deleted by creator
Ripped map pages out of the phone book
don’t forget the stack of quarters for when you inevitably have to stop and use a payphone
“Sometimes, you just had to stop and find someone to ask for directions…”
That’s honestly still a good answer. The locals know best
Unless the local is me. I am terrible at giving directions. “Go that way for like, three… maybe four intersections. Turn left when there’s like a store or something on the side of the road. When it seems like the right time, turn left again, and then like… uh… there’s a tree… You know what, let me just give you the address and hope that GPS works out for you.”
AAA did the same thing. Yellow highlighter marked the route.
I used AAA Trip-Tik or whatever it was called, a couple of times driving cross country. Worked pretty well, actually.
Before MapQuest, you’d carry around a six county atlas, and a state map. If you had to go somewhere outside the metro area, you’d use the state map to get to the city, then stop at the first gas station you saw there to look at their map on the wall, or ask to look at their phone book for the map in there.
Ew, people.
Better yet, stop at the rest stop at the state border and pick up a free state map, which included insets of the large cities.
Pro tip: Those maps are still there.
They never restock them though. Somehow they are always out. (At least for the last few years they have been)
However, you can use OSM offline pretty easily and if you want a physical map you can print it. (For those of us who want control)
We had those big red atlases (Atli?) with the glossy covers from over half the US states, and smaller maps for all the counties in Virginia, NC, SC, and about half of TN. Huge ass stack of em in both door panels, under each seat, and several on the back seat. My brother collected them whenever he could. I think he’s still depressed he never finished his collection before giving up and finally getting a gps (only like 2 years before decent smart phone gps)
The singular isn’t “atlus.” Atlases is correct.
Nope, up thread we figured out the correct form. Atlapodii.
Atli
I’m pretty sure the proper form is Atlapodes.
Gonna split the difference. Atlapodii
Pages? Like a static display made from dead trees?
I miss the days of Microsoft AutoRoute. No internet connection needed - but you were stuck with the map and routes present in the release version that was on the CD.
Printing was optional and encouraged!
You can use Open street map
I don’t miss the tool, I miss the general vibe and feeling of the late 90s or early 2000s.
CD’s for everything, over engineered autorun splash screens, the seeking of mechanical harddrive heads when computing a route, the sense of adventure, and the general positive outlook that consumer tech is working for us, not because of us.
I miss those days.
i know a guy who still does this. mapquest->print … hes not even that old… just dumb as a brick.
The short time after smartphones but before free EU roaming was the prime days of offline map apps that you specifically downloaded for each city
Haha yeah. MapQuest. That’s old school, you silly geezers. Let’s get ya to bed.
Slowly folds up his road atlas hoping no one notices
Fun fact: Michelin stars come from the before times where Michelin would print a yearly road guide with maps and locations and would give stars to the best places. The guide was so popular that getting a Michelin star became a thing. When printed maps ended the stars remained. That’s why a tire company became synonymous with best restaurants
Rand McNally with all the folds <kiss>
I still keep a state map stowed in the pocket behind the driver’s seat. You know, just in case.
ViaMichelin!
Then offline GPS, I had Navigon installed on a Windows Mobile PDA with a Sirfstar3 receiver. It gave terrible directions.
Thomas Guide in the city, AAA Trip-Tik for road trips.
It was pretty great. Tried to have me drive through a city park lake once to get to a movie theater I hadn’t been to before. A+
