Hi, my name is Kelly, and I have a confession. (This is where I picture you saying: Hi, Kelly!) I am an analogue millennial who may or may not still have a Mapsco for the city I grew up in. I remember printing pages upon pages of Mapquest turn-by-turn directions for road trips or just for navigating unfamiliar parts of town. In other words, I started driving in the days before Google Maps. Technology has made everything, including traveling, about a zillion times easier. But as with other aspects of life, technology is also a double-edged sword, and you still need to do your homework. The inaugural Sad Sourdough post is about something we call the Google Special.
What is the Google Special? I’m so glad you asked! It’s the “fastest route” that takes you down a random alley that ends in a staircase in France, through a medieval tower entrance that will only fit a smart car when you’ve rented a Volvo station wagon, or claims that the easiest way to reach the autostrada from that Spanish hilltop fortress town is through the old town with a cliff in between you and the highway! These are all real examples. The thing about the last one in Spain is, we KNEW that going back into town was probably a massive mistake, and we did it anyway. Why? We blindly trusted our technology overlord and did not use our common sense. David got us out of that mess with some very masterful driving and the help of some very friendly and patient locals.
So, now you know the danger, but how do you avoid falling victim to a good old Google Special? Basically, when we’re looking at driving directions, we take the “alternative routes” with a grain of salt. Saving your sanity and avoiding having to pay for a long scratch on your car rental is probably worth the extra five minutes that the clearly okay route will cost you in terms of time. If we know the area well, we might take the alternative routes, but if we’re driving somewhere new, we tend to stick with the obvious route that keeps us on main thoroughfares. Sometimes you want a bit of a wander, and maybe you haven’t taken a low(ish) to medium-level risk (depending on where you’re driving) that day, and you want to try that alternate route! Go for it! We still do it from time to time on purpose. Other times, you just want to get somewhere, and that’s when we don’t blindly trust the route that Google has provided.
And this is not just about driving routes either! It’s more rare, but you can still get a Google Special for walking routes. This tends to happen more in less walkable cities in the USA, but construction is always something that could happen to make your route impassable. The concept of the Google Special also applies to store/attraction/restaurant information if you just go off what Google has listed for whatever wonderful place with opening hours you would like to visit. Sometimes they are wrong. Very wrong. Sometimes that store or restaurant does not exist anymore or just has completely different hours and is now closed on Tuesdays! Always check the actual website or socials of the place you are trying to go. Google having the wrong information has been an even bigger problem post-pandemic, and while it is slowly starting to improve, just check with a more direct source before you drag your travel team to that place.
And yet, this is something we fail at AT LEAST once every trip even though we are well aware of the problem. This post is intentionally drafted for both me and David to take equal measure in our failure because this is a team effort. Bear will get to share the blame once he can read.
Best wishes and bon voyage!