Do you realize how hard it is to find a map now-a-days?
I have been looking for a county map so I follow the action as I listen to my Radio Scanner. As nerdy as that sounds having a map handy is the best way to enjoy listening to the scanner. But, I’ve had a surprisingly hard time finding a map. Business stores don’t carry them. Many gas stations don’t carry them. I happened to find one at large truck stop two counties away!
I understand that people are using GPS more and more; but this doesn’t negate the need to read and to own maps.
1. The best argument for having a map is the answer to the question; "What happens if GPS goes down?" We rely on digital everything~and the last thing we need is for the power to go out and then, we are out of luck.
2. The second argument for having a map is the need to understand what is going on around you. Using the GPS is good to have but does not tell you the whole story. You may be missing a lot of important information that you would receive if you had a map. I was in the back of a van last winter while a 2LT went an hour out of the way, simply because the GPS sent us down the snowy road while the road with tracks went the other way. End of story.
Slowly, we are losing our ability to navigate with a map. We don’t have them because we trust our GPS. We don’t buy them, because we feel that we don’t need them. So we have built the unfortunate situation that we can’t find one because the stores don’t sell them.
Everyone needs a map.
(Photo from Rand McNally.com: a great publisher of maps and atlases.)