Before Google Maps, we all kept outdated, battered copies of the Thomas Guide for our area in the back seat, meaning we rarely used them, because that would require reaching into back and thumbing through 200 pages of small print with squiggly lines. So how did we navigate? Well, gas was cheap and we drove around for fun, looking for cool places to visit. I would sometimes intentionally get lost just to see how long it took to find my way back. Only time I had to stop for directions was the first time I crossed the local mountain range over to the next county. This was California in the late 90's. Not long after that I drove up and down the state with no map, 1400 miles and 3 days later I made it back home.