Traveling with Garmin and Google

I have loved to visit new places since I was in my teens. But planning my trips has changed over the years.

Every flight used to begin with a visit to the travel agent - to discuss my ideas - and then another (a week or two later) to pick up my ticket. Now I book my flights myself online through expedia or travelocity, using the confirmation number - which arrives via email a few seconds after I book it - in place of a ticket. (I remember how nervous I was - not that many years ago - when I arrived ticketless at the airport for the first time, typed my confirmation number into the self-serve kiosk machine... and out popped a boarding pass!)

Traveling by car also involves using the internet these days. I usually check the mileage and anticipated driving time on a google map. Garmin (my GPS guide) is a comfort to have when I venture forth, too. Although Terry doesn't trust this new-fangled technology, (and reminds me that people have driven into swamps using it) I take comfort in seeing the map of the road ahead on the screen. I especially like to refer to "points of interest" where the GPS tells me where the nearest gas station, restaurant or shopping area can be found. And in all fairness to this amazing technology - we recently used it to find our destination amid road construction in the rain... We were literally lost until we turned it on!

I recently discovered (thanks to one of my kids) that google maps, on the internet, has a street view now, too. So if I am planning to go somewhere, and type in the address, I can see exactly what the place looks like from the street. This makes it easy to recognize when I get there...

Inspired by the GPS points of interest feature, I started using google in a similar way. If I type in the address of the place where I'm planning to stay, for example, and do a search for restaurants near that address, little markers pop up on the map, showing me where they can be found! I can even go on the restaurants' web sites and scan the menus... then switch to street view and see what they look like from the street...

All I have to do is write it down the information - or print it up - and bring it with me...

It would be helpful to have a little mobile hand-held device with all the features of a google map and a GPS - where I could store all this information (so that I wouldn't have to write it down) and where I could hunt for more places while walking around an unfamiliar city...

(I imagine one already exists... and if it doesn't... that it soon will! Hmmm... It would make a wonderful birthday or Christmas gift for someone who loves to travel!)

(If any of my kids read this... they can consider it a hint!)