huskyflyer

Not sure if this is approriate or the type of post on Flyertalk, but it really got me thinking after I typed up another post. I only recently became old enough to rent cars freely.

I have noticed I have never been worried about getting lost when renting a car, especially in a new city or exploring "random" back country roads near my home etc. Literally, all I do is open up Google Maps on my phone, type in a destination, and then blindly follow the GPS even if I have no idea what the route looks like on a macro level. However, this is only possible because of Apple CarPlay and come to think about it it wasn't really until the 2020s that Apple CarPlay was widely available as I think Toyota never had Apple CarPlay as standard until 2020 and BMW used to charge extra for Apple CarPlay etc. I have never been worried about getting a car where I wouldn't have a GPS to guide me, but this "no GPS" anxiety seems like something that only recently went away with the wide adoption of Apple CarPlay.



I cant count the amount of random country side roads I have been on where the route involves a lot of junctions and turns or the number of times in cities with all the one way streets etc where I just blindly listen to Google Maps.

I actually can't imagine doing all this driving/exploration without Apple CarPlay, especially if I am driving alone with no one to check the maps for me.

I know when I was growing up, my dad would buy one of those large USA map books and bring it everywhere we go. Then in around 2005, Google Maps was invented and he would print out Google Maps directions for entire two week road trips between cities and give it to my mom to follow while driving. However, for me I can't imagine driving without live turn by turn GPS instructions. I am not sure if it is a generational thing, but even to this day, my dad reads a map (on an iPad) to plan the driving route and still writes down directions manually on the highways he hopes to goes on instead of just trusting Apple CarPlay.

When renting a car before GPS/Apple CarPlay, how did you all navigate in new cities, especially when driving alone? I just find it so hard to imagine these days jumping into a rental car in a new city and driving off the rental lot with little planing and little fears of getting lost.

randix

My horse always seemed to know where to go...

dbuckho

It used to be a nice upgrade to get a car with built-in GPS (and many folks would reserve GPS as an add-on). Built-in or plug-in car GPS has actually been around for a while - I think Avis started in the early 1990s.

But pre-MapQuest and not having GPS in the car, many companies and hotels would provide you printed directions - I.e. I think I received some from clients via fax in my early career travel days. Not quite turn by turn but major roads, what to look for in terms of turns, general mileage on each road, etc. And then you augmented that by stopping at gas stations if you needed more specifics or got lost.

For vacations there were AAA triptiks.

highlanderfil

There was still mobile Nav before CarPlay. I used to carry a vent clip with me so that I could mount my phone and forgo paying for rental agencies' navigation systems. Prior to that I used iGo on my Windows Mobile phone. Prior to that - Google Maps and spending more time researching my routes.

guv1976

At least until the 1960's (and maybe into the 1970's?) many gas stations provided free roadmaps to customers:

https://oldtopographer.net/2012/02/04/gas-station-maps/

Even today, some state departments of tourism/economic development might provide free state roadmaps to those contemplating a visit. New York is one example:

https://www.iloveny.com/travel-tools/guides/

wahooflyer

Wow, I'm just an "elder millennial" (recently turned 40) and I remember the days of paper maps well. I didn't have a smartphone with turn by turn directions until 2011 or 2012. Never owned a standalone GPS device. I owned a BlackBerry in 2008 that had Google Maps, but it was essentially the same as a printout from the computer - no turn-by-turn.

In the pre-smartphone era, I would either buy a paper map or map book of the city I was traveling to, or use the rental car company's free map to figure out where I was going. I have a decent sense of direction so even now, I try not to rely on GPS to find my way around if it's a city I'm relatively familiar with. Most often I use Waze for the real-time traffic info.

Somewhere in my storage unit I have a 2005 "Thomas Guide" that I used on my many trips to Los Angeles back then. Found some creative back routes through Bel Air to get from the Westside to the Valley, years before Waze made such routes popular

huskyflyer

lol I didn't know what a triptik was. I have a feeling apple carplay has pretty much destroyed annicliary revenues for car rentals to sell GPS units. I have wondered if anyone at rental companies have tried ordering cars and asking manfuactuers to disable CarPlay so that they can sell the GPS or charge an activation fee to use CarPlay.

These days even if the car comes with a GPS I still end up using CarPlay because its so much easier to input your destination on your phone and I think Google Maps is generally better. I wonder if CarPlay/Android Auto will pretty much kill any investments auto companies would make for their onboard GPS system. I still remember I think it was Audi that first released satellite image GPS that I thought was really cool, but these days even a Chevy Spark with CarPlay allows you to display satellite image GPS.


Wow... I cant even imagine using a paper map or even a digital map to do research on what roads to take. Even for walking directions I just hit Directions for Google Maps to guide me. Maybe its a generational thing -- my dad on the other hand doesnt rely on GPS for reasons that I don't know why beyond him thinking his pre planned manual route is better. Just out of curiosity, what did you do if you were lost or confused in navigating city with one ways, no right/left turns etc? When GPS on your smartphone and now Apple CarPlay first came out, did you think it was a big big through in innovations that you were enthustic to embrace or was it more of that's cool, but I will still look at a map manually?

I remember growing up in 2005 in Los Angeles where my family had a similar paper map of LA and all of Western USA. I still have no idea how my dad would pull over when lost on road trips and look at which roads to take

huskyflyer

lol I still remember growing up visiting national parks my parents would use the road map they give at the park entrance pretty religiously to find their way around the park. These days, for me, I ignore the map and just look at CarPlay. Were people just used to reading maps like this and planing a route manually? I have a feeling my generation doesnt really know how to plan a route from a paper map (or maybe its just me)

huskyflyer

Oh yeah I remember those days when Google Maps was first launched on smartphones before CarPlay. I thought it was so cool back then, but looking back, I am like wow that was still pretty invoncovnient . Before Google Maps, what did you do if you got lost and you didn't have a device that told you where you were?

I honestly probably couldn't even tell you which way was North on a car absent some road sign ...

guv1976

No matter where you are, the sun always rises in the East, and sets in the West.

highlanderfil

I either used paper maps or didn't travel a whole lot. I didn't start traveling at least 2-3 times a year until 2005, by which point some form of technology was already available.

wahooflyer

I don't know if it's a generational thing so much as my personality and upbringing, LOL. I have a friend who's my age (40) and still uses GPS or apps to navigate everywhere, even in our own hometown where he's lived for 18 years. My father taught me to drive and always talked, only half-jokingly, about his "infallible sense of direction" after having lived in 6 or 7 different cities during his lifetime. He always looked either at the direction of the sun (at certain hours of the day, of course) or would look for landmarks like a radio tower or a mountain moreso than street names if he was driving in an unfamiliar place without a map. He had a certain confidence when it came to driving & wayfinding that you could say I inherited. Dad passed away in 2019 and (proudly) never owned a smartphone. He still used a flip phone and a paper map/looking at landmarks until the very end!

Even with Google Maps, etc. I still like to get an overview of the directions before starting on any drive, and I keep a rough mental picture of the map in my head (i.e. I know if I need to head west and then turn north). So one-way streets or restricted turns aren't really an issue if I run into one - I just go on to the next block and turn in the direction I'm going.

arollins

I remember the days when you could call triple AAA and have them mail you free of charge a road map from a state you wanted to visit, and they even highlighted the route you would take to get to your destination. I had the Rand Macnally Road atlas in my car, as well as a condensed version of the spiral booklet that was more manageable when looking while on the road.

My first advancement was printing directions from MapQuest from the local library. Next step up for me was a TOM TOM navigator that I uploaded on my Treo phone, it was a 5 disc of maps that I had to upload, as well as a paid subscription for traffic alerts as well as maps update. I will travel with that everywhere; I had the remote satellite connection that will synch up with my Treo via Bluetooth and provide the guidance. Heck, I even uploaded POI's (points of interest) to my phone as well. which basically was locations indicating a Dunking Donut, McDonalds, Burger King, and similar stores, not actual points of interests per se.

TXJeepGuy

Lots of printed mapquest directions.

huskyflyer

Lol actually even when I drive near my home, my Google Maps GPS would be on even if there's no destination plugged in. I just like my car screen to display the map unless I want to see some of the performance guages

I have always admired people with those sense of directions. everyone else in my family seems to have a strong sense of direction while for me I need the map. Yeah for me I never really look at the overall Google Maps route, I just look at the total travel time and distance and trust the GPS.

I am curious, do you miss the old days before modern GPS/CarPlay? Were road trips harder or more fun to plan back then? I had to loop up what a Treo was... Yeah speaking of restaurants etc nearby, I think that's another great advancement with Google Maps particularly in remote areas where you want to see where the next gas station is.

I remember my dad used to print out Google Maps direction, but he still would look at the map anyways beforehand. Still no idea how he found his way when he was lost. Do you memorize them before driving if you are driving alone without someone else telling you which turn to make or do you look down and see your printed directions and hope to find the correct street?