Frequently I fly to a city and then have to rent a car and drive to a hotel near the event where I’ll be speaking or training the following day. I drive anywhere from around 20 minutes to up to 3 hours depending on the location. I did a lot of this kind of travel before the proliferation of GPS navigation devices, i.e., Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, iPhone, etc.
At first I used Mapquest. The reason I switched to Google maps is because I found them to be more reliable. Even Google maps is not 100% accurate, but I’ve found them to be more consistently accurate than Mapquest.
On one occasion my flight was delayed and it was getting late. All I wanted was to be in my hotel room so I could relax, get a decent bite to eat (hopefully) and get to sleep early so I could be refreshed for a full-day of training the following morning.
According to Mapquest the drive was going to take approximately one hour. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to find out that Mapquest was flat out wrong and I just drove 30 minutes in the wrong direction!
That meant having to drive 30 minutes back, which just increased the total travel time by one additional hour (argh!). I was not a happy camper.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am the master of my emotions, take a deep breath (sigh), and relax. It is what it is.
I’m sure you’ve experienced the frustration of getting lost. Getting angry won’t help the situation.
In fact, anger may cause you to drive more aggressively, which could lead to a speeding ticket exacerbating the problem. Not to mention negative emotions contribute to disease.
One of the things I love about my iPhone is the free, built-in Maps program. It’s a GPS navigator on my phone.
What if you don’t have an iPhone or Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, etc.? What do you do when you get lost? What do you do if your GPS device breaks or dies?
Here’s a helpful tip that just might save you some frustration and time in the future. All you need is a phone that can send and receive text messages. It’s a free service from Google. You only pay for applicable text charges from your cell phone carrier.
Here’s what you do. Send a text message to “GOOGLE” with a message formatted as: “Directions A to B” (substituting a town, ZIP code, or street address for A and B).
Example:
Directions Memphis, TN to 116 Fifth Ave. N. Nashville, TN 37219
Google will text you back with directions. I tried this and it works! Very cool. You’re welcome.
= )