Paper maps required something modern navigation often does for us automatically: you had to understand where you were going.

Before leaving home, families might trace the route with a finger, write highway numbers on a piece of paper, and estimate where they’d stop for gas, food, or the night.

Road signs mattered. Landmarks mattered. Directions from strangers at gas stations sometimes mattered even more.

And there was always that unforgettable moment when the passenger unfolded the map so far that half the windshield seemed to disappear behind it.

Of course, GPS has made traveling much easier. It can reroute us around traffic, estimate arrival times, and help us navigate unfamiliar cities without stopping every few miles.

But there’s something satisfying about remembering when we had to do the navigating ourselves.

We learned to read maps, recognize directions, follow highway numbers, and recover when we made a wrong turn.

Maybe we arrived a little later sometimes.

Maybe there were a few arguments about who had misread the map.

But eventually, we usually found our way.

Be honest—if someone handed you a paper road map today and took away your phone, could you still navigate across the country?