Friday, September 9, 2016

The value of paper maps

My good friend Gordon posted about a paper map saving his day: https://mapguide.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/a-paper-map-saved-my-day/.

How refreshing! I had a similar experience this summer as well. We did a two week vacation to visit family in CA. Our trip meandered through CO, NM, AZ, UT, NV and lots of CA. A week before we left I went to WalMart and bought a map of the Western US. Not to knock anyone, but none of the workers had any idea where to find a map in the store, also got a few strange looks at the words "paper map"! Alas, they were tucked away with the magazines, a good selection of maps as well. My kids were intrigued by my purchase. I highlighted our route and everyone was hooked. I think the ability to see the scope of our trip really got them going and the tangibility of the map hooked them!

Along the way everyone wanted to help find the next turn or determine how many miles until the next bathroom, but it was my 11 year old who really lived the map, he navigated the bulk of our trip!

As a side, we only pulled out the trusty Google twice along the way.

Jeremiah

No comments: