ONE TRACK MIND

You’ve read many articles in the pages of this magazine about the importance of basic land navigation skills — being able to read a map, work a compass, and navigate from point A to point B. But from a practical standpoint, this is one area where technology makes things so much easier. Satellites orbiting the earth allow GPS receivers to pinpoint your location instantly. And computing power that used to fill a room is now available in the palm of your hand. Combine the two, and you have no- fuss, no-muss navigation.

So, while it’s essential to master the fundamental skills, you might as well save time and effort by taking advantage of modern technology whenever it’s available. Purpose-built portable navigation devices were once a booming business, but GPS-enabled smartphones have gotten so powerful and ubiquitous that they drove sales of dedicated devices in North America from almost 18-million units in 2009 down to just over 3-million in 2015, according to the research firm Statista. These days, iOS and Android boast feature-laden navigation apps that take advantage of their beautiful high-density displays and your existing data plan to adjust your recommended route based on real-time traffic data, road closures, and other factors. Someone can text you an address, and you can simply click on it to immediately start navigating on the fastest possible route based on