Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Oh, The Places I'll Go

For Christmas, my Dad got me a Garmin nuvi 200W GPS Navigation System. He's had one for a while, and absolutely loves it. I wasn't as enthusiastic about it, but decided to give it a shot anyway. I'm so glad I did. I'm used to looking up directions online and trying to follow and read them at the same time, not an easy task during rush hour in a big city. Now, Linda (as I've named the polite but somewhat cold female voice) just tells me where to go. Sometimes it can still get a little confusing if there are two exits right next to each other, but if I miss a turn, Linda recalculates my route, and has me back on track in no time. Plus she knows, based on speed and route, my estimated time of arrival at my destination. WIthout her, my trip out here would have taken much longer. Today, I used her to look up bookstores and coffee houses in Baltimore. Tomorrow, I'll use her to find the place I drop off my truck.
Unfortunately, it didn't come pre-loaded with European maps. I can buy the chip for the bargain(?) price of $300. I'm gonna see how easy it is to get around in Italy for a few weeks, and if I think it's worth it, I have no problem shelling out the extra cash. We'll see how it goes.

No comments: