Pre satellite "GPS"

Yeah it was tough in the old days.

You got out of the car with your paper map and compass, looked around and hoped you were going in the right direction.

Later, after you were totally lost and on some cow-path to nowhere, you would use the paper map to start a fire to keep warm until the stars came out and you could use the sextant you carried in the trunk for just such an emergency.

This predates the English system:
https://vintagenewsdaily.com/behold-the-iter-avto-the-worlds...

But there was a system developed in the USA which is older than that from 1909 The Jones Live Map:
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2012/02/gps-1909/

We have the little piece of iron in our brain for magnetic navigation. Works most of the time.

Yeah, but then you snap because the wife is saying over and over "why don't you just stop and ask for directions...."

Automotive GPS units were invented by a guy who got really-really tired of hearing that from his wife. Don't believe any urban myths to the contrary.

I saw a joke on YouTube recently.

Parent: "Back when I learned to drive, we didn't have GPS. I had to find my way around with a paper map."

Astonished Child: "Like a pirate?!"

...your comment.

mile-omm-etter seems to me to be the correct pronunciation.

As in thermometer (ther-mom-etter) and barometer (bar-omm-etter).

Not to be confused with kilometre (keelo-meeter), NOT kil-omm-etter as it is a unit of distance, a metre times 1000 (Keelo). Not a measuring instrument that counts killoms.

I still carry a number of paper maps in my car, by province and state. GPS units are no good for anything beyond a few miles (assuming you are in just-Drive mode as opposed to Destination mode). If you want to see the bigger picture, or need to find an alternate route over long distances, only paper will do.

Or perhaps you just want to go off in a different direction exploring, but want to know that the road you are taking will go roughly where you want to go. I think it's called "exploring", or simply "road-trip, road-trip".

I suppose a paper map might be confusing for those who can't navigate their way out of a cardboard box. I've never needed the sextant, nor even the compass.

It was Yogi Berra's famous line "If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up someplace else" that prompted the invention of GPS

Years ago I used to not only stop at interstate highway rest stops for potty breaks, I also used to go inside the primary facility to pick up free paper maps. In recent years when I stop at rest stops I only use the bathroom facilities and go on my way.

I wondered if paper maps can still be found at interstate rest stops?

If they can be found anywhwere I'll bet that they are not FREE.

I drove through the USA was in 2019 and only the official state tourist info as you are entering a state on the Interstate, had free maps but only for the particular state.

I believe you can still get triptiks from AAA, but I think they are no longer in paper format, remember those? The end of an era.

Used in boats, aircraft, and apparently trucks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LORAN

a collection of old maps

Of us old guys probably do !

I have not taken any really long trips in the last ten years that took me to new places (just some familiar locations), so I don't have current knowledge of the AAA TripTiks.

However, I can definitely comment that in the past they were so useful that they justified the cost of AAA membership all by themselves. We have driven over most of the US and Canada over the years, and the first thing I did after deciding where we were going to go was to visit the local AAA office to get a TripTik put together.

- Tom -

In the car…I have, finally, let go of the state by state folding maps

I still have and use one some but use sr&trips wirh google earth for most trip planning noe, with the old 660 .

I'm not sure if they still can be found at the first rest stop entering a state like they used to. But I still often write the state for their map when I know I will be motorbiking there. The GPS (Zumo) is good, but nothing beats opening a wide map to plan a new route on the fly, especially when you are searching for an off the beaten track route (like motorcycle touring).

Here is the one for NC:
https://www.ncdot.gov/travel-maps/maps/Pages/state-transport...