On the map

I did something similar when I decided to follow the path of the mostly underground Hetch Hetchy pipeline from where it passes beneath Edgewood Road all the way through Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto (that walk took multiple days). And maps proved critical when I decided to explore and then write individual blog posts about each of Redwood City’s 17 defined neighborhoods. Without a map, I wouldn’t have known exactly where one neighborhood ended and another began.

Having grown up well before the age of the internet — and before electronic maps and GPS were in the public consciousness — I learned early on to use paper maps. Beginning with the folding paper maps that once occupied most automobile glove compartments, I then graduated to the wonders of the Thomas Guide. Each Thomas Guide was a thoroughly indexed book of highly detailed paper maps for one of our country’s major metropolitan areas. Given an address, the index directed you to the map page, and to the marked row and column on that page, where that address was located. It was left to you to work out a route to that address — using the many maps in the book, of course.

Electronic maps have a number of advantages over the old paper ones. For one, they are almost always up-to-date. Photographic satellite and street views augment the simple lines and shapes found on a map, and greatly help relate a map to reality. And then there is automatic routing. Particularly when it takes into account speed limits and near-real-time traffic loads, automatic routing can be a godsend for unfamiliar destinations or when you are in a hurry. But electronic maps, for all their advantages, aren’t ideal in all cases, and thus I still find myself resorting to paper from time-to-time.

One of the biggest drawbacks to an electronic map is the size of the screen on which it is being displayed. Cellphone screens are especially limiting, but even on a large tablet or even a desktop computer display, the screens can only show so much. Yes, you can scroll and you can zoom in and out, but neither is as effective as a large paper map. Paper maps can show a large area while still retaining detail, a combination you cannot get with an electronic map. I’m in the middle of planning a trip to the East Coast and, armed with a handful of destinations, I find the best way to plan out the trip is with a large paper map showing the entire area — multiple states, in this case — spread out on my dining table.

Having worked out the rough sequence of places to visit, electronic routing can serve as a good starting point for a path incorporating them all. But while on vacation I rarely find myself wanting to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Rather, I often want to visit nearby points of interest or scenic viewpoints that require an alternative routing. And to discover those points and create that routing, nothing seems better than a good old paper map.

I spend more time these days with electronic maps than with paper ones, but both have their uses. And paper maps make great keepsakes. I still cherish the paper TripTik the AAA travel planner put together for the honeymoon I planned for my wife and me; that bound set of small maps detailing the precise route we took after our wedding gives us a unique way to reminisce about that very special trip.