The Lost Art of Map Reading

Map-reading is quickly becoming a lost art. Growing up, I’d be in the passenger seat. My dad would hand me a map and say, “We’re going to X, Y, or Z—find it and get us there.” This skill turned out to be my secret superpower.  I worked for a company that had me traveling four out of five days a week for two years. This was just before GPS systems like Garmin were available. I’d fly into a city, grab a rental car, pick up a paper map, and navigate to every location without a second thought. No satellite guidance—just me, my sense of direction, and a trusty road map.

Last fall, I spent nearly two weeks in Europe, feeling confident I’d checked all the boxes on my packing list. I had started making a packing list when we started travelling with a one-year-old and I have been using them ever since. Let me emphasize, I am very good at creating and following my lists. But there was one small detail I overlooked—my phone. I didn’t think I’d need it much since I wasn’t planning to make calls. Turns out, even if you’re not dialing anyone, online access and texting are absolutely essential. Not having texting or internet made me feel less like a savvy traveler and more like someone trying to navigate with a paper map.  Folks, Google maps is an absolutely essential tool to have when you are travelling anywhere.

Without maps on my phone, I felt like Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies, wandering Beverly Hills with no clue where I was going. And finding a real map? Nearly impossible. In Brussels, I went to the Hilton’s front desk and asked for one. They handed me a "map" that was absolutely useless.

In Brugge, my luck changed, when we joined a tour group.  The tour guide was about to let us loose for some alone time in the city and was discussing where to meet back.  He said to type in the meet up destination and then as an afterthought he as a courtesy, asked if we all had Google maps.  

I sighed quietly and nodded no hoping to go unnoticed. But no such luck. Next thing I knew, he clamped a hand on my shoulder and, loud enough for the entire group to hear, declared, “For those of you who don’t have Google Maps, there’s a visitors center with paper maps—if you can read one!”s.”

All I can say is those who laugh last, laugh best. I headed to the visitor’s center, picked up a paper map, and we wandered all over Brugge without a single wrong turn. We made it to the meet-up point with time to spare, no tech, no stress, just a little old-school navigation.

Fortunately, sightseeing in Brugge came early in the trip.  Even though I can use a map, I still possess very good Tech skills so the very next day, I went online and added a European plan to my mobile carrier.  From that point on, navigating the rest of our journey was a breeze.

Here’s my point: learn to read a map—a real one. It’s a satisfying skill to have, and when the digital fails, it’s paper that saves the day.