Travel Tip: Get a Map

You're tired, overwhelmed, and just want to get to your destination. But, before you set foot out of the airport or train station, scope out the tourist office or stand of flyers in search of a free map. Why don't you already have one? Well, in this internet age, you can do most of your map consultation online before you leave, print out something to help you get by if you need it, and pick up a free map as soon as you arrive.

You're going to destroy it anyway, so why spend $10 on a fancy map beforehand? We haven't found a city or country yet where a map is hard to find, and we save our collection for future trips. They get stashed in a file for future trips alongside transit cards. But, if you haven't amassed a collection yet, we've found a few resources to help you out in the meantime.

The ever popular Google Maps will help you find anywhere in the world, and let you save personalized maps if you have an account. We've found this helpful in creating our own travel maps to take with us, but have found it a bit buggy for printing and using on the go.

If you'd rather have a more traditional paper map format to consult, Just Maps has a great collection of countries and cities worldwide, all online for free.

Image: sparkle glowplug