Y Ddraig Goch

June 23 2025 - Maps

Prompts - Maps. With all the latest technological advances, maps are becoming something of the past, since we have other types of navigational tools in our cars. With that in mind, do you still use a map, and do you think maps can still be of use to us?

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Whether they are virtual or not, maps are just maps. It's just a different medium that is used now. And maps have always evolved - my road atlas looked nothing like those used by sailors. My little satnav on my phone looks nothing like the once on ships, or planes.

There will always be a place for a hardcopy/paper map. Especially if the Zombie Apocalypse happens - which judging from the state of the world, will be ANY day now.

Fun story - My husband and I were once traveling back from Manchester (UK) to Bath. I was driving and decided to take a detour through Wales and around the Brecon Beacons - it was a LARGE detour (several hours). It was made worse by the facts that our phones died, and we didn't have charging cables in the car. We had to stop at a service station to buy cables and a map - it was a while ago when phones didn't like to be used and charged at the same time.

We navigated across Wales, down the very many twisty lanes with nothing but a map. What made it funnier was that in North Wales it's pretty much just the Welsh town names on the signs - which sound nothing like how they are written - Blaenau Ffestiniog anyone....

My husband, who is Australia, didn't even know Wales had its own language until he moved to the UK. So, me pronouncing town/village names as we passed, while he tried to find those places on the map did not work very well. I mean it was hilarious, but also a nightmare. I constantly had to stop to read the map and point out the places to him - to which he would proclaim - "that looks nothing like what you just said!!!"

We would have been completely lost if it were not for the map.