Eleven years ago Chris and I departed on the Year 2000 Road Trip Extravaganza. We had a vision of a car full of state-of-the-art mobile technology that would allow us to communicate real time from the road. The most technologically advanced we got was borrowing a Palm VII from a friend in Connecticut. The device allowed us to send and receive email whenever we were within range of a city with coverage. In 24 days I think we sent one email from Dallas, Texas.
Times have changed--and I'm not just talking about the technology.
On Friday I will depart with my family of four in our version of the Family Truckster on a 1300 mile trek from Texas to California. The trip is quite a departure (pardon the pun) from the care free days of the Y2KRTE. Instead of two college guys with no set itinerary, I'll have two toddlers and a wife stricken with worry about leaving the dog at home.
The last time we made such a trek, Kaitlyn was not quite a year old (and the dog came with us). The infant was suffering from an ear infection and the antibiotics were doing a great job of cleaning her out. We made about a dozen unscheduled stops, including one in El Paso to throw away an outfit and clean out a car seat full of poop. Nothing says family road trip like standing in the parking lot of a Cavender's Boot Barn in El Paso Texas with your shirt collar pulled up over your nose while you hold your child at arms' length so mommy can take off her shit-laden clothes.
As if on queue, Alyssa came home today from the doctor with a diagnosis of dual ear infections. Let us be clear: this trip is not a vacation, it's a refresher on the difference between having to go to work and getting to.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Our family has grown but so has our arsenal of technology. Over a decade later, my vision of a connected mobile Road Scholar is finally possible--and soon to be reality. Here's a run down of the tech we plan to use on our "Spring Into California" road trip that you might be interested in. I'm so excited, I might even let Jen drive.
- Google Latitude
For all of you who sit at home wondering "where could The Road Scholars be right now," wonder no more. Newly activated on the right sidebar of the TRS web site is a map showing my general location. Invite some people over, load us up on the big screen and host a tracking party. Hell, make it a drinking game. - Garmin Nuvi
During the Y2KRTE, Chris and I had a USB GPS "puck" that plugged into our laptop and sat on the dashboard. Using Microsoft Trips, we were able to plot our route and track our deviation from it (usually while Chris was driving) with pinpoint accuracy. I'm now on my third "real" navigation unit. Dubbed Cathy, she tells me in no uncertain terms when I deviate from my route. She also has traffic, weather, flight information, and gas prices. All that in a form factor not much larger than that original USB GPS puck. - GasBuddy.com
In the face of rising gas prices, this web site really can be, as the name implies, your buddy. In addition to showing local gas prices by station, there is also a Trip Cost Calculator that allows you to punch in your destinations as well as some information about your vehicle and it will tell you where to fuel up to maximize your gas dollar. Of course, there's also a mobile App for your smart phone. According to my buddy, this trip will cost me close to $500 round trip in fuel. What a pal. - PDA Net
This App on a smartphone combined with some software installed on a laptop turns any Smartphone into a wireless Internet access point. We may not need it, but I'm kind of interested to try it.
And of course, as usual, I'll be tweeting and Facebooking with the hashtag #fromtheroad.