Vent: My old route planning binder is just a box of memories now

I used to spend hours with a paper map, a highlighter, and a binder full of printed trip reports from the early 2000s, but now I just pull up a couple of apps and a saved list on my phone, which is faster but feels a lot less like an adventure.

4 comments

4 Comments

harris.andrew1mo ago

The binder was a physical part of the trip before you even left. Apps just give you a list, which feels like a chore. You lost the fun of building the plan yourself.

max_cooper211mo ago

Remember printing out MapQuest directions and having that stack of papers on the passenger seat. Half the drive was my friend trying to refold the map the right way after we missed a turn. The trip really did start days before, just like you said, with all that planning and anticipation. Now my phone just barks orders at me and it feels like I'm just following a script.

brooket431mo agoMost Upvoted

Was the real trip the friends we made trying to refold the map, like @harris.andrew's binder?

scott.olivia20d ago

I read that getting lost was actually the best part of road trips, and that binder was like the map to your adventure.