Picture this.
On vacation, four women in a rental car drive down the backroads in an area they have never been. They have minimal knowledge of how to get to their destination. Frugally, they had declined to pay for the onboard GPS navigation system when they rented the car, assuring themselves that their phone GPS systems could direct them during their vacation time in this partially remote state. Earlier in the day, they had driven 100 miles to visit an expansive National Park, making several stops along the way. Now, they are en route returning to their vacation home-away-from-home, albeit later in the day than they had planned. Just as they start the journey home, they decide to stop and grab a bite to eat, as the hour is growing late.
It's during that dinner stop that each of the four women realizes that the battery on her phone is getting precariously low. Days before, when they rented the car, they didn’t notice that the charging plug in the car console did not fit any of their charging cords. They had struggled with low, even dead, cell phone batteries because they could not charge their phones in the car as they explored different areas of the state. But, they had made do.
Now, in a tiny little town, with dwindling batteries and a 2.5 hour drive ahead, they realize they need to take action. Grabbing the only paper product within reach, they carefully duplicate the driving instructions, step by step, line by line, by writing them on a napkin. They know they will have to refer to the napkin directions, should the electronic ones fail. Examining the steps, they take note that GPS has decided to send them home a different route than the one they had used earlier in the day. But, they don’t have enough knowledge or confidence to go on their own instincts. Follow the GPS, they will. But, taking special care to mark off each step on the napkin once completed, so that they will know where they are if they have to call napkin directions into service.
For the next 2.5 hours, one phone runs GPS while the others are poised to be called into action if needed. These are the conversations that occur within the rental car, four voices calling out.
“These roads are SO curvy and wind-y!”
“There is nothing around here – all I see is trees. Where are the houses? Where are the buildings? We are in the backwoods!”
“We might have to switch phones--mine is on 9%. Can we load GPS on someone else's phone?”
“Not me --My phone is on 6%!”
“Now it’s starting to get dark!”
"There are no other cars on any of these roads!"
“GPS changed the route again! The napkin directions don’t match up! I can't follow them. I don’t know where we are!”
“My phone’s on 1%!”
"Drive faster!"
“Construction ahead! Now we have to weave between cones and barrels! Watch out! Lanes are changing!”
“Where did this fog come from?! It’s SO thick! I can’t see a thing!”
“My phone just died!”
“That dinner messed up my stomach! I’M GOING TO THROW UP!” (note – it does happen, but outside the car – not in it, Thank the Lord)
“Phone is still alive, but now we lost GPS service!”
“I haven’t seen another car in over an hour. If we need help, there’s nowhere to stop. There’s nobody anywhere around here. Where are we??”
“Just keep driving!”
"I'm so sick of being in this car!"
"I don't even know the names of any of these roads!"
“Hey! GPS is back up!”
“Okay, hurry, hurry before the last phone dies!”
“Wait, we’re back on track with napkin direction! I think I see where we are!”
“YAY! This looks familiar!!!!!”
After 2.5 nerve-racking hours, the women arrive safe and sound back at their home-away-from-home. Whew!!!
That tense drive happened one day during a wonderful summer trip to Maine with my 3 daughters. From that experience, I learned a few lessons.
Having our phones charged when we took off for extended side trips was way more important than I expected. To bring in the Perfect Storm of conditions, one daughter had forgotten her wall charger, so she and I had to take turns charging our phones when we were back at the house. I had a new charging cord which I had just bought. It unfortunately turned out to be a dud, taking about 15 hours to bring a phone up to 100% charge. WHAT??? Suffice it to say, because of sharing the lame cord, we hardly ever had fully charged phones. Because we had to rely on them heavily for directions, it became a real problem.
Henceforth, I will test charging cords and plugs, or even take extra ones next time I pack a suitcase. I will also verify a rental car’s ability to charge my phone if I anticipate a lot of driving in an unfamiliar place. I usually take care to check more closely on my whereabouts, but this time I didn't. My bad. Lesson learned. I will make sure I take time to review the route, understand the directions (not every detail, but the big stuff), and have a general idea of roads and highways when I embark out into new territories. As everyone should.
I will also think proactively. If there is a situation that is not ideal (like, can’t charge our phones), I will weigh the options of taking the time to go and actually fix the problem. See, early on, we could have gone a little bit out of our way to find a store where we could buy whatever charging devices we needed. And, if we had realized what it all would come to, we would have done that. But, since the problem wasn’t too much of a hardship on Day 1, we figured we would just skim by and make it work. Then Day 2, we were really, really busy, and we didn’t take time to think about it. Day 3 (described above) was when the yucky stuff hit the fan, because we took an extended trip and ran our phones down. That’s when we really needed a solution. But, then, we were in a location where there was no solution to be found.
First world problems? Yes, definitely. But, I think we all can relate to times when something that starts out small, before we know it, becomes big, much bigger than we can handle. And we wonder why we didn’t just take care of the issue when it first appeared. What were we waiting for?
With our vacation drive, All’s Well That Ends Well. Everything turned out fine. Even the tummy distress settled itself. And, of course, we ended up with a ridiculous, but animated, story to tell.
Oh this is a harrowing story that I imagine most of us who've travelled by car on vacation relate to. I know the panicky feeling of losing GPS while looking at confusing directions as dark approaches. I'm glad you made it back safely and that you learned from the experience. Still... 😳
Ally, you're right. we've all been there! The experience also reminded me how discombobulated I feel when I have lost control of a situation, when I'm the one who is supposed to be "in charge." All the worst case scenarios come to mind. I wonder if we've gotten soft - in the old days were we better at dealing with this kind of thing when we didn't rely on technology? I'm thinking yes.
I'm glad you made it safely. This is a testament to the fact that once upon a time, we really did have to rely on primitive means to get from Point A to Point B...and it can still be done!
(I'll take the charged phone over napkin scribblings any day, though.)
Oh boy, what a dramatic scene you've painted. So glad you made it back to your lodgings safely and those are some good lessons learned!
That sounds scary!! Glad it ended well!
First world problems certainly but terrifying nonetheless. I found myself holding my breath as I read your experience. I really, really hate being lost. Yet I have been lost and terrified on several occasions. Glad you got where you were going all safe and sound. Lessons learned for future adventures!