Let's get lost: Shut off the GPS and rediscover the road trip

As you drive around in your hermetically sealed, double-sound-insulated, highly connected modern automobile, you’re completely shut out from the world around you. Sure, in this day and age of hour-long (or longer) commutes, sometimes you just want to bask in solitude as your mind is left to wander. Sometimes we need it in order to mentally reset from work life to home life.

But, there’s one facet of driving that seems completely lost on a new generation of drivers (and maybe the older generation, too) as we gobble up all the technology and improvements automakers so gladly provide in modern cars: The traditional road trip is becoming a lost art.

Thanks to the prevalence of navigation units, whether built-in or bought, and mobile phones with a virtual endless number of apps for whatever type of distraction you desire (especially in cars offering cellular connections through WiFi hotspots), we’ve now turned the road trip into nothing more than a means to a destination.

All of my surprise roadside finds and other memorable journeying moments have two main ingredients. If you use them on your next road trip, you might just find something worth a story.

Step 1: Ditch the GPS

The first time I took my girlfriend out on a motorcycle, we gathered with a friend of mine at a meeting point. We had absolutely no travel plan, only to have fun riding and be home by 5 pm.

Riding a motorcycle will heighten your environmental awareness to a degree. You smell things you wouldn’t normally smell (for good or bad), you see small signs you may miss while driving in a car, and – most importantly – in order to check a map or GPS, you usually have to stop. Why would you want to stop while riding unless it’s for something interesting?

As we made our way home in the afternoon along a road all of us had frequented many times in the past, I suddenly had the urge to look to our right along the coastline. Up ahead, a right turn beckoned.

Instead of stopping, verifying the direction of said road, and making sure it would lead us in our intended direction of travel, I thought Let’s see where this goes. I flicked on my right indicator and our traveling companion behind us followed suit.

What we found not even a mile down the road was the perfect end to our day: a vacant swinging outdoor seat placed atop the rocky shore surrounded by paraphernalia stereotypical of east coast tourism brochures. This tranquil find by the shoreline might not be worthy of a blip on Google Maps, but it’s the most memorable part of our whole trip. I barely remember the rest of the ride.

Your gut is a better navigator than GPS will ever be on a road trip. (Also, we got home at 6 pm. None of us cared.)

Step 2: Talk to strangers, not your phone

Social media is great in certain circumstances. But, on a road trip, it’s the equivalent of asking your New York City hotel concierge about the best restaurants in downtown New Delhi. Do yourself a favor and pocket your phone while traveling. And, for those times you need it to take a photo, don’t share your instasnaps right away.

Next time you’re in a rural area and you see someone filling up a dirt-covered truck while wearing work boots, ask them Is there anything interesting to see around here? Worst-case scenario, you’ll get I don’t know or No in return. But, more often than not, you’re newfound friend will let you in on some gems. Also, local secrets aren’t tightly held if you just ask the right people the right questions.

With information in hand and you do find something worth remembering, you might desire to immortalize the moment with a photo. Go ahead, take out your phone, but the worst thing you can do is post it on social media right away. The wave of likes, comments, and reshares are a distraction.

Be in the moment. Upload all your life experiences when you get home. The people and environment around you deserve much more attention than a gadget designed in California and made in China.

After all: When’s the last time you got a highly memorable Facebook like?