“How could I possibly get lost, when everyone tells me where to go?” Well, my Garmin certainly tells me where to go. I have been a fan of GPS Technology and handheld units for a number of years now. My first GPS was a Garmin 76s. I currently have two other Garmin handheld units; a 60Cx and a Colorado 300.

Growing up, I was always fascinated with maps and cartography. The topographic lines, the symbols, I found it to be very captivating. I remember looking at various World Atlas’ or globes and being amazed at the diversity of geography. Guess I am a bit of a map geek. So, it was not much of a stretch for me to want to own a GPS (or two). On our recent canoe trip, we used the GPS to navigate around the maze of islands, we tracked our distance and captured the route we had paddled. It was a handy device to have along. Kathy made sure we had proper paper maps and compass; it is always wise to have an analog backup.

I started Geocaching about 8 years ago and have found a little over 300 hidden caches over that period. I run hot and cold on Geocaching, but it certainly is a fun way to explore outdoors. The newest GPS units have geocaching capabilities built right into the unit. Very handy as now the caching experience can be paperless and spontaneous.

Kathy and I also have a Garmin Nuvi for driving navigation and the features contained in those units are quite amazing. Just outside of Portland Oregon, our Nuvi directed us to take another route into the city to avoid heavy traffic so we could save 10 minutes of driving time. I was quite amazed. Additionally, the alerts for Red light cameras is kind of cool too.

Not sure where all of this is going with new developments, but I continue to be amazed at the capabilities. The next big area of feature development and exploration is bound to be in the arena of smartphones. The sky is the limit. It will be very exciting to follow this over the next few years. Today, I am thankful that my childhood fascination with maps is alive and gets some cool technology to augment the enjoyment of exploring.

I have an existential map. It has ‘You are here’ written all over it. ~ Steven Wright