Following the Blue Line

Maps.  I LOVE maps and always have.  I like to know where I am going and also what is along the way to any given destination.  Paul loves the TomTom,  and it certainly does have it’s place, though we have been led astray more than once using it!  I remember one particular time when we were in southern Denmark and it said “you have reached your final destination” and we found ourselves at the entrance to a farm machinery warehouse in the middle of nowhere.  Definitely not the destination we had in mind at the time!

Regardless of where we are going, I love having the map laid out before me so I can follow the route that the TomTom is leading us, and even come up with alternative routes.

On occasion Paul and I have found ourselves at odds between what TomTom is telling us and what I see on the map.  We always manage to work it out to both our satisfaction in the end, and that is good.  I guess I don’t like relying on electronic devices when I am perfectly capable of following a map.  I have NEVER gotten lost no matter what country I was driving in, and I don’t intend to change that now.  Just give me a good map and I am a happy camper.  So I have come to a conclusion in regards to making the best of both of these methods for navigation—it all comes down to balance, like everything else in life.  We rely on the TomTom for getting us to the out-of-the-way destinations, such as finding our way to the holistic vet in Heemskerk, Netherlands ??, and I like to use the map for finding alternative routes, as the TomTom usually takes us on the main roads.

Paul is more relaxed driving the motorways, and I prefer the more interesting side roads, and the back roads that lead to nowhere.  So once again, we look for the balance between the two, and I think we have come to a good understanding here.  Every good place we’ve come across recently for our wild camping has been on these in-the-middle-of-nowhere back roads and that makes both of us happy.

As we continue our travels, I know we will refine our methods for getting from point A to point B—that is half the fun!  And we will both look forward to writing more so that you all can enjoy our efforts and adventures along the way.

Oh, and for those of you who aren’t familiar with the “Blue Line,” it is what appears on the TomTom showing us which route we should be on.

Tomorrow, once Paul returns from his brief trip to the UK with Florence (Tasha is with me—another story for another time!), we will be heading south along the French coast.

I hope you will look forward to hearing about this next phase of our plans, as much as we look forward to writing about it all!