Most of you already saw it but if not check out Big Country Expat’s post:
I am a huge proponent of having paper maps, at a minimum for your AO and anywhere you might be travelling. It is the simplest thing in the world for them to shut off your access to GPS and Google maps and most of our fellow Americans couldn’t find their butt with both hands without a GPS to tell them where it is. When I take a trip I always look at the route on a map, often on the web, but I can follow the roads and know where I am going. Most younger people seem incapable of even doing that.
Maps can be had for cheap or free but when you need one you won’t have time to order one from Amazon.
It amazes me how many people cannot even read a map. If shown a map, they cannot point out where they are on it. They do not know which direction is North on the map, and if asked to point IRL which direction is North, they cannot. And even if they could, they do not know what direction from there is South, West, or East.
I was taught all these things as a young boy. In fifth grade geography class, we would be handed an outline of the continental US, and were expected to be able to reasonably accurately draw the outline of all 48 states within the outline.
I suspect the problem begins with school kids no longer having classes in such arcane subjects as geography. Subjects such as CRT and LBGTQ are apparently considered to be more vitally important nowadays.
Since I drove a lot during my traveling job, I carried a Rand McNally road Atlas with me at all times. Even with a GPS, I would always look at the atlas to see if there was a shorter or more interesting route, other than just interstate.
If you travel on interstates, rest area welcome centers, typically found at state lines, provide free state maps and are updated every year. If you believe you will be traveling on foot, another great item to have is a moon phase chart. Knowing whether you can move under the light of a full moon or not is very helpful.
Anyone whi is a member of AAA can get national regional and even local maps for free. They are a great resource. A lot of Parks and Recreation Departments will provide free or low cost maps. Fish and Wildlife Departments usually carry local topographic maps.
And, Amazon is still up and running its a good idea to get a Road Atlas.
Trip tixs are great too from AAA (specific smaller route maps in easier to carry format)
Though the dotgov interface takes a little getting used to, the US Geologic Survey provides topographic maps with higher detail than I can find in any road atlas. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/
That said, the Delorme Atlas for your state and surrounding states is not a bad thing to have handy.
I always try to keep the cardinal directions straight but when I tell people something is east of something else I get a blank look.
I actually ordered a new Rand McNally last night, ours is kind of old and out of date.
I didn't even think about the rest areas, that is a great tip!
Not AAA members so I have to order them one at a time from the state tourism boards but for AAA members it is a great resource
Yep, we have a decent collection of the Delorme atlas and gazetteers but I need to get a new one for Indiana.
Map Lives Matter
Lamination is your friend
The rest areas are a good source, also those racks filled with tourist brouchures always have a few magazine type promos that have pretty good maps in them as well, in a small format.
I have built up quite the collection of maps from all over the country over the years. City, county, state, region. All good resources depending on what ya going to do.