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" It's about the journey, not just the destination. "
It all started at 9pm one evening in July a couple of years ago. Whilst packing for a holiday in Cornwall I heard myself say: “How about switching off the satnav (GPS) and instead use our very up-to-date paper "Great Britain Road Atlas” to get there?”
Challenge set and accepted by driver, navigator and passenger!
One of us took the map, diligently checked the blue, red, green, yellow, white roads and wrote the main intersections on post-it notes …
(Note: it was not me as I was still packing, repacking, unpacking late into the night … what will the weather be like in Cornwall? Bikini, fleece, waterproof, flip flops hiking shoes…? All of them?)
Before we left and while we still had WIFI access at home, we checked the journey time on our smartphone, 5hr 13m with motorway and 5hr 18m without. “5min difference, it’s a no brainer! Let’s take the non-motorway option, shall we?”
(Note: we planned 1hr extra for a couple of quick stops to swap driver and refill the tanks.)
Devices on airplane mode, 3G-4G-5G data off, bluetooth off, any other navigating application switched off and away we went.
Aftermath:
It took us 3 hours more than we initially anticipated.
We reached Cornwall safe and sound with all 3 passengers still onboard.
AND a number of added bonuses. We ...
discovered an old airfield, spotted horses, saw an interesting looking factory building (which later, once online, we identified as the ‘cathedral city cheddar factory’)
encountered a ‘road closure’ which our human navigator ‘re-routed’ faster than any satnav would have!
stopped in a farm to get some fresh local groceries
decided to take a slight detour to discover a beautiful fishing village and realised while driving through the very narrow streets that it was NOT suitable for ANY vehicle larger than a mini. Somehow the roadmap kept this detail close to its heart. We were relieved to find our way out of this cute and typical location without parting with any car paint or mirrors!
Yes ok, we cheated twice and connected the data on our phone to check our location as our map wasn’t sharing a level of detail beyond the ‘white road’ and the road signs were clearly designed for people who already knew where they were going!
For the rest of our holiday we used mainly the roadmap, sign posts and followed our nose.
By using a paper road map you might experience the following …
realise you have a better sense of direction than you thought
go around some roundabouts more than once to check the signs
stop more frequently
enjoy a few traffic jams (but what is the rush after all?)
discover new places along the way, interesting street names, or puzzling signs. The most intriguing for me was: “Caution: cat’s eyes removed” *
And finally,
I guarantee you will feel like a superhero!
Use a Map not an App If you walk somewhere new, use a paper map, observe your surroundings, memorise street names or interesting buildings shape. Count the intersections and ask some real human beings that may be walking around or in local shops. You will be surprised to see how much people enjoy giving directions. If you drive without a satnav or other navigation application, it might require a bit of planning: Step 1: Take a paper map or your journey written or printed out Step 2: Put aside a bit of time to ‘study’ the routes and the colour coding (it will not tell you which route will be the fastest, with least traffic, or road closure etc, but do you always want the fastest one?) Step 3: Have a ‘human’ navigator, someone sitting next to you with the map on their lap. Be prepared to ‘possibly’ experience some level of misunderstanding, as we all have different ways to communicate / perceive the world and it might not always be aligned or make sense to each other. To avoid this, do not skip step 4! Step 4: Plan a chat with your ‘navigator’ prior to your trip when in the comfort of your own home, to agree on a consensual language or use of ‘codes’ that you both relate to. - If driving solo, be ready to stop as and when needed to check the map, the road signs, recalibrate, rest and ask for directions of course. Step 5: ENJOY! |
With the solstice coming up, there is so much more daylight this month. Have fun exploring familiar or new areas without the help of technology and dare to be the change you want to see in your organisation, family, community and life!
References:
* Cat's eye (road) - Wikipedia
Image credit: Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels
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