This weekend I went on a road trip that two friends and I had been planning since early summer. It was a long one — from Philadelphia to Northeastern University in Boston and then to SUNY New Paltz’s campus in upstate New York. Luckily, I love to drive. The trip should have taken 10 hours or so (should have being the key words here). Instead, I managed to turn it into a 14-hour marathon of illegal u-turns and hopeless confusion.

You see, I normally just plug my destination into my faithful Garmin and rely on her to not only calculate the route and tell me when to turn, but to do so again and again when I miss turn after turn. However, on this trip, I was guided by Google Maps and Mapquest. Between the two sets of directions, I thought I would be able to find my way easily (famous last words!). Alas, at numerous points, the exit numbers failed to appear, or they differed entirely from the ones provided. In a panic, I would call friends and read them the nearest cross streets and have them direct me back on course. This pattern repeated state through state until about 1:30 a.m. when they all fell asleep. Time for self reliance to kick in, right? Happily and surprisingly, it did.

Somewhere on Route 17K in the snowy Catskills of New York, I decided “to hell with technology!” Instead I did something no one my age has attempted … well, ever – I looked at a map. Yes, a real map. And, wonder of wonders, I found my way using it.

This experience led me to wonder if GPS technology and websites that map out routes have killed not only the sense of adventure that comes from road trips, but also our ability to navigate without their aid. Imagine driving to a new place without first printing out directions or without hearing the soothingly familiar “Turn left in 300 feet.” I agree, it’s scary; however, it is also fun. I felt so accomplished when I finally reached my destination because I had found my own way.

When I saw Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are later that day, I felt a bit like Max — like I had an adventure. Unfortunately, the closest thing I found to any Wild Things was some particularly grisly roadkill.

Moral of the story? Turn off your GPS every once in a while and look at a map. I promise you will feel like Magellan or Lewis and Clark – an explorer off to find new lands and new routes. And, if adventure isn’t your thing, do it for practical reasons. Namely, it makes you a more capable person. Using technology as an aid is not a bad thing, but relying on it to the point of forgetting how to do something for yourself doesn’t sound very smart to me.

– Kate Gallagher, advertising and editorial coordinator