GPS is the Best Thing Ever

Seriously guys, life is so good with GPS. This comes from someone who loves maps and wandering. Because when you want to find something, having a way to do that quickly and easily is clutch. Here are the three reason why I love GPS so much.

1. Directions. The days of wondering “Do I turn left or right? Which way is north?” are over! GPS directions can tell you exactly how to get where you need to go, how long it will take, and even have options for walking/driving/public transit! I’m sure many a relationship has been saved due to less fighting about directions, and drivers are safer for not needing to balance a map whilst hurdling down the highway at 75 miles an hour. Now GPS is not always accurate- have you ever ended up at an empty parking lot or had it tell you turn down a one-way street? So not perfect, but it seriously makes life easier.
2. Geocaching. Geocaching is based off of longitude/latitude markers and was done with handheld GPS units before smartphones existed. I don’t know that Geocaching existed without GPS to be honest. If you haven’t heard about geocaching, check out this post and the geocaching.com.
3. Running. I just got a GPS watch this summer (a Garmin 225). But for years, I’ve been using online maps to decide on routes. Having the GPS watch makes it easier to see my mile splits, run in new places (my watch  tells me when to turn around), and generally keep track of activity. I haven’t figured out all of the bells and whistles yet, but I love it. There are so many models out there by several companies for runners. And we runners love the stats, don’t we? I think the GPS watch has made it easier to people to track their progress and remember how runs went- like a digital running log.

Why do you love GPS? Or are you a diehard paper map person?