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travel maps?

Hi what's the convinent & most detailed & cheapest way to have maps with you while driving a car ? I do'nt want to spend tons for such a solution. thanks

Public Comments

1. Join the auto club and you can have any map free. Another option are the Thomas Bros maps. They have them for many states and metropolitan areas.
2. Certain cell phones now have the capability of having GPS navigation. If yours is compatible, all it takes is signing up for the service which will likely run you $10-$20 a month depending on your service provider. I have it on mine, it worked great when I visited Chicago since I had never been there.
3. Very simple and inexpensive...Buy a United States Atlas or any Atlas that pertains to the State(s) you would like to drive in. They are quite easy to read and full of excellent information.
4. Gas station maps are usually sufficiently detailed and are reasonably priced.
5. Buy road atlases. There are national, state and local ones available.
6. If you know in advance where you need to go, you can use search engines to print out directions from where you going to where you going, step by step, and also print out associated map. http://maps.google.com/ Problem with this, and with other computerized solutions is those systems are calculating from maps. They don't know about one-way streets, no left turns, roads under construction, etc. so you have to be able to figure out where to go when the map tells you to make an illegal or impossible turn. You can join an auto club. If you have a gasoline credit card, that chain probably has some kind of travel club. The premier association in the USA is the American Automobile Association. http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode.woa/wa/route You pay one annual fee & get all kinds of services at little or no additional fees. One of them is the map service in advance of a trip. They know where there is road construction going on. They know where you can get the best gas prices. If you have pets children elderly in wheelchair traveling with you, they know their needs and where they can be best served. They know the fastest route, the most scenic route. You tell them your needs, and they provide you at no cost, other than the annual membership, all the maps you'll ever need for your journey. If you run into trouble on your journey & need roadside assistance, they can help. No rip off artists to prey on you, because AAA helps its members. From just about any bookstore you can buy an atlas which has maps of every state in the USA including Hawaii & Alaska. Typcially in a ring binder format so you can have it open, flat to any page ... often one side of one page is one state, with maps of major cities in the state. This might cost like $15-20 but is cheaper than buying individual maps for each of the states. Most any gas station, or truck stop, can sell you maps for that state, adjacent states. Typically $ 2.00 each or thereabouts.