followed the GPS directions, which took them some 400 miles out of their way. They noticed something wrong when they got to Manchester.

The GPS system in the ambulance has been fixed, so they’ll save gas and time the next time they take the trip. I can just imagine hearing that woman’s voice from the GPS snickering: “No, seriously, take the next right. Would I lie?”