4 ms·

for long cross country trips, I do this. I have been burned before..

sonofhans 5y ago
Consider a AAA membership. Their maps are high-quality, frquently-updated, and entirely free. You can walk into any AAA on any day and get as many free maps as you can carry. Not to mention the roadside assistance and towing coverage. I take long roadtrips too. The couple times that AAA has saved me make all the yearly dues worthwhile. E.g., once they arranged a 300-mile tow from a small coastal town back home; it took less than an hour to setup and didn’t cost me a dime. The alternative would have been paying next-day air freight on a Mercedes alternator and battery, and staying another 2 days to get the work done.
- eqvinox 5y ago
  For a non-US dweller: how frequent are AAAs and how easy are they to find? (Because, in Germany, even if you're an ADAC member, you'd be hard pressed to find an ADAC-affiliated office to pick up a map from...)
  - sonofhans 5y ago
    “Over 1000” their website says — https://newsroom.aaa.com/about/ https://newsroom.aaa.com/about/. I can’t find anything more definitive. I’ve never had trouble finding one.
  - samatman 5y ago
    There are at least hundreds and probably thousands of locations. AAA is shockingly good. Maybe not shocking if you consider it's a 120-year-old nonprofit member services organization, but still: anyone who drives an auto in America is leaving serious value on the table if they aren't a member. The bottom line is that if you're having a problem and you're in an automobile (doesn't have to be yours) AAA will do their best to help you solve that problem. Unlimited, free, high-quality paper maps are just another perk. Walking in to a member branch and walking out with maps is just the beginning: a AAA employee will help you plan out a road trip, and make what's called a TripTik, which is a custom spiral-bound route map, with various sorts of amenities you can choose pointed out for you. There are campgrounds as well. It's truly remarkable how much AAA offers.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    They used to be a staple at pretty much any/all gas stations. Not so much any more though. Edit: the maps were available, not the offices.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    AAA will also mail maps/trip planning materials (they call it "TripTik") to members.
  - bsder 5y ago
    They are very common--even tiny cities in the US will have an office somewhere. In fact, they're one of the few places to easily pick up properly formatted and valid international drivers licenses before you go overseas. However, I would caution you that some of the benefits that used to come from being an AAA member have been severely curtailed. The towing benefit, in particular, now has quite a few restrictions on it.

Consider a AAA membership. Their maps are high-quality, frquently-updated, and entirely free. You can walk into any AAA on any day and get as many free maps as you can carry. Not to mention the roadside assistance and towing coverage. I take long roadtrips too. The couple times that AAA has saved me make all the yearly dues worthwhile. E.g., once they arranged a 300-mile tow from a small coastal town back home; it took less than an hour to setup and didn’t cost me a dime. The alternative would have been paying next-day air freight on a Mercedes alternator and battery, and staying another 2 days to get the work done.

eqvinox 5y ago
For a non-US dweller: how frequent are AAAs and how easy are they to find? (Because, in Germany, even if you're an ADAC member, you'd be hard pressed to find an ADAC-affiliated office to pick up a map from...)
- sonofhans 5y ago
  “Over 1000” their website says — https://newsroom.aaa.com/about/ https://newsroom.aaa.com/about/. I can’t find anything more definitive. I’ve never had trouble finding one.
- samatman 5y ago
  There are at least hundreds and probably thousands of locations. AAA is shockingly good. Maybe not shocking if you consider it's a 120-year-old nonprofit member services organization, but still: anyone who drives an auto in America is leaving serious value on the table if they aren't a member. The bottom line is that if you're having a problem and you're in an automobile (doesn't have to be yours) AAA will do their best to help you solve that problem. Unlimited, free, high-quality paper maps are just another perk. Walking in to a member branch and walking out with maps is just the beginning: a AAA employee will help you plan out a road trip, and make what's called a TripTik, which is a custom spiral-bound route map, with various sorts of amenities you can choose pointed out for you. There are campgrounds as well. It's truly remarkable how much AAA offers.
- dylan604 5y ago
  They used to be a staple at pretty much any/all gas stations. Not so much any more though. Edit: the maps were available, not the offices.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  AAA will also mail maps/trip planning materials (they call it "TripTik") to members.
- bsder 5y ago
  They are very common--even tiny cities in the US will have an office somewhere. In fact, they're one of the few places to easily pick up properly formatted and valid international drivers licenses before you go overseas. However, I would caution you that some of the benefits that used to come from being an AAA member have been severely curtailed. The towing benefit, in particular, now has quite a few restrictions on it.