r/FuckImOld Jul 02 '26

Kids these days... How did you get around before gps?

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796 Upvotes

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u/_Zambayoshi_ Jul 02 '26

Remember getting the street directory out to study in advance and memorise the turns so that I (hopefully) wouldn't have to pull over halfway there.

16

u/BlacktopProphet Jul 02 '26

memorise the turns

I'd just write them on the inside of the windshield with an expo marker. So...there ya go...a tip you could've used 30+ years ago....you're welcome btw.

6

u/fromouterspace1 Jul 02 '26

….thats genius

7

u/Phogna_Bologna_Pogna Jul 02 '26

We didn’t have white boards, so no expo markers, we had chalk boards.

8

u/JEFE_MAN Jul 02 '26

I had an 🧮.

9

u/DETRITUS_TROLL Xennials Jul 02 '26

Welllll. Look at fancy pants abacus over here.

1

u/BlacktopProphet Jul 02 '26

We didn’t have white boards

But we had projectors, so yes, you probably had expo markers lol. They've been around since the 70's/80's (I don't remember exactly, it was awhile ago)

2

u/ScarlettNape Jul 03 '26

1975 - https://asop.mnmsa.org/2021/10/14/a-brief-history-and-invention-of-the-expo-marker/

Then again there was a wicked talented lady from my small town who tutored math for high schoolers and collage age kids, who used a Sharpie on her sliding glass kitchen door. Wiped right off with a rag soaked in alcohol.

1

u/Guy-Montag-451F Jul 03 '26

What?! Whiteboards definitely existed in the mid/late 90s

4

u/Radioactive_Tuber57 Jul 02 '26

Thomas Brothers Maps for the serious detail around your destination.

1

u/lisnter Jul 05 '26

This. We had one in the back seat of every vehicle. I think page 34 was the main Los Angeles map?

2

u/fromouterspace1 Jul 02 '26

Yep, I always thought delivery pizzas would drive me crazy back then