the Luddite in me

I spend a lot of time with mapquest., maps.yahoo, google.maps, and once with msn's maps. I know that I am not the only one. Sometimes when I am feeling nosey while driving I look at my fellow drivers and inevitably I see someone with a piece of folded paper spread across their steering wheel trying to read the directions, the signs, and watch the road all at once.
Its pretty remarkable that I can ask the great wizard how to get where I want to go and actually get an answer.

But I gotta say, I do prefer having a proper map. For my one day tour of NYC BBFK gave me "The Map," a simplified cartographic representation of "The City." While the act of carrying it and reading it slapped a sign on me that said, "Mug me!" which the locals were kind enough to disregard. It was great to have the lay of the island, some concept of alternate routes, landmarks for the lost, and get my bearings. It was nice to know where North is.

With .map directions, I don't really know where I am going or where I am and I do not have help in the event that I miss a turn or it turns out that Hartford has two airports: Brainerd and Bradley - only one of which is used by national air carriers. (@#*!) .map directions do not always realize or bother to warn you that Dinky Lane is a two way road that becomes one way that ends only to being again three blocks later.

When traveling too much information is better than just enough.

So this is a shout out to what is tried and true, the gentle art of navigation, and mapmakers everywhere. On my list of things to do is to purchase a proper map of the Greater Lou area. I am not Zen. I like to know where I am and what's around me.