The GPS: Friend or Foe?

I think anyone who owns a GPS navigational device can relate to at least the beginning of the following news story but hopefully it stops there. A 67-year-old woman, Sabine Moreau of Belgium, set out to pick up her friend at a train station in Brussels which was a little over 90 miles from her home.  Apparently, her GPS had her heading in the opposite direction from her destination from the very beginning and she ended up driving for 900 miles over the course of two days because of it.

Why this woman let this whole thing get so out of hand is mind boggling.  Obviously, she hadn't referenced a map beforehand.  Rookie mistake.  Anyone who has ever used a GPS of any type knows that nothing beats the accuracy of a good old fashioned map.  A GPS can be perfectly accurate one minute and take you in circles the next.

Here's my navigation advice for your road trips: plan your route on a map FIRST.  Carry that map in your vehicle just in case you need it.  Use the GPS as a reference tool only.  It usually gets you where you want to go but rarely knows the best route so write down your travel directions and the GPS will follow along with that.  If you're lucky, you won't have to hear the GPS voice say "Re-calculating" too many times.  Happy trails!