A GPS can have many advantages, but it’s still a computer telling you what to do. I hope all new drivers learn how to navigate with maps first, before turning to a GPS.

Advantages of Trips with a GPS

• If you make a wrong turn, you’re automatically re-routed. It’s dummy-proof.
• You can see an estimated time of arrival, which may change during your trip if you run into traffic. If you’re meeting someone, it’s nice to be able to give an accurate time of arrival.
• If you choose, you may be re-routed to avoid traffic.
• Since the GPS mounts to the windshield, it’s easier and safer than holding a mobile phone with a GPS feature. Plus, it talks to you, so you don’t need to look at the screen too much.
• Service is rarely an issue, except maybe inside parking garages where satellite reception isn’t available.

Disadvantages of Trips with a GPS

• You’ll probably want to stash away your GPS instead of leaving it on the windshield to tempt thieves. This can be annoying to do each time you go to a hotel or restaurant.
• The GPS will try to re-route you each time you make a stop that doesn’t coincide with your trip (ie, gas station).
• You’ll eventually need to buy a map update.

Have you been braver with your road trips since using a GPS?

(Image of Chicago by Peggy Rowland)

Post from: Blisstree

GPS for Road Trips

It’s a guy thing. They and do that without soaking their shoes. I gave up pottying on the side of the road when I was in college. Though, many deserted highways seem far cleaner than a few gas stations we’ve stopped at so I haven’t ruled it out entirely.

Today we were so close to Louisiana we could touch the state but road construction had us at a complete standstill in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Truman announces, “I gotta go potty!” And Rick and I freak. There is no way to exit to the gas station nearby, and we sure as hell couldn’t let our son out to pee on the pavement. Rick has another brilliant idea. He says, “Grab that empty Sprite Zero bottle.” I tried to put it off as long as humanly possible, but every time Truman moaned Rick insisted I get in the back seat and explain the alternative to him.

My sons whines were unrelenting and I finally gave in, crawling into the backseat (which is not as easy as it used to be), sliding over the pillows and wedging my body against the cooler. I held up the empty Sprite Zero bottle and looked at my son’s tear-streaked face. “Ok, love, here’s the plan. We are too far from the exit and there are too many cars here for you to go to the bathroom outside. So here’s what we can do. We can put your pee-pee in this bottle and you can go to the bathroom in here. I promise not to make you drink it.”

My son’s face lit up with laughter, a painful act for anyone in urinary distress. He says, “No. I don’t want to do that.” My husband encouraged him, saying it would be just this once. He just shook his head. He said, “I’ll wait for the Shell station.”

As luck would have it, mere minutes later we got past the construction and drove right to a gas station. The bathroom was an absolute fright, but it served its purpose well. Honestly, I was relieved we didn’t have to resort to the bottle-potty. And surprisingly, Truman was as well.

Rick’s new idea? Getting one of those bottles they have for men in nursing homes and hospitals. Yeah, I nixed that idea fast. 

Photo, Flickr, tim eschaton

Post from: Blisstree

Roadside Rest Stops … How Gross is This?

Today my family packed up our Volkswagen, a Touareg, and headed off on our own cross-country excursion. This is not my parents’ driving adventure. For starters, Truman is secure in a booster seat and we’re all wearing seat belts. Secondly, this smooth-riding Touareg is nothing like the roaring loud VW my parents drove. That camper – and the green one that followed a decade later – caused me years of preteen and teenaged embarrassment until my father finally graduated to an SUV. (I won’t even mention what he’s driving now.) We also have air conditioning in the Touareg , which we will be even more grateful for as we travel to the center of the desert. Unlike the camper I rode in as a kid, we can’t camp in this car. There is no pop-up roof with a pullout bed, which is fine for me. I’m more of a hotel girl anyway. (Those outdoor bathrooms scared me as a child.)

Easter Gnome loves Old Man River

Technology has changed considerably for road travelers since then, too.

The Touareg doesn’t have a GPS, and I was THISCLOSE to buying one, but I had two friends insist we use theirs before we make the purchase. So we are using a borrowed GPS, a TomTom What is up with that keyboard? Setting the thing caused me more stress than packing for this trip. Old TomTom will have to work hard these next few days to convince me to buy one of my own.

The GPS may eventually prove its worth, but the one gadget I would not do without on the trip is the portable DVD player. Sure, books and toys and markers and games are a great way to entertain a child on the trip, but we have sanity to maintain. I’m learning to tune out Spongebob so I can concentrate on my own work, here on my laptop with my air card. I’m lucky to have a husband who will likely drive most, if not all, the 3,000 miles we will travel these next two weeks so I can have the pleasure of writing and going online to shop for new cars … you know, just for entertainment.

I won’t gush about my iPhone. You already know how fabulous those are. But my new gadget – an early birthday gift – is certainly worth mentioning and will likely prove valuable for the trip. It’s a Flip, a little, cordless camcorder that stores up to two hours of video. It has an attached jump drive and you just hook it up to your computer and download your films, quick and easy. What took us so long to get one? Don’t worry … I don’t plan to bore you with home movies. But we can definitely bore our families with them!

And we’ll have plenty of time to capture this vacation on film. It’s now seven hours until we reach today’s destination. Wishing you all safe travels.

Photos:
VW, Flickr, splattergraphics
Flip

Post from: Blisstree

This is Not Your Parents’ Road Trip

1. Service your car. That’s a no-brainer. We’re taking the Touareg in Monday for the 75,000-mile service. But I’m also taking it later in the week to NTB to get two new tires and a rotation. It would really suck to be in the middle of west Texas in 116-degree temperatures and have the car stall out on us for some reason.
2. Buy a Road Atlas. I hate Walmart, but they sell this awesome, large-sized, spiral-bound road atlas. Sure, use your GPS, but nothing replaces a road atlas. Plus, it’s great educational entertainment for the kids. Truman and I like to play the “where do you want to go?” game. He I dying to go to go to South Dakota, for some reason. Doesn’t it stay cold there year-round?
3. Stock up on the necessaries. I always bring a big box of wet wipes, roll of paper towels and a trash bag. If you have to ask why, you obviously don’t have young children.
4. A cooler stocked with drinks. Why waste your money at convenience stores when you can have your own cold drink conveniently in the car?
5. Snacks. Again, why waste your money at convenience stores. I also like to pack fruit, like oranges and grapes, but not bananas because I cannot walk past a banana without it bruising.
6. Wine … and a cock screw. Nothing is worse than stopping overnight in a town that’s dry or has a poor wine selection. (Yes, I am a wine snob.) Put the wine in the cooler unless you’re driving in cool weather.
7. Games, toys, DVDs and books. We use road trips as a good opportunity to buy DVDs and game books our son has not yet seen so he’ll look forward to seeing them. If you buy them early, hid then until time for the trip.
8. Check out your devices. Nothing is worse than starting on a road trip and finding out the power cord has a short or the iPod dock is missing a piece.
9. Make a list. I’m a list-maker, so I start mine early. This is for the things you will be miserable if you forget, like the iPhone charger, laptop computer, that book you’ve been meaning to finish, etc.
10. Book the house sitter, or make your pet/home care plans. We are spoiled. We have a house sitter named Joe who is an ex-marine and a personal trainer at the gym down the road. He brings his to dogs, Brutus the Rottweiller and Thor the Doberman. (Or is it Thor the Rottweiller and Brutus the Doberman?) I stock the fridge for Joe, and throw in a few extra steaks for the dogs, so it’s like a mini-vacation for all three of them.

Road Trip Photo, Flickr, jamiejohndavies

Post from: Blisstree

10 Things to do Before Your Road Trip

That’s what I said when I saw this ‘08 Tahoe Hybrid and all it’s fancy shmancy features.
I said it when I saw the reverse camera and the XM touch screen radio and the GPS and the tire pressure monitor.

Well, read BlogHer or Bust! to find out just how opulent and extravagant a $52,780 car can be.

Image Source: Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me

Post from: Blisstree

Shut UP! ‘08 Tahoe