Trailing Spouse Turns Into Leading Spouse Playing with His GPS

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One of my favorite things to do is travel. And being the trailing spouse of a busy traveling professor is a great life. Lulu travels all over the globe going to conventions - conferences - workshops - and teaching courses. And I go along to carry her bags.

Having a degree in Geography carries no weight when the trailing and leading "spice" are sitting in the front seat of a rental car. Unfortunately I can't be the map navigator and driver at the same time. Arriving at some strange city in the middle of the night on a plane - then picking up a rental car - and trying to find your way in heavy traffic - can be "stressful."

About a year ago - we bought one of the great marriage savers of all times. We bought a Garmin C320 GPS - or global positioning system. Yes - some of the new cars come with a GPS - but the GPS for the "rest of us" has become within the budget of a retired school teacher. Also - with touch screens - operating one is a breeze.

What does a GPS do? Very simply - it is a radio that receives signals from several government satellites 22,000 miles up in outer space. The satellites can pinpoint exactly where you are - how fast you are going - and draw a super accurate map of where you are. The GPS can tell you things like - where to turn - how long it is going to take to get to a destination - where the hotels are - the gas stations - restaurants - even the directions to Granny's house. You will never be officially lost again.

When GPS's came out many years ago - they were expensive - and you can still order a one in a new car for $2000 - but there are several nice ones on market from $200 to $300 now.

The Garmin C320 I bought last year cost $289. It has a nice 3 inch by 4 inch screen. You can use it as a handheld unit - but most people attach them to their cars' windshields with the included suction cup. I have used it all over the United States. You can even load the maps in of other countries. I have used it walking around Boston and New York City to "verify" my ability to navigate.

Often times - when Lulu and I disagree - we follow the directions of the GPS. One nice feature is if you miss a turn - the GPS will "re-calculate" and give you new directions.

One of my favorite uses of a GPS is when we are flying. Usually the flight attendant looks at me as if I were a terrorist - but usually they let me enjoy watching the plane fly over the map. You can even stick the GPS to the window with the suction cup. I take joy in telling folks things like - "that is Valdosta down there." I will never admit that I am tempted to leave the GPS on even when we are landing - to see if we fly over our house or see if our landing speed is really only 147 miles per hour.

Today - I received a newer GPS. It listed for $399 - but it can be purchased for as little as $254. The newer model is called the Garmin Nuvi 200. It has the same size screen as our old one. The big difference is the thickness of the new one. It is less than an inch thick - and can be easily placed in your pocket - great for walking trips.

This paragraph will compare the C320 with the Nuvi 200. If "techie" details bore you - skip this paragraph. The C320 holds all the maps on a one gig RAM chip. It can be connected to a computer through the USB port to load new software on it. The only exposed buttons on it are the on/off switch and the volume dial. Everything else is controlled by touching the screen. The Nuvi 200 has a lot of bang for the buck. The on/of switch is a small slider on the top. Although it does have a slot for a RAM chip - the US map is stored on a dedicated RAM chip inside. Besides directing you on the map - finding hotels - restaurants - addresses - the Nuvi can do much more. It has a world clock built in - where you can set several clock faces for different times zones. It also has a day/night map of the world that shows you when it is night time at Uncle Tom's house and not a good idea to call. It has a big screen calculator - a currency converter - a unit converter - even a place where you can view the pictures from your camera's RAM chip. One of the neatest features for me is that you can use it as a flash drive - by connecting it to your computer USB port. You can store computer files - pictures - and programs on it. If you put a 4 gig RAM card in it - it turns into a great emergency storage for tons of data. That is enough room for an entire encyclopedia.

Both GPS's work great - but Lulu always says - "one toy in" equals "one toy out." So tonight I will be putting the Garmin C320 on ebay - and that in itself is another story. So with a new GPS - the trailing spouse becomes the leading spouse - at least when we are in the car. Now if I can just get a chance to lead on the dance floor.