Are fold-out maps obsolete? Not if you want to understand your destination

by Sean McLachlan on

Is the age of opening up a map to figure out where you are a thing of the past? According to a recent post on Bad Latitude, they’re one of ten travel items that are now obsolete.

There’s no doubt that technology such as Google Maps and GPS have advantages over traditional maps, but a good, old-fashioned fold-out map will always be an important part of a real traveler’s kit. Here’s why.

As I’m planning my trip to Ethiopia I’ve been studying a 1:2500000 scale map from Cartographia that measures 65×85 cm, or 26×33 inches. Try getting that field of view from a computer screen or mobile phone! Seeing the country as a whole with all its details in one view gives you a better perspective. You begin to notice things.

For example, why does Ethiopia have that big spike for an eastern border? My map shows a string of oases all the way up to the eastern point of the frontier with Somalia, drawn in blue like a series of water droplets on the tan and pale green backdrop of desert and scrub land. A network of caravan routes crisscrosses the space between them. That’s why Ethiopia holds onto a region with a majority Somali population. The caravan routes are of no interest to someone in a car, so you won’t find them on the GPS. My fold-out map also shows the habitats of important wildlife and even the shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Fold-out maps give you a deeper understanding of the country and are things of beauty. They also have the advantage that they still work if the power goes out or if you lose the signal, a common occurrence in some of the places I go, and they’re far less likely to get stolen.

There’s no doubt that GPS, Mapquest, and Google Maps are efficient ways to get you from Point A to Point B, but real travel isn’t about getting from Point A to Point B.

And that’s a fact no amount of technology will ever change.

Eight rules for renting a car in a foreign country

by Katie Hammel on

Renting a car can be a great way to see a foreign country. Having your own wheels allows you the freedom to take your time, to stop for long lunches in the countryside, to turn down that little lane that looks interesting, and to go where public transportation won’t take you. But, renting a car comes with its own set of challenges and dangers. Here are eight road rules to remember when renting a car on your travels.

If you can’t drive a manual, now is not the time to learn.

Outside of the US, many, if not most, cars have manual transmissions. Finding an automatic rental can be difficult, and the cost will be significantly higher. You may be tempted to save money by taking the manual and if you’re fairly comfortable driving one, that’s fine. But if you’ve never driven one before, took a crash course just before your trip, or haven’t had to step on a clutch in over a decade, get the automatic. You’ll be concentrating hard enough on trying to figure out where to go, decipher all the crazy foreign road sides, and possibly drive on the “wrong” side of the road, that you really don’t want to add learning how to shift into the mix. And if you screw up the car’s transmission while you try to learn how to drive a manual, you could be held liable for the damage.



Always spring for the insurance.
$10-$20 a day for insurance can add up, and it’s easy to figure that, hey, nothing will go wrong, so why not skimp a little on the full coverage. Don’t do it (unless your credit card offers some coverage). On the off chance that something does happen, even if it isn’t your fault, you’ll be kicking yourself when you are stuck with a hefty bill. In some countries it is common to be offered an additional coverage on your tires and windshield. If you’ll be driving on gravel roads, definitely take this option. It’s usually just a few bucks more over the course of your rental and well worth the cost.

Let your hosts know when to expect you.
When you head out for the day with your car, always let your hosts know where you expect to go and when you’ll most likely be back. If you are going from place to place, let the proprietors of your next accommodation know when you’ll be arriving and what route you will be taking. If you do get horribly lost or get stranded along the road, at least you’ll know that one person has noticed that you’ve gone missing and they will have somewhat of an idea of where to start looking for you.

Make sure you have a spare.
In the US, it’s easier to get help if you get a flat tire. Chances are you’ve got your cell phone on you and you may even be a AAA member, making it easy to arrange a tow. At the very least, you can call the rental company and ask for assistance. If you are traveling in another country without a cell, getting help is a bit more difficult. Always check to make sure your rental car has a spare tire, and before you set out on your trip, make sure you know how to change it.

Don’t forget a map.
If you’ve got the cash and the option is available, get the GPS, but also bring a hard copy map with you as well. As we’ve seen, sometimes there’s no substitute for an actual old-fashioned paper map. If GPS isn’t an option, don’t rely on vague directions, be sure to pick up a comprehensive map in case you decide to wander a bit or in the event that the directions you were given turn out to be less than accurate.

Know the rules of the road.
Stop at stop signs, don’t speed, watch out for children and livestock. These are rules we know and which tend to be consistent across continents. Other rules of the road are more localized and often unwritten. Not following them may not get you a ticket, but they may not earn you any friends along the way either. Always research the road culture in a place you will be driving and learn customs that are followed there. For instance, when I was driving in South Africa, I was glad my friends had told me that on two-lane roads I should move over to the far left so that faster drivers could pass me. Had I not known, I probably would have made some other drivers very angry as they tried to pass me while I drove in the middle of my lane.

Don’t make yourself a target.
If you are driving from place to place, you’ll be traveling with your luggage and you may have a GPS unit mounted on your window or a map spread across the backseat. All of this screams “I’m a tourist, come pillage the car!” Always put your luggage in the trunk and stow the GPS and maps in the glovebox. Lock your doors when you aren’t in the car and don’t give anyone a reason to break in.

Read the fine print.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with your rental company’s rules. Some don’t allow rentals with debit cards, and a few countries require than the driver have not just a driver’s license from their home country, but an international driving permit as well. If you’re told something different in person than what you’ve read, be sure to ask for clarification. A couple I talked to in South Africa thought they needed to sign a special form to take their rental out of the country, but the rental agent said it wasn’t necessary. When they hit a cow and totaled the car in Botswana, they were told that because they didn’t sign the form before crossing the border, they could be liable for the cost of the car – about $7000US! Always read the fine print and know the rental rules.

New state, new map – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

When road-tripping, pick up a fresh map every time you enter a new state.

In the United Sates, there are often welcome centers or rest stations that provide free state maps. When on the interstate, take the time to stretch your legs and pick up an official state map.

A state map from the state’s Department of Transportation provides information and details not normally found on your national atlas. State maps can offer facts about driving laws, attractions, and locations — as well as invaluable, detailed city maps (usually on the reverse side). State maps also serve as excellent (free) mementos of your trip.

So remember, new state, new map.

Use a map, find out what’s nearby – Hotel tip

by Gadling Staff on

When trying to find a nice hotel in an area you’re not familiar with, go back to the basics and find the address on an online mapping service, like Google Maps.

Their satellite view will tell you a lot about where your hotel is located, what’s around it, and — potentially — what to watch out for.

You may find a hotel that looks great on their website is actually in an area surrounded by warehouses or in an abandoned area of town.

Are you using a “socially conscious” world map?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

What’s a “socially conscious” world map, you ask? Well, for starters, everyone knows that all world maps necessarily distort some regions of the Earth at the expense of others. The attempt to plot a 3-D shape onto a flat piece of paper makes such distortions unavoidable.

The Mercator Projection (right), for example, makes countries closer to the poles appear larger, such that Greenland appears almost as large as Africa despite being about one-fourteenth its size. While Gerardus Mercator originally intended his map to be used solely for navigation, the projection is now virtually ubiquitous, used in thousands of classrooms and even by Google Maps.

In the Mercator Projection, Africa and Southern Asia, since they are located near the Equator, appear smaller than their true sizes. Because these regions are typically thought of as poorer and less influential than the rest of the world, it strikes some as unfair that the world’s wealthier areas should be depicted as larger relative to their poor counterparts.

In 1885, a clergyman named James Gall published a map in the Scottish Geographical Magazine that depicted each country’s size in proportion to the others’. About a hundred years later, cartographer Arno Peters refined Gall’s map into the Gall-Peters projection, which is seen below:

The virtue of the Gall-Peters projection is that it correctly displays each country’s size relative to the sizes of the other countries. So Africa dwarfs Greenland, just as it does in reality, and Western Europe looks much smaller than it does in the Mercator Projection.

So case closed, let’s switch to the Gall-Peters projection, right? Not so fast. Critics of the map point out that although the relative sizes are correct, this projection actually elongates countries near the equator so that they resemble, in the words of one prominent cartographer, “wet, ragged, long winter-underwear hung out to dry.”

Thankfully, plenty of alternatives to the Mercator and Gall-Peters projections exist. Perhaps the most well-known among them is the Winkel tripel projection, which many geographers now believe is the most accurate, least distorting world map in existence. Here it is:


Employing curved lines of latitude and longitude allows the Winkel tripel projection to minimize size and shape distortion. Though countries closer to the poles are still enlarged, this projection is a healthy compromise between Mercator and Gall-Peters.

You’ve probably also seen the Goode homolosine projection, an “interrupted”-type map which displays the world in a series of connected lobes. Though this projection displays the true relative sizes of countries, it comes at the expense of “tearing,” or creating a number of discontinuities on the map. This projection, which gained popularity back in the 1960s, was nicknamed the “orange-peel map” for its resemblance to a hand-peeled orange. The drawback is that it’s not as visually appealing and less user-friendly than most other projections. Take a look:

So, after all this, which is the best map to use? It’s frustrating, but it depends on what you want to emphasize– and what you’re willing to give up. If you want a pretty map to hang on your wall, the Goode homolosine projection (above) is probably not it. If you want to be “socially conscious” by emphasizing how much larger Africa is than Western Europe, the Gall-Peters projection will do the trick. If you’re sailing around the world, stick with ol’ Mercator– and don’t forget the GPS.