I asked Gary why we fought like animals in Chicago, and why we fight on vacations in general.
“When do we ever fight?” he asked, shocked.
I listed epic fights in Chicago, Quebec, Paris, Springfield. London, until he stopped me.
“In almost every one of those fights we were lost.”
He was right. Except for the fight in Quebec when he was just being a pain (“that one’s one me,” he confessed), we have either been lost or Gary thinks we’re lost. We get lost, and instead of letting me check my bearings he insists on charging forward, then I get agitated and we fight.
I really tried to not be lost in Chicago, too. I took Google pictures of the parking garage. I printed the address to Second City. I mapped out how to get to the Cuban sandwich place. Still, every time we got lost.
I suggested that Gary be the navigator. This did not fly. I just need to nail down the navigation thing. Triple A Trip Tiks for every place we go: that’s what I need.
I feel good about this. This is probably the first time we’ve ever identified a problem and committed to work on it.
9 responses to “UPDATE: Gary Identifies The Vacation Problem With Razor Accuracy”
Usually Xman and I fought because we were both tired and needed a nap but were too stubborn to admit it. I’m glad you identified your fight-starter. Especially a hard thing to cope with on vacation.
What you need is a dashboard/windshield GPS with a nice large screen right in front of the driver. Step by step vocalized directions with a screen that shows your car on the road with nice clear arrows showing turns, distance to turns, and instant redirection if you miss a turn. If you decide to insert a restaurant or some other attraction, it simply reroutes to include the side trip. You can even remove it from the car and carry it if you’re walking. You CAN’T get lost! Turn navigation over to “Jeeves” and otherwise keep out of it, no need to even talk about it, just listen to Jeeves and obey.
You don’t even have to look most things up. Just ask the GPS for local attractions, or restaurants, or gas stations, hotels, whatever, and click on it on the list, and Jeeves will take you there, calmly rerouting you if you screw up.
Garmin, not TomTom.
Be a – there is hope for us. I was about to ditch the vacations.Silk – the problem with the GPS is that you have to put in the right address. I did that wrong twice this last vacation.
You don’t necessarily need to find the right address. Whether you need the address or not depends on your device and what you’re looking for. My units have lists of “attractions”, “restaurants”, and so on, so you just enter the criteria, scroll through until you find what you want, and click “Go”. No addresses needed, especially if it’s anything a tourist would want.
Also, if you plan your possible destinations before leaving home, you can locate things you might want to see in the comfort of your home, and store them as “favorite places”, and then just click on them when you decide to go to them.
What the heck kind of GPS are you using that doesn’t have those options?
Well I went to Cuba and did not have a single Cuban sandwich there, although I had a delicious one in Seattle.
~~ Silk – the problem isn’t the GPS. I’m not using the GPS well. Plus, I’m always walking when we get lost. Have to really on the iPhone GPS, and I can’t walk and look at it at the same time, and the voice commands are easy to miss when you’re out in the street, so I generally check it out and rely on memory. It’s not the GPS it’s me.
Hattie – if you’re ever in Chicago and need a Cuban sandwich, Cafecito is really good.
Sigh.